Early CCH Vaqueros, Rust Issues?

[Tip]

I've come across this topic in my search of CCH on Vaqueros from the early-to-mid '90s.

Has anyone here experienced this problem?

 

[Bear Paw Jack]

I've had more than a few CCH Vaqueros and only got a little patch of rust on one of them. The CCH does lighten up some, but that's just going to happen. Makes them look used. I like used guns. Worst case send it back to Ruger and they will re-blue it, solid blue. Or at least they did in the past. Not sure about now.

 

[Coop]

Here are two of mine purchased new in 1997. Each has over 12,000 rounds thru them in 18 years of CAS competitions.



Many have complained about loss of faux CCH finish and rusting, but these have held up fine. They are cleaned and lubed after each match. good gun maintenance works every time.

Best

 

[rugerguy]

if taken care of, maintained they can hold up ,but this is NOT a "color case hardened" rpocess with the Vaqueros, it was a chemical "inked on" procedure, as the metal used to alloy cast the frames is an alloy of 4140 chrome -moly steel thus a "complex" metal, alloy and as such cannot properly be "case HARDENED" as to the old ways of the Colts, and others, at those high temperatures, the casting can and will become "brittle", not hold up structurily, today those such as Turnbull and others use a slight variation of "case color" , with out the "hardening" so are not quite the same...companies such as the one that was here in southern Ohio, Springfield Color Case would NOT do any Rugers, never would, ,tried it and they failed, we saw what happened way back in the late 60's................
bottom line take care of it, do NOT over clean, nor use any strong chemical solutions, and as noted above, the factory no longer refinishes the Vaqueros this way, and were just "rebluing" them solid color....( black blue, much like a Dulite solution and similar to black oxide, a stronger,more durable finish finish,thus MORE "black, than blued"...................(EPA made them remove the niter from bluing solutions used in this country),others still do, so there is Belgium blues, and always the "best", rust blued...........yes, firearms "bluing" is only a "controlled oxidation" of the guns metal surface....... 8) :roll: :wink:

 

[Coop]

Dan,

On my post, I did type "faux". And it was "faux" CCH. And I knew it was "faux" CCH when I bought them, and bought Annie's pair, back in 1997. Ruger was very upfront about their "faux" CCH process.

I am not trying to hide anything. All I am doing is sharing my experience with Ruger's Faux CCH on my Vaqueros with the OP concern about rusting and with the RF.

 

[PotatoJudge]

I've got three. One has held up with no issues, the other two are about 80 numbers apart on serial numbers and I can't keep rust off them. Oil, silicone gun socks, paste wax, nothing seems to stop it. I assumed that something changed somewhere in the process and some guns are rust prone and others less so.

 

[Tip]

Thanks everyone, for the informative responses (& nice picture, Coop!).

The one I'm looking at is SN below 15K, IIRC. (2nd year, I believe.)

I do understand that it's a faux CCH. Dan's great explanation was illuminating, just the same.

I now wonder if my 7/8th size Colt New Frontier in .22 cal. has real CCH?

 

[GLASSMAN]

I would suggest to never store the guns in the plastic bag that they were originally shipped in.
The bag can't breath, holds moisture and Will rust many of those CCH blue guns.
I wrap all my guns in rust inhibit paper.
I bought a couple hundred sheets from Smith and Wesson about 8 years ago.
Felt a bit crunchy about wrapping my Rugers in S&W paper, but I've got a few Smiths too, so what the heck.
Vapor control paper can be bought online from U-line nowdays.
And at this exact moment, I can't remember what the stuff is called. :?
A senior moment.
VRC?

 

[Bear Paw Jack]

If I remember correctly, there was a series of numbers that were more prone to the rust than the rest. I don't recall what the explanation was, and I don't think the numbers were a huge spread but they did come up with some sort of explanation back when that came out as a problem. Maybe this will help someone remember the rest of the story.

 

[Hondo44]

There's acid leached into the metal from the metal cleaning process Ruger used before finishing, that wasn't completely neutralized. Soak the gun in a heavy solution of baking soda and warm water for 24 hrs. Agitate the solution from time to time. Flush with plain water, dry and re-oil. Best to take the grip frame off or at least loosen the screws so the solution can get to those surfaces.

 

[375supermag]

Hi...

I have a couple of full-size blued, faux case-colored Vaqueros in .45Colt.
Several thousand rounds through each...no rust(cleaned after every shooting session, wiped down with Rem-Oil wipes before being put away), the faux case-coloring has faded somewhat(not badly) over the years.