OM Rugers With The Plum Colored Frames - Please Explain

[flatgate]

If your cylinder was PLUMB color, it might have been rust.
Chet15

?? How do you explain the D.A. revolver image posted by Mr. WMG??

Steel is steel and some alloys, whether forged or cast "may" interact with the chemicals present in the "coloring process". I'm no chemist, I'm no metallurgist, but I don't see any other answer to this query.....

JMHO,

flatgate

 

[Ale-8(1)]

Exactly. In this case, the cylinder and frame are made from different pieces of steel. The frame is investment cast, and the cylinder very likely cut/turned from bar stock. They may not have even gone thru the same blueing bath at the same time. I don't find the difference in finish to be too surprising at all.

JMHO

 

[chet15]

If your cylinder was PLUMB color, it might have been rust.
Chet15

?? How do you explain the D.A. revolver image posted by Mr. WMG??

Steel is steel and some alloys, whether forged or cast "may" interact with the chemicals present in the "coloring process". I'm no chemist, I'm no metallurgist, but I don't see any other answer to this query.....

JMHO,

flatgate

Carl:
I was being sarcastic with Robert 58 earlier in the post, because he said the gun he was talking about had laid in a desk drawer for five years, and the "plumb" color wiped off. That did sound like at least surface rust to me...or maybe it was a light coat of dried cosmoline? But, I've never seen the purple color rub off one of those early Single-Six or Flattop frames.
Secondly, I got the info I did (on the silicon issue) from writing a metullurgy institute on the whys and wherefores of purple discoloration in cast steels that were blued. WBR also backs it up in Ruger & His Guns.

As to the purple cylinder in WMG's post, I'd say it almost was surely something to do with heat treating the cylinder.
It could be that Ruger cast a few DA cylinders, but doubtful. Comparitive costs from just using round bar stock for cylinder material would be much cheaper than spending all that hard earned $ into making the wax injection die for such a part and then putting it all into the process for making a true casting. Don't think Ruger would have done this some 20 years after what they learned with the Single-Six.
Chet15

 

[contender]

Did anybody else notice the red eagle grip medallion on TWalkers SA????
Just for info, there weren't any FACTORY red eagle SA's.
I still love the plum colors!

 

[flatgate]

Chet,

Sorry, I missed the gist of your statement....

I don't always "get it" when folks are poking fun at others or at me......

:roll:

flatgate

 

[rugerguy]

Dals, very NICE looking 'SS-32" , I like it..........
yes, as we said before, it can be ANY and all of the parts at any given time, as these parts can have been "done" at another time, not necessarily as a "set".......yes, like the Colt Python mentioned ,it could have been "just fine, and match" at the time of inspection ( QC) and have turned "plum" soon after it left the factory,sometimes years later....
and yes, these colors can be "replicated" and made "plum" by altering the time and temperature of the 'bluing salts' bath.........
that is why so often the 'true collectors' of other makes and models, will pick on this as it is a "fault" and can infer that the part and /or gun was indeed "refinished", and not properly.
So back to the original question, yes, it can be either 'metallurgy' (the make-up of the steel, ( alloy) and or the "process of finishing ( bluing)

 

[Colonel Daddy]

Plum parts can show up almost anywhere in Rugers handguns. Just a few days ago I was admiring a Target Bisley with a nice plum loading gate. But it was very light and could only be seen when the light hit it at just the right angle.

 

[chet15]

But....from WBR's own words (but not true of every part) that the purple color of an amazingly intricate (I stress "intricate") steel part is the telltale sign of an investment casting.

The investment casting process is only economical if you can save a bunch of heavy machining operations, and you can cast all the intracies of a part which would otherwise add a lot of man hours completing those complex machining operations.

In Ruger's case, parts are cut from bar stock only when it is more economical to do so. Cylinders are a good example of this.

So the parts we know are investment cast on an SA, like Ruger's steel grip frames, hammers, loading gates and cylinder frames will all have silicon added during the investment casting process. Silicon in as much a part of the investment casting process as the steel itself. Therefore, if a part turns out to be purple after the blueing process, my own suspicion would be silicon first, and heat treating/blueing process 2nd. And hey, purple could also be caused from a combination of the two I suppose.

You know, if Ruger's bluing process was standard, which I'm not sure how much difference you can have from one blueing batch to the next (I've never blued before...is it just a simple recipe?), then the purple color or any variation thereof is a reaction of the metal to the bluing process. So wouldn't we be back to metal content again??

However it was created, I like it all!

Chet15

 

[flatgate]

Casting? Here's an early Single-Six cylinder frame.

Ruger has used the Du-Lite brand chemicals for quite some time.

Click HERE



flatgate

 

[Elwood]

Hey Folks...I saw this post regarding "plum" coloring and wanted to share this one with ya. Sorry, it's not a Ruger...Savage Model 29A (.22 pump). Talk about color.... Most of the rifle has nice bluing but the receiver and trigger guard, etc. are covered in "plum".

Elwood

 

[chet15]

I've seen that model before, but I don't remember if that action is steel or not? I was thinking it wasn't, but maybe its so light as to feel like its made out of a lighter material.
Chet15

 

[cessnapilot]

I have a 1979 Model 77 in .243. The receiver is definitely plum colored. Always wondered about that. Couldn't figure it out.
-pilot

 

[BlackEagle]

Did anybody else notice the red eagle grip medallion on TWalkers SA????
Just for info, there weren't any FACTORY red eagle SA's.
I still love the plum colors!

No Old Models had them. The 50th Anniversary Single Six had Red Eagles didn't it?!

I have a 50th Anniversary .44 Flat Top with a plum loading gate, the cylinder frame and gripframe are somewhat plum too.

 

[Dan in MI]

I've been looking at 80's era Dan Wessons. The ones that had that GEORGEOUS mirror blue. A lot of them are now completely "cherry" like WMG's cyl.

Thinking hard about a 10" .357 Max (SuperMag) that is solid cherry.

 

[Walter Rego]

Another one here. I have an M77R that I bought new in 1980. The receiver turned dark purple within about 3-4 years after I bought it.

I have a 1979 Model 77 in .243. The receiver is definitely plum colored. Always wondered about that. Couldn't figure it out.
-pilot

 

[cessnapilot]

Another one here. I have an M77R that I bought new in 1980. The receiver turned dark purple within about 3-4 years after I bought it.

I have a 1979 Model 77 in .243. The receiver is definitely plum colored. Always wondered about that. Couldn't figure it out.
-pilot

Which caliber do you have? My .243 is total tack driver, I have a cheap Bushnell 4 power scope on it and it shoots into less then one inch at 100yds from a rest, It's a bone stock rifle.

 

[Walter Rego]

My M77R is chambered for .280 Remington and is fitted with an old Redfield Widefield 2-7X scope, the one with the "TV screen" lenses that was popular back when I bought it. It is very accurate with 140 grain Sierra boattails and a healthy charge of 4831.

Another one here. I have an M77R that I bought new in 1980. The receiver turned dark purple within about 3-4 years after I bought it.

I have a 1979 Model 77 in .243. The receiver is definitely plum colored. Always wondered about that. Couldn't figure it out.
-pilot

Which caliber do you have? My .243 is total tack driver, I have a cheap Bushnell 4 power scope on it and it shoots into less then one inch at 100yds from a rest, It's a bone stock rifle.

 

[43north]

Another one here. I have an M77R that I bought new in 1980. The receiver turned dark purple within about 3-4 years after I bought it.

Same for a .358 Winchester from that era that I had pass through my hands. The receiver was distinctly plum hued compared to the barrel.

 

[rbertalotto]

When I was younger and started collecting Rugers, I used to think the Plum was special and collectable. Now I really don't like it. It's a mistake, a problem, something that shouldn't leave a factory. A wart on the face of a beautiful woman............

I have a couple of Rugers (a rifle and a Single Six) that were blue when I bought them and over the 30 years I've owned them, have turned Plum. Strange....

I do remember years ago, conversations suggesting that WD40 would turn guns plum. Interesting to note that these two guns are only two that I own that have had heavy doses of WD40. I won't let WD40 near a firearm any longer. Not because I'm afraid of it changing the collor, I just don't like how it gums up the works overtime, and there are so much better, modern, synthetics available now.

 

[Chance]

Picked up a NM 32-20/.32 H&R Mag Buckeye Blackhawk this weekend with a fine plum color. Just another example that the plum can show up anytime as these were only produced in 1988. Cylinder frame is quite plum while the steel grip frame is begining to show. Beautiful gun complete with box and all paperwork.