Ol' Rusty

In your lineup of firearms there is always one that pulls the shortest straw, and is the first to go when something new and shinier comes along. In this instance, I was frustrated because I could not personally get along with the Ruger speed six (project detailed below). Though I carried it in the winter, I never was able to shoot it as accurately as I prefer. It was time to find it a new home where it would hopefully get along better with it's new owner. I worked out a trade locally for a poor neglected S&W 66-1 that looked like hell. I know I can shoot the 4" K frame platform well so I took a chance. The stainless had rusted and pitted severely- Yes stainless can rust if not taken care of. It had a nice trigger and Ahrends grips which needed a refinish. I took it to the range and it shot and handled nicely, but the heavily pitted yoke concerned me so I didn't put any 357's through it. [click on the pics to make them bigger]

 

 

Here are some pics showing the condition as I received it. Probably the worst looking stainless gun I've ever seen.

I've always been pretty good at sniffing out a diamond in the rough, so I got to work. Thanks to Ebay and Gunbroker I sourced a replacement yoke and cylinder in much better condition, total investment $70. I had to send back the first yoke because there are two different styles and apparently I have the less common one which is a little thicker up top. Here is a comparison pic of the cylinder:

 

 

After receiving the parts, I stripped the revolver down to screws and springs and bead blasted the entire thing. Here's where things went haywire. I read that the stainless must be allowed to repassivate- which means the outer layer of molecules exchange iron for chromium and form a protective layer. So I covered the rinsed parts in Bartenders friend which contains oxalic acid (I've used this particular acid to bleach wood in the past) which is supposed to speed up the passivation process. Well- it stained the stainless (which was looking quite nice beforehand) and made it look awful. My patience was wearing thin, so I took the parts and re beadblasted them and then immediately rinsed them and soaked them in CLP. I have some citric acid on order which is used commercially to passivate metals, so later on I will do a stain test and possibly strip the gun down and boil it in the dilute acid. Here are the after pics, the finish is very similar to the factory S&W blasted finish on the Performance Center guns:   [click on the pics to make them bigger]

I'm pleased with how it came out. I threw on the Herrett cocobolo grips that were living with my Model 18, because I like the Orange/gray color combo. Range report soon...