Help needed with damage to gun finish.

[valencia]

I shot my new Rogers and Spencer BP for the first time this weekend. When I got home I put the cylinder in a cup of hot water with a little dish washing soap (the normal stuff for hand washing) for 30 minutes then cleaned it and rinsed it. When it was dry I found the plating was badly damaged. I am pretty sure it was badly plated but I would like your opinion on this as I am trying to get a replacement from the dealer as I cant see it being my fault!
The finish is pitted and rough in places and judging from the shape and position of the spots it looks like it wasnt cleaned properly before plating. The finish is the "London Grey" which is a nickel plate finish.

Please let me know what you think.

 

[ColtPythonElite]

Are you sure that's not lead?

 

[valencia]

Yes I am sure. It is as if something ate into the finish. I tried scratching it off with my nails and a hard plastic tool. I looked at it under a 10x and 20x jewelers loupe and can see that there is damage to the finish. Also I used some solvent which would have taken of led or residue.

 

[beag_nut]

Also very interesting are the little "divots" right next to the cylinder notches.

 

[4v50 Gary]

I'm more concerned about the divits on the cylinder notches.

Plating was mentioned. Someone tell me about that plating. It looks like a blued finish.

If I wanted it refinish, I'd polish it and the express blue it at home. All you need is a pot of boiling water.

Express bluing may be purchased from Brownell's and that's what the school had for me to use. Instructions are included and they are quite simple and unlike hot salt bluing, can be done at home. It is more durable too than hot salt bluing.

1) Clean the barrel. Acetone to remove the oils but so will other things.
2) heat the barrel. A propane torch passed over the workpiece works.
3) Apply express blue with a cotton swab.
4) Dump into tank of boiling water for ten minutes.
5) Card.

Repeat steps 1-5 until desired blue is reached.

 

[valencia]

Its not blued. It has a brushed nickel plate finish which looks like a grey stainless steel. The cylinder is brighter than the rest of the gun, but the rest of the gun was cleaned with olive oil so if the dealer is correct and the soap caused the problem it would only have affected the cylinder.
If they wont replace it I will have to get it re-plated unless a little steel wool will clean it up.

 

[valencia]

The divots seem to have been caused by running the cutting bit too close so the shaft touched the cylinder.

 

[beag_nut]

The divots seem to have been caused by running the cutting bit too close so the shaft touched the cylinder.

That is EXTREMELY unlikely. If it did happen that way, the cutter would have removed the displaced metal on its way out of the slot. Those divots happened after machining. When, I don't know. The divots intrude into the slots.

 

[Gaucho Gringo]

I have a 70's manufactured R&S which is blued but has turned plum color. I just went to the safe and took it out and looked at it. It has a very definite turn line on the cylinder(don't know how it was treated the 35 years before I purchased it)but it shows no peening of the cylinder slots by the bolt like yours does. As pointed out in the previous post the cylinder bolt slots shows post manufacture peening of the cylinder slots because some metal is being displaced into the bolt slots. Your revolver is probably out of time allowing the bolt to fall early or possibly the bolt itself has a defect. Either way it should have come from the factory without any problems but in today's world very few guns come out of the factory perfect.

 

[N.Schafer]

The peening is from the bolt coming up late and hitting the edge of the slot. When it comes up earlier, it will leave a drag line but won't peen the weaker corner metal.

As for the finish, I would just refinish it myself or pay a professional to do it. A replacement cylinder may have the same plating problems.

 

[slumlord44]

If it is new I would expect the manufacture to take care of it.

 

[valencia]

Thanks for the info! The odd thing is that I have only fired 20 rounds with it and it came new with those marks. I put a bit of marker pen on each of the divots and cycled the cylinder a couple of times and the ink hadnt been touched, so it doesnt seem to be a problem now. I am wondering if my gun was put together out of left over parts or something, although accuracy seems good.

 

[Gaucho Gringo]

Sorry, I got it backwards. But the turn line can also be caused by bringing the revolver to half cock and them putting it back to rest without going to full cock first. Or are R&S different in this respect than Colts and Remmingtons?

 

[kitsapshooter]

I don't know all the other stuff, but the spots are caused by oil on the metal before finishing. I have seen several instances of it.