That is awesome!

I know I'm probably late but how's it holding up? And what steps in order did you take?

So far after 2 years i had a little tarnish on the 4.75 but more mothers wax it went back to looking as it did when I finished them the first time the 6.5 has stayed like it was just done. I think but not positive I believe it was handling while shooting it and when I cleaned them I got lazy and didn't wipe the metal for the grip area like I did on the 6.5.

@@andylambert8164 I did the 4.75 first by sanding the finish off then kept stepping up to higher grade then when I got to 1000 grit i wet sanded the 2000 grit wet sanding the hand polished it. But found a better way from a friend by taking my 6.5 completely apart and soaking the parts I wanted in vinigar for 24 hours. And was able to take the finish off much easier then some steel wool an water then a drama tool and it looked pretty good when finished. Wished i could share pics old show when I first got them and after I stripped and polished them

Thank you.

Thanks 👍

@TechReviewbyIrdi a lot or patience and a lot of work.

Thank you!

Ceramic wax and hand cloth. Once every two months or so, depending of your use and firing.

Flitz Ceramic sealer. There are other brands. Works pretty good even when shooting all month.

The Zamak finish gets dark. Actually if it's done right with the rest of the gun it can look pretty cool with certain grips. Kinda aged like a Rooster colt model or something like that. But a quick polishing can get it back. It's oxidized looking.

There's a 21" Pleco in it. Yes, it does.

It was great. I left the barrel, 1215 steel with the bluing. I also left the 22.LR cylinder blue but I polished the .22 mag one so I had both looks. NOTE: watch how long you buff is the wool or any wheel buffer. It will get hot, and once it gets hot too much or long, the barrel can start to loosen up out of the frame. The epoxy, like red Loctite, will be activated and looses it's hold. You can easily remedy that with your own application or red Loctite later again. Still very very cool.

@@TechReviewbyIrdi Thanks for the ‘heat’ warning. I’m going to try to ‘age’ one like a 1873 Colt.

Will do.

Get off*

Oh, that was easy. Originally it was just fading away from using Hoppes 9 Black cleaner. It really upset me, and happened after just a few weeks. That is what led to this. You can actually just use a rotary tool with a wool polishing bit of several sizes. Just wipe on either Mothers, Flitz, Blue, or any of the metal polishers out there. They are fine in grit and won't cut into the metal. They will just take the finish off by going back and forth with the polishing agent. It will be gone in no time. The hardened looking finish is really only that. The painted parts need more of a white vinegar to soften paint and you have to use rougher methods.

@@TechReviewbyIrdi thank you I tried it with a rag and it came right off, I will be trying to go in depth on it this weekend 👍🏼

Yes. But watch how long. It will eat the metal. It will start to turn grey but paint will remain and will be bubbled in certain areas. I still used a buffing wool bit and it removed without effort. Again, I've seen the pot metal handles will get eaten and pitted if they are in vinegar too long.

Yes on the vinegar I soak mine for 30 min max make sure to degrease everything first rinse well and polish a lot less work with same if not better results

Vinegar will not remove the paint coating on the frame, only the bluing on the barrel, but the vinegar will also rust the inside of the barrel. It is better to remove the bluing on barrel with fine sandpaper and metal polish.

It's ZAMAK 5 for the frame. Zink, Aluminum, Magnesium and Copper. I've used it on Aluminum, but not one of these frames. Chemical would be less of a heat up on the metal. I would try it. The barrel is epoxied in like red locktite. So I would have gone chemical but kept the barrel blued in the long run.

@@TechReviewbyIrdi .... sacrifice yours first ? Hahaha I'm kidding. I'm just getting wear from scaring the rabbits then reholstering. The barkeep is fine . The 4.75 or what have you. Is wearing fast. I tested small section w a few compounds. Wasn't too thrilled with how strong the blue still was so I stopped without much effect

It's a beautiful piece. It's featured now "The Rough Rider and Its Heritage" book. You can get it on Amazon by the author Nicholas R. M. Martin

@@TechReviewbyIrdi I don’t think you understand what you’ve done. The frame is made of mostly Zinc. It must be coated or plated to prevent corrosion and you removed it. The frame alloy will now break down, it was a horrible decision.

We do. We work with metal at Betchel all the time. We received a product here in the steel city (from steel city tools and Penn)for the zamak 5 to seal it out of Blairesville. It had to be stripped again. We dismantled it and sealed it with something more long term. They bake it a 128 and turns a tint of brown yellow before getting sprayed for cleaning. If it's shiny going in, it's shiny and has a glass feel to it. We had to have them change it from a Zamak 3 to a Zamak 5 coating for the difference in the 3 metal ratio. It's been over a year, still on display. It's one of 9 pistols done for the heritage folks and Nickolas. You can research coating Zamak 5. Not that hard for coating.

Not to worry. It's been dipped and coated in a ceramic sealer as well. Still shines even after 7 months. The term corrode doesn't apply on this alloy. Zamak will not corrode but will tarnish to grey without treament. And it's way more tolerant than stainless steel or silver that's uncoated. There are several great brands for coating aluminum based alloys to keep them luster without a lot of maintenance. Flitz is the cheaper out there, but a different package than the polish.

@@TechReviewbyIrdi that is not true whatsoever. Anyone who looks up Zamak will learn that it’s simply a fancy version of pot metal. It’s super cheap and mostly zinc with a few other metals added in trace amounts. This product must be coated in order to keep it from breaking down.

Don’t worry…treat it like any blued firearm…a little gun oil occasionally, and it will be fine!