Rust blue and the Martini receiver

So I disassembled the Martini, stripped and degreased the receiver, did a little light cleanup with 220-grit wet/dry paper(wet, of course), washed it again and then hit it with the browning formula. Waited a couple of hours and hit it again, then let it sit overnight. Got a nice light rust so boiled it, then carded with steel wool and repeated. This is after three cycles and soaking with oil after the last
The rusting was much more even than with the other mix, and this is MUCH more even color than before. Quite happy with it.

For what it's worth, my clean & degrease process was to put it in a small tub with mineral spirits and work it all over with a toothbrush to get rid of oil and grease, then after it dried washed with Dawn and warm water. Then to the glass plate and abrasive, then wash again with Dawn and start the rusting. I do wear gloves whenever using the spirits and when washing just before starting the bluing. When cleaning the piece off after boiling I didn't wear gloves, in this case for the final scrub used my fingers inside the receiver to hold it. Yes, it would be better to wear gloves whenever handling it.


Added: Few days back I was baking a revolver in the oven to soak grease into the parkerizing; today I was boiling a receiver on the stove. I ever get serious about a lady again, she's going to have to have a tolerance for crap like this. As first wife used to answer "What's that smell?", "Firehand is baking knives/gun parts/something again."