Ruger MKII Frame Question

[catmath 1911]

Hello All,

I have a question about ruger's blued MKII frame. Mine was experincing some wear on the backstrap, and I thought I would touch it up with some cold blue. Well, I tried birchwood-casey and every type of cold blue Brownells has, none worked. So i bought some blue remover and stripped the frame with the intentions of sending the frame off for hardchroming. Well that was two months ago and I still have not sent it off. The reason being is that the bare metal has not rusted or even taken a patina. It is still as shiny as it was when I stripped it. So what gives, does Ruger use a higher Chromium content in their steels or what?

catmath 1911

 

[Badger Arms]

Don't know. I'd still get it finished. Try sending it to Ruger. Last I heard, they were charging $45 to reblue it and you get a factory reblue that will look just like it came out of the box. Better yet, they'll look it over and replace any parts that need it.

 

[Jim K]

I don't know the steel they use, either, but sometimes stamped parts are more rust resistant that forged or cast parts. I agree with Badger Arms that Ruger will do a good reblue job. They don't do chrome, though, so you will have to find someone else if you want that done.

jim

 

[Kruzr]

Its my understanding that all the Mark2 frames are stainless. They use a coating process not an oxidizing process to make the "blued" ones.