Old Model 3 screw Blackhawk project

[WarKingDread]

Howdy folks.

I posted this gun recently as I was considering purchasing it. I did end up buying it for $325.00 and am very happy I did so.

It is an unconverted old model which as you can see has some pretty serious finish issues.

I've read about removing the bluing with vinegar and then perhaps polishing it.

My questions are will removing the bluing and polishing it have any negatives attached to it? Will the gun be more prone to wear, rust etc. I'm not concerned with impacting the value of the gun by removing the bluing as it is already beat up and was an inexpensive purchase.

The gun will be shot allot and I just want it to look less beat up.

What thoughts, concerns and suggestions can you share?

 

[veeman]

If it were mine, I'd just leave it be and shoot it as is.

 

[hunter966]

Dang, I wish I could find a deal like that. Nice snag.

 

[WarKingDread]

I can't argue that mentality other than I'd like it to look better and a simple little gun project sounds fun.

Are their any downsides other than preference of blued versus shiny metal?

 

[WarKingDread]

Dang, I wish I could find a deal like that. Nice snag.

Thank you. I was excited to find it. Am just getting into this and am in love with Ruger Single Actions.

Others on the forum were very helpful in making me understand that this was a no Rainer purchase.

It shoots far better than I do.

 

[powder smoke]

No downside imo, cleaning the metal is most important thing. Fun project. ps

 

[woodperson]

Personally I think taking off the finish and ending up with "polished" metal is a huge negative just in itself. Of course it will be more prone to rust and harder to maintain "in the white". That is why guns were blued to start with. But that is just me. Maybe I am just missing it, but I do not see any rust on that gun? Or a whole lot of finish damage.

 

[WarKingDread]

Personally I think taking off the finish and ending up with "polished" metal is a huge negative just in itself. Of course it will be more prone to rust and harder to maintain "in the white". That is why guns were blued to start with. But that is just me. Maybe I am just missing it, but I do not see any rust on that gun? Or a whole lot of finish damage.

Based on your guy's responses I'm leaving it alone. You are correct that there is no rust. It's just the finish that's not great. Allot of scratches and although not visible in the pic, the chamber is oddly splotchy in places.

 

[jmar]

You can get some cold blue and rub it over the entire gun. It'd get rid of all the scratches. Then you can sand and refinish the grips, with just that it should look pretty nice.

 

[contender]

First,,, you did get one heck of a good deal. In fact, a buddy of mine who lurks here mentioned seeing your earlier posts & commented on how he couldn't recall seeing a shooter like that as cheap as you got it. He's bought several with a little help from me hooking him up with Forum members. Also, like others above,,, all I see is a solid shooter grade gun you wouldn't have to worry about actually using. If the gun is stripped, and "in the white" you are exposing the metal to potential rust issues. Bluing was created to help prevent such things.
I recently bought an OM 45 that was in a LOT worse shape than yours. It had been left to rust & has a lot of pitting in many places. While the gun had been rescued & was no longer subjected to such neglect, it is considered a shooter as well. But I wanted to do something to help prevent the further spreading of potential rusting & pitting. I had the gun stripped, bead blasted, and Cerakoted. Now, the gun looks better, but you can still see where the pitting is,,, but now,,, it has a protective finish applied.
Your gun has MINOR issues as compared to mine. Now, if the grip frame is an issue,,, you can strip it,,, as it's an aluminum alloy, and as such, be stripped & not suffer the potential effects of rusting. Many folks have stripped the grip frames & polished the aluminum to a nice shiny surface. You can also do this with the ejector rod housing if you wish. Once done that way,,, many of us call these guns "Pinto's" due to the dual colors.
But the issues I see in your picture are what most of us would call "character" of a gun that was used as Bill Ruger built them for.
Just my measley 0.02 cents worth.

 

[Joe S.]

I wouldnt polish it and leave it bare. But that would make a fine candidate for a high polish blue, case hardened frame, and fire blue screws.

 

[WarKingDread]

Thanks for the perspective Contender. It was you I believe who most prompted me to purchase the Ruger.

 

[WarKingDread]

I wouldnt polish it and leave it bare. But that would make a fine candidate for a high polish blue, case hardened frame, and fire blue screws.

This sounds very interesting. How do I go about getting that done?

 

[2sheriffs]

If you would like it to look nice, I would send it to Ruger for a reblue. Taking all the finish off would really hurt the resale value, in my opinion much more than a factory reblue. They will convert it to the transfer bar safety, but if you don't like that just put the old parts back in it.
Ron

 

[WarKingDread]

If you would like it to look nice, I would send it to Ruger for a reblue. Taking all the finish off would really hurt the resale value, in my opinion much more than a factory reblue. They will convert it to the transfer bar safety, but if you don't like that just put the old parts back in it.
Ron

I've thought about that and would love how nice it would look but, and I guess this is silly, I don't want them stamping an R on it.

 

[eric conrad]

You could send it to Bobby Tyler. tyler4656 on the forum.
Bobby does Excellent work. Great prices and quick turn around.
www.tylergunworks.com
Eric

 

[woodperson]

Not pushing for you to send it to Ruger. But I did do one that way. The mailer they send for the "conversion" is worth about $60 in free shipping. They charge around $80 to reblue and refinish the metal. You likely will never see the R. It is under the gripframe supposedly. I took the grip frame off of mine when it came back and I still could not see the R. I did the whole monty and had them install a steel grip frame and extractor housing. (This was on a .41 Mag). They did send back the old parts but I would not take that chance again.

Now for the other side. I now have a perfectly refinished Ruger that I do not like the looks of as well as I did when it was beat up. Mine was much worse than yours and had a lot of pitting on the cylinder and very deep digs in the frame and extractor housing so I felt I had to do it. It looked like it had ridden many miles in the bottom of a tool box in a truck. You can only use that free mailer once. So there is a fairly cheap option is you want it refinished by Ruger. In my mind not sending it back increases the value because of the one time free shipping to them. I do not think that a Ruger refinished OM will sell for much more than one in the condition of yours. The finish is different than on the OM's. It seems many people are looking for a OM .357 as a build platform so they are good with the beatup gun.

Maybe the thing to do is just keep it and shoot it for a while. You certainly did good buying it. I am looking for a OM .357 right now and I think you got a good deal. You can be thinking about your options. Maybe you will run across a refinisher that does good work. How does it shoot? You can get some Ortho Blue from Brownel's to use on the steel for touch up.

 

[Joe S.]

I wouldnt polish it and leave it bare. But that would make a fine candidate for a high polish blue, case hardened frame, and fire blue screws.

This sounds very interesting. How do I go about getting that done?

Tyler Gun Works could oblige.

Bobby is a member here and does excellent work. I'll see if i can dig up some of his posts.

 

[Joe S.]

You could send it to Bobby Tyler. tyler4656 on the forum.
Bobby does Excellent work. Great prices and quick turn around.
http://www.tylergunworks.com
Eric

Didn't realize you had replied. Thanks.

Here is an example of his work.

http://www.rugerforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=41&t=244609&p=2455975&hilit=Tyler#p2455975

 

[Joe S.]

Maybe the thing to do is just keep it and shoot it for a while. You certainly did good buying it. I am looking for a OM .357 right now and I think you got a good deal. You can be thinking about your options. Maybe you will run across a refinisher that does good work.

Not a bad idea for sure. You may think of other things you want do e before having it refinished.

 

[DGW1949]

On a different subject, but relevant to the "project gun" aspect....
Unless your gun's hammer was sitting on it's "safety notch" when that picture was taken, it's perty-safe bet that you're going to be needing a new trigger.

DGW

 

[WarKingDread]

How does it shoot? You can get some Ortho Blue from Brownel's to use on the steel for touch up.

Good info.

It shoots great. Possibly better than my brand new Blackhawk also in 357.

I do really love the gun and it does seem that the use it's finish implies is growing on me. I'm not concerned about its values, just that it is fun to look at and shoot.

So much to think about.

 

[WarKingDread]

You could send it to Bobby Tyler. tyler4656 on the forum.
Bobby does Excellent work. Great prices and quick turn around.
http://www.tylergunworks.com
Eric

This I will look into. thank you

 

[WarKingDread]

You could send it to Bobby Tyler. tyler4656 on the forum.
Bobby does Excellent work. Great prices and quick turn around.
http://www.tylergunworks.com
Eric

Didn't realize you had replied. Thanks.

Here is an example of his work.

http://www.rugerforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=41&t=244609&p=2455975&hilit=Tyler#p2455975

Holy crap that's gorgeous!

 

[WarKingDread]

On a different subject, but relevant to the "project gun" aspect....
Unless your gun's hammer was sitting on it's "safety notch" when that picture was taken, it's perty-safe bet that you're going to be needing a new trigger.

DGW

Can you elaborate, I know nothing of these things.

 

[WarKingDread]

Thanks to all who have taken the time to share their knowledge. This has really turned out to be fun for me.

I bought my first firearm two years ago, a Remington 870.

I purchased my first handgun one year ago, a Colt 1911.

Since that time I have become a Ruger fan obsessed with the single actions.

My Ruger Family:

Ruger 10/22
Ruger American Rifle - .22 cal bolt action.
Ruger Precision Rifle in .308
Ruger SR22
New Model Lipsey's Ruger Blackhawk 357 / 22 convertible.
And the 3 screw subject of this topic.

It was so cool coming across this old gun. It was a few weeks after I bought the NM and had just started learning about the history of the Blackhawks, 3 screw, Flat Tops, Transfer bars etc. When in my LGS I now look in the used section primarily and that is how I found this. It was on the bottom shelf in the rear of the store behind the other showcased used guns. I did know enough at this time that it was a 3 screw and checked immediately for the transfer bar status. I was excited to hold one after having started reading about them and was shocked when I asked the price. Apparently they have had this gun on that shelf for about a year.

This is when I got less excited, I figured for sure it could only be sitting there that long at that price if it had some serious issues with it. So I posted it here and got some great responses which lead me to jump on the purchase.

I am just so glad that I grabbed what apparently no one in my area had any interest in. I bet it seems funny that while I know this is no collectors find, no amazing unearthing of a rare gem, but to me, it has kind of turned into that.

I've got a hunger that can only be satisfied with old Ruger single action revolvers.

At the Forum's suggestion I sent a message to Bobby Tyler at http://www.tylergunworks.com to get his thoughts on doing some work on my worn 3 screw. We shall see what we can see.

Thanks!

Ken

 

[Joe S.]

He does great work. I have seen several of his pieces first hand.

 

[gtxmonte]

I second or third or whatever it is on Bobby Tyler. He has done several for me and his work is impeccable. If that were mine I would do the high polish alum of the grip frame and let Bobby reblue the rest.

I haven't let him case harden one for me yet......but that's next. I am all about personalizing my guns. I just chopped the barrel and installed a brass grip frame on an old model 44 mag flat top

 

[WarKingDread]

I second or third or whatever it is on Bobby Tyler. He has done several for me and his work is impeccable. If that were mine I would do the high polish alum of the grip frame and let Bobby reblue the rest.

I haven't let him case harden one for me yet......but that's next. I am all about personalizing my guns. I just chopped the barrel and installed a brass grip frame on an old model 44 mag flat top

Yep. I'm leaning this way. Thinking of case hardening in the charcoal scheme. A brass grip frame would be awesome.

 

[DGW1949]

On a different subject, but relevant to the "project gun" aspect....
Unless your gun's hammer was sitting on it's "safety notch" when that picture was taken, it's perty-safe bet that you're going to be needing a new trigger.

DGW

Can you elaborate, I know nothing of these things.

Looking at the photo, it's obvious to me that the trigger is much further-forward than it should be. The only two reasons that I know of for that is....either the hammer has been pulled back to it's "safety notch" (I can't tell from the photo), or the sear-edge of the trigger is either broken or worn past it's serviceable limit.

Just saying that it might be something that you want to investigate.

DGW