Case Hardened vs Blued?

[BobbyQuickdraw]

In specific regards to the Ruger Vaquero, I sometimes see it described as "Case Hardened" or "Blue" or "Blued" in opposition to Stainless Steel.

I'm not a huge fan of the look of SS, so I'm not entirely interested in it.

My question is:

Is the blued Case Hardened or are there three options?
Blue
Case Hardened
Stainless

Or is it just:
Blue (which is Case Hardened)
Stainless

I can't really do much research on my own at the moment, I'm at work and most gun websites are blocked.

Thanks in advance.

 

[cmidkiff]

Bluing is a surface oxidation treatment, normally dark blue in color (surprise!)
Case hardening is the natural result of a heat treating process, resulting in a dark metal finish with patterns of black and/or purple shading.

Many classic firearms are blued, with a case hardened hammer, trigger, sometimes the frame, it's quite common to see both processes used on different components of a single weapon.

Hope this helps

 

[BobbyQuickdraw]

It does!

The FFL I'm using for my Vaqueros is a bit of a drive away so I like to take care of as much business as possible through email or phone. I know I didn't want stainless, but was confused as to what the proper term/terms were for the other "color option."

Thanks!

 

[Hawk]

Case hardened frame:

Uberti Case color (upper) with Ruger bluing on JW New Vaquero (lower):

On a Ruger I prefer blue but that's just me.

The Ruger case color, I've heard, is much improved but isn't "real" case coloring. I don't have a Ruger so finished but someone will be along with a pic shortly. Neither the Uberti nor the USFA is a good representation of the Ruger color IIRC. Should give you some idea, though.

ETA: Compliments of Ruger's site:

I'm not seeing a blue frame, just case colored frames with blued cylinders / barrels or stainless. My search-fu is weak this day.

 

[BobbyQuickdraw]

I had trouble finding just blued Vaqueros too. The only one I found was the John Wayne Tribute Vaquero, which is very expensive.

I think I would prefer blue slightly more, but the case hardened look isn't bad at all.

 

[Hawk]

They (Ruger) had a blue frame model with faux ivory grips a while back that looked pretty good to me - at least in pics, never saw one in person.

They seem to run blue frames just often enough to tease those of us that like the looks of a blue frame.

But, nothing wrong with the case color - post pics if you get one.

 

[Gator]

Just FYI, Ruger's case coloring is not actual case hardening as described by cmidkiff. It is just a chemical process that gives it that case hardened look.