Tease of a 19-3...

Well, I touched it up enough to take it to the range. I think it's a keeper. I know I can do a better job of the touch up, and am going to take a second swing at it when I get around to it, but it's better then a big bare spot of pits. We'll see how I feel about it after a second attempt.

Apologies if the combat grips are traumatic for the purists. I have a small addiction to K combats and am lucky to be one of the few who's hand seems to fit them perfectly. I kinda think the left panel is nicer than the right on this set. Part of me wishes the better panel was on the better side of the gun, but maybe the pretty stocks will take some attention away from the bad spot.

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Well, I touched it up enough to take it to the range. I think it's a keeper. I know I can do a better job of the touch up, and am going to take a second swing at it when I get around to it, but it's better then a big bare spot of pits. We'll see how I feel about it after a second attempt.

You're getting closer and it looks a lot better.

Super Blue is a stronger cold blue and in my experience, goes on darker than the others. It's also durable. Remember the metal is the key, shiny and bright and really clean. If you can't get uniform coverage, try using a hair dryer to heat up the barrel right before applying the blue. Once it's dark enough, blend with 0000 steel wool and oil and clean and repeat as necessary.

Getting the metal oil free and polished is key to getting an even color. Super Blue is really a different breed than most other cold blues.
 
I looked in my parts kits and I have a complete 19-4 parts kit, but it's nickel.

35+ years ago, I bought a south american police trade in Rossi .38 3 inch revolver. The gun shop had 20 or 30 of them for $90 a piece, your choice...They all had almost 10% to zero bluing on them. Good mechanical condition, just carried to death. I used it for a nightstand gun and then gave it to my mom before she died to use as a nightstand gun.

About a year ago, I found it again and made this project come to life before a tropical storm hit...I stripped the entire gun down to bare metal with naval jelly and cleaned it of any oil. I then put the entire gun and all small parts in BOILING water. I removed it with tongs and applied oxpho-blue over all metal parts. I repeated this about 5 times, then generously oiled and reassembled...It doesn't even have a smell at all like cold bluing often does. The box and paperwork came from Ebay for $20.

It is certainly not Ford's quality, but for a "cold" blue, it really made a massive difference when the parts were scalding hot. I watched the bluing just being absorbed into the 200 degree hot metal...I wished I had taken before photos, but you can imagine this same gun with almost no finish...It looked horrible originally and now it looks almost as good as a 50 year old Rossi .38 can look.

If it were mine, I would clean it up very good including 1500 grit sandpaper to take all light pits out. The when ready, dip the very end of the barrel in boiling water then apply blue...Repeat multiple times using boiling water each time...Then oil the barrel liberally and blend lightly with 0000 bronze wool. It will probably turn out so dark, that you don't even notice it....Being the end of the barrel only makes it super easy.

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