What to do with this Colt's revolving army pistol

[Little Dalton]

I'm going to have to sell my only Army, along with a rifle, to pay for some things I need, including another gun.    Anyhow, I'm torn on this one. I've stripped all the modern markings off this San Paolo (older Euroarms), and can't decide between leaving it polished, or aging it. I'm also going to refinish the grips. What do y'all think?

[The Trinity Kid]

I'd leave as is, but that's just me.

--TK

[Coffinmaker]

I'd also leave it as is.  Looks real good.  I might squirt a little satin clear varnish on it though.  Nice gun.

Coffinmaker

[Mean Bob Mean]

Leave her as she is, it is attractive and should sell easily and the new owner can do as pleases.

[Major 2]

what they said ....

[JP Anderson]

Given there is at least a bit of pitting and the staining on the grips I would go with a patina.

JP

[Slowhand Bob]

Another leave it as it is.  When used frequently and not polished regularly it will quickly age naturally, if the next owner so desires.  Most artificial aging does not look natural for a regular carry gun, they are made to look like a 150 year old gun and Colt '60s were not 150 years old in the post CW era!

[Fingers McGee]

Another leave it as it is.  When used frequently and not polished regularly it will quickly age naturally, if the next owner so desires.  Most artificial aging does not look natural for a regular carry gun, they are made to look like a 150 year old gun and Colt '60s were not 150 years old in the post CW era!

Hear, Hear. 

(abbreviation for ""hear, all ye good people, hear what this brilliant and eloquent speaker has to say!")

[Major 2]

agreed ..." When used frequently and not polished regularly it will quickly age naturally"

[Coffinmaker]

in my previous post, i failed to mention that i ment to say to squirt a little clear satin varnish on the GRIPS.  Not on the metal parts of the gun.  A senior moment por favor.

Coffinmaker

[Gus Walker]

   I'd leave er like its is and put some oil on the grips.

[Little Dalton]

The grips have the dreadful plastic finish on them now, and the dark spot on one side is where I, in a moment of boredom, started to scrape the finish off. I aim to finish the job, and I am going to replace the nasty plastic with a period correct oil finish.

[Octagonal Barrel]

Look close at the ASP Remmie in my avatar, and you'll know what I voted.  That thing is beautiful as it is.  With the exception of the oiled grips you've already decided on, I wouldn't touch it further.  If a new owner wants to screw it up, let them do the dirty work.  As it is now, a new owner could age it, nickel it, blue it, or keep it as is.  Anything else you do from here will reduce breadth of market appeal.

(What on earth am I saying this in public for?)  On second thought, forget all that.  Do whatever it takes to reduce market appeal.  Then I can afford it!

[Little Dalton]

Ok, grips are refinished, here she is. Now I'm headed over to the classifieds to list it FS.

[Paladin UK]

I never cease ta be amazed just how beautiful a gunz grips become once the plakkie varnish is removed.

And yours pard is no exception, good luck with your sale

Paladin (What don't like Plakkie varnish on grips ) UK

[litl rooster]

shoot it then shoot it some more

[rifle]

What I see is a very tempting alluring canvas.
I'd be thunkin on casehardening the frame and hammer and loading lever and putting a "400grit ,all lines going the same way, sanding(don't have to polish further unless you want and could go all the way to 2,000 grit) to the barrel and cylinder and maybe backstrap and then.......Nitre Blue that gun a nice deep blue/black.......then......take the oil off the grips(which are nice the way they are) and rub them with something "water proof " and durable and not sticky in humid hot weather like the Permalyn gunstock sealer that can be hand rubbed on to look just like a good oil finish. Oil finish isn't water proof(sweat proof,stain proof) till many many thin coats are applied. Maybe try the sticky plastic polyurathain thinned way down and rubbed by hand to look like an oil finish(hard to do). Just cause those are water proof.
Is this thread the same as the ones that say leave it the way it is and let the new owner do what they want to it?
Is it true...........a cap&baller finished the way they were in the day with the real casehardening and all are worth more or is all that a waste of time? I like the real casehardening and the nitre blue or charcoal blue. What say ye Hombres?

[Major 2]

Well yeah  it would fine "if" money was not the object....

But at best he might see $200  as is 

assuming he did Case harden & Nitre Blue what would his investment be then ?

would he realize the cost return in the sale ?   I doubt it 

Course if he was to keep it , then sure it could be a fun project with a satisfing outcome .

[rifle]

Well, I was thunkin in terms of home-brew caseharden and nitre bluing.
The "cost of a small size bucket of nitre blue salts" and a clean steel bucket(coffee can even) and a single burner propane gas set up (or an old stove in the garage or a turkey deep fryer or a wood fire outside) and an old pipe with a cap screwed on each end and a wood fire fer the casehardening.........with the "cost of a bucket of wood charcoal and bone charcoal" from Brownells(or buy a small amount from a gunsmith to spend only what's needed fer one gun.
Get a standard bucket of the wood charcoal and bone charcoal and the standard bucket of nitre bluing salts and do many more guns fer himself and maybe even make a lil money doin fer a few others and......turn the cost into a goodly profit.
I do it so.....most any average Hombre could too.
Someone like me that's not afraid to share some tips on doin stuff could expedite the process since......they could learn from my mistakes.  .................
I did one experiment that is replicating what I researched to be the bluing scenario fer the cap&ballers......before the  mysterious carbonia bluing it was simple charcoal bluing. It provided me with two cylinders and barrels each done a slightly different way but........both looked good and.......tested by just sitting around in a humid environment didn't rust any after about two years.
The experiment with case hardening went fairly well the first time with cool colors and hard frames and......a coupla glitches that were ironed out with learning from the experiment.
The Nitre bluing was the same....came out real well and a coupla glitches were ironed out the next time around.
Just a while ago it was handy when I was out of Kasinet and wanted to reharden a trigger and hammer after a trigger job on a Colt type cap&baller to be able to fiddle around with a fire in the evening and do the real casehardening on the two little parts and get some hardness and authentic colors. It's not hard to get authentic colors since if you do it the old fashioned way any colors you get are authentic....the colors are different to a degree every individual job.
I should add  to this......a thermometer is needed to watch the temp of nitre blue salts so it's not heated to high.

[Fredcdobbs]

Looks great. I can't stand synthetic finishes. Luckily the Ubertis pistols I have easily come clean for an oil finish with a soaking in Jasco paint remover. Rifles are another matter. I had a real tussle with a 73 Uberti carbine.
I have had some guns like Browning rifles with some real tough plastic on them. It's a real struggle. You actually have to scrape it off with a single edge blade held at right angles to the stock and used like a scraper.
I've also used spray oven cleaner to remove tough finishes but it messes with the natural color of the wood and you have to add some consistent color back in with a nice spirit based stain like Plinkingtons.
Cleaning out the checkering I used a soft brass brush sold at shoe repair places. Allows you to clean out the checkering without messing it up. Stubborn stuff comes out with a pointed exacto knife and dental picks. Fun eh?