Repairing Initials Scratched In Blue?

[Cosmoline]

I've found a beautiful old Colt OP with deep Royal Blue on it, but some dunderhead scratched his initials on the side of the frame. Should I even consider a spot repair of this? Can it be repaired in shop without destroying the Royal Blue finish on the rest of the revolver?

 

[simmonsguns]

ouch.i doubt that what ever repair you do will match,it depends on how large the scratches are but anyone who would do this would also make them as big and deep as possible.aside from a refinish,it would seam they are there for good.is there a way that you could post good pics of the scratches.

 

[dfariswheel]

Unfortunately, the marks are scratched INTO the metal.
The only way to "remove" them is to polish the entire area down until the scratches disappear.

There is no way to refinish just the affected area, since re-bluing would also affect the old blue.
If this is a pre-war Colt, the finish was the old Colt Carbona heat blue, not the post-war hot salts blue.
The two are not compatible.

Colt blue will do no more than color the actual scratches, and will almost always discolor the original blue.

Sorry, but when stupid people deface guns it's either forever, or a complete refinish.

 

[Old Fuff]

:banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead:

Are you sure these marks are on the frame and not the sideplate?

Also submit a partial serial number (on the frame behind the crane. You'll have to swing out the cylinder to see it). With that, the date of manufacture can be determined, and the particular bluing process that was used at the time.

 

[Gunsnrovers]

A friend who had a bunch of firearms stolen got back an older Colt SAA from NYPD that had the case number scratched in the frame. Only practical way to get it to go away was to beadblast and reblue. Gave it a nice practical finish with no more marks, but the beautiful original blueing was gone for good.

 

[Cosmoline]

Bummer. I think it's a late model OP, but I don't have the SN on me. I'll check whether the initials are on the plate or frame. If they're on the sideplate, can I just order a replacement? Or do those have to be hand-fitted?

 

[Old Fuff]

We have a lot of "IF's" here ... but:

If it is a late model O.P. Colt might be able to duplicate the finish. If on the other hand it was made before World War Two, they couldn't for reasons dfariswheel explained.

If the sideplate is defaced (rather then the frame) it would be far easier and less expensive then doing the whole gun. I'll be more specific when or if I know the serial number.