Aged 44 Flattop

[Lee Martin]

Dad and I went shooting Sunday and my flattop 44 Special touched 2,000 rounds. I've only owned it since November so you can imagine how much I've enjoyed the gun. It has quickly become my favorite stock Ruger.

Anyways, I really like worn old models, especially the flattops. Not having the patience to age it legitimately I cheated:





I mimicked the wear patterns of a 1958 357 I've been keeping for a project. Using 1500 grit wet sand paper I went slow and completed the antiquing with steel wool. It took less than an hour to do and I'm pleased the end result.

 

[Hooch]

Looks great Lee

 

[SATCOM]

Certainly does!

Grips are super! Know maker? CLC? They are nice.

SATCOM

 

[Arisin' Wind]

Nice looking gun. You should "age" the grips to match.

 

[Lee Martin]

Thanks guys. And yep, Cary did the grips and I have no plans to age those (that would be sacrilege). The look I was after is an old gun treated to new wood.

 

[TKLyden]

I knew I should not have looked at this post .I will be placing my order for one in the morning.This is becoming quite an addiction.

 

[Arisin' Wind]

I should have said you should find a set of aged grips.

 

[Ale-8(1)]

OMG, that one could easily blur the demarcation line and add fuel to the never-ending Old New Model vs New Old Model thingy.

Neat effort, Lee. I really like it. I've even thought of doing something similar to a "post-1962 Old Model" -- gasp, sacrilege -- just for the heck of it. Maybe even to the extent of a little "browning" effect.

 

[Hammerdown77]

Less than an hour??? That looks great!!!

 

[rugerguy]

Nice job Lee, and obviously you ENJOY shooting it!!! ( that's what they're made for!!) :wink:
Thanks for sharing...................

 

[Lee Martin]

Thanks guy and yep, this gun gets shot a lot. I load light however; 6.0 of Green Dot with a 250 grain Keith to be exact. At that level it should last a lifetime.

And the aging wasn't too risky. We do our own bluing so if it didn't turn out to my liking we could refinish it.

 

[Ale-8(1)]

Love that load!

:mrgreen:

 

[5of7]

OMG! Do I see a turn ring on that gun?

And here I always thought that you knew how to 'properly' handle a revolver......seriously though, I think it looks good too..... Although I might not have gone quite that far, it does give it that 'faithful companion" look.

Lee's Ruger version of pre-washed jeans. 8)

 

[Ale-8(1)]

Um . . . it's a New Model.

They all get the turn ring, unless modified internally.

:wink:

Hey . . . "faithful companion" . . . it's the "Kemo Sabe" gun!!!!

:lol: :lol: :mrgreen: :lol: :lol:

 

[Lee Martin]

Ale-8 is correct. There's no way around the turn ring unless you modify the guts. We do just that on our customs but I left this one as is.

The only thing about this finish (or lack there of) is corrosion. This gun gets a generous dose of industrial grade oil though so it should be fine.

 

[5of7]

Ale-8 is correct. There's no way around the turn ring unless you modify the guts. We do just that on our customs but I left this one as is.

I was being facetious.... :lol:

 

[Lee Martin]

Got it. I wasn't sure because I've seen threads where folks say you can cock a NM so the line doesn't appear.

 

[Ale-8(1)]

Yep. One never knows.

There are still many folks who are not aware of this "feature" of the New Models, so it never hurts to repeat it.

 

[Anonymous]

There are still many folks who are not aware of this "feature" of the New Models...

What's a "New Model Ruger"? Oh, never mind, I remember now...was just having a senior moment. They're those guns they started making back in the mid- to late-seventies when they phased out the real Ruger single actions.

 

[GA Cracker]

It does look good to me also. It's kinda like the love of your life and makes you want to hold and caress it. I think Ruger has some of you guys on a sales retainer . CMH has "And on the eighth day God gave us the 44 special and the Bisley grip......perfection " well I have always been a Bisley man with the 45 Colt but I just couldn't shake yall's 44 Flattop rants and "On the eighth day God gave us" so when I saw one on GunBroker with my OCD mind and I couldn't help myself. She was so beautiful I just had to hold her in my hands. I couldn't help myself and made one poke at the starting bid price and won the auction as nobody else bid on it. With nobody else bidding She was just meant for my hands only. It was love at first sight so I drove the 110 miles one way to pick her up the next day which was yesterday. On the way home I sat her in the leather seat beside me so I could caress her and look at her all I wanted to. My "On the eighth day perfection" is a deep blue almost black 4&5/8 Flattop with Bisley Rosewood Grips. After holding her this morning I finally forced myself to cock it twice and test the trigger. I know how Robin Meade's husband must feel cause it's hard to keep my hands and eyes off her so I have named my "perfection" Robin

 

[Anonymous]

There's a guy at Outlaw Grips who actually ages the guns and grips chemically. You can see some examples here: http://www.outlawgrips.com/index_files/Page635.htm

 

[The Blackhawk Kid]

Why would anybody do that to a gun?

 

[Joe S.]

Your posts always intrigue me. Pretty neat. My 45 acp vaquero gets shot more than anything else i have. Had it since april i guess and i am probably pushing 5-600 rounds. It is my favorite. Cant hit crap with it but its fun, never the less. it is getting some holster wear now at the muzzle and the loading gate is already turning plum, which i find odd as new as it is.
But still, i shoot it more than anything else i have right now, even my 44 spl flattop bisley. I hope to be getting a 45 colt blackhawk tuesday and will probably shoot it a lot. I have one already but it is my "deer rifle". It is scoped and has a long barrel. Been wanting a shorter bbl for playing and carry on the farm. 4.5" is a whole lot easier to tote than 7.5"...

 

[Jim Puke]

Looks nice, but a little too much aging.

 

[mike722]

I'm normally a condition-based collector, but I like the way that one looks!

 

[KWYJIBO]

That aging method turned out nice. One of the Gunblast guys did something similar to this. I don't remember if it was Boge or Jeff, but he wore down the factory bluing, giving particular attention to the corners and high spots. He even went so far as to bugger up the screw heads a little, to really simulate the kind of wear you'd see on a very old revolver.

I've looked at single actions with antique finish from the factories, in person from Uberti and pics on the website in the case of USFA. Some of those look pretty good, but I think a mass-produced finish cannot match one done by hand at home.

I don't have a gun I want to put this treatment to, but I have some ideas on how I'd do it if I ever find one. Naval jelly will chemically remove bluing quicker than you can say "William B. Ruger." I think by diluting it in warm water, you could slow down its action a lot and also help it flow into cracks and crevices. Maybe a 20- or 30-to-one solution, deep enough to submerge the entire gun for a few minutes, followed by lots of rinsing in fresh water to stop it. This could simulate the general effect of age on the entire surface. Then, I'd go over all the high wear areas with a red Scotchbrite and light pressure, followed by green Scotchbrite on all the edges. I like this stuff better than steel wool.

Anyway, I know talk is cheap. Actually attacking your gun's finish buys a whole lot more cred than my saying what I "would" do. Yours looks really cool, Lee. And I bet with 2000 rounds through it, the action is starting to smooth up, too.

 

[Ale-8(1)]

Why would anybody do that to a gun?

Just to add a little "old-timey" appearance to a classic single-action.

It's a New Model, so it's not like he "corrupted" a scarce Old Model.

Just . . . for the heck of it.

 

[Bob Wright]

Lee, you? Lacking patience? Surely you jest!

Bob Wright

 

[Lee Martin]

Thanks guys and yes, the action is starting to smooth up nicely. The only thing that bothered me a little are the machine marks from the factory. You can see where the barrel was turned and where the frame was polished in some spots (swirl marks). Those weren't made by the sandpaper or steel wool I used. I could buff them out but it would entail removing all of the finish in those areas. Anyways, I'm pleased with the look and appreciate the feedback.