If you do this in the oven you need to make sure you leave it in there long enough for the entire part to reach the right temperature. The color depends on the temperature in the steel, so the thinner parts take on the color first since they heat up quicker. It seems like the thicker part on top of your trigger didn't get much color, so try and leave it in the oven longer next time you try it.

I went for an hour and tried bumping the temp to 470 in the oven. They came out a very pretty purple!!! More polishing and attempt #3 coming up.

You will have to experiment with your oven temperature, the numbers on the knob will likely be
+/_ 10 or even 20 degrees from the actual temperature.
Also the temp will vary depending on which shelf, and where on the shelf the parts are.

Obvoiusly 470 is too "hot", ;).

Yeah, you need to put the parts in the same place in the oven every time you try it. Convection ovens will more than likely make this less critical, but consistency is important when you're trying to hit the exact color.

Let's remember that heat straw and heat blue are not finishes. Rather they are an incidental by-product of the heat treatment of the part to get it to a state where it is hard enough to resist abrasive ware, without making it so hard it is too brittle to be useful.

Re-tempering a part just to get a cosmetic color can have an adverse effect on the whether the part is too soft, or too hard, to last.

I went for an hour and tried bumping the temp to 470 in the oven. They came out a very pretty purple!!! This is called fire blue.

I dropped it to 450 and left it for an hour in sand. Seemed to turn out a pretty good color. I will post pictures when I get back home. I will also post pictures of the rest of the project. Be ready for more questions.

Okay, I made it back home and have started in again. I soaked the frame and smaller parts in evapo-rust overnight and have cleaned them up. I will post pictures as soon as I can get the phone and computer to talk nicely. I have to ask how do you get the old bluing out of the proof marks? Am I just seeing the shadow or am I not doing something yet?

Another thing, Since not all of the frame is seen, or the major portion of the breechblock, or the inside of the receiver, do you put solution on and rust the entire part or just what is seen? because that would greatly increase the carding procedure and even increase the possibility of spotting and streaking during the rusting process due to maybe runs or drops of solution forming.

Only the exterior parts of the frame and barrel/receiver are subject to the rust bluing process. The exterior surface of the parts are swabbed with the bluing solution leaving the interior "in the white" i.e unfinished. The entire toggle train however is completely blued.

What you're seeing is probably the black residue from the Evaporust, and there's no need to get it out of the stamps. You'll be rusting and carding several times over, and it will disappear in the process. If you do want to get it out, use Brownell's carding brush (https://www.brownells.com/gunsmith-t...-prod6732.aspx), the bristles are small enough to reach into the tiny stamps. But again: It's not really necessary. The most important thing is that you degrease thoroughly before you apply the rusting solution. I would recommend Purple Power for this, spray the parts, rinse in hot tap water, spray and rinse again and dry the parts with compressed air followed up with a hair dryer. This leaves the parts entirely free of grease, this is actually how I degrease parts before I nickel plate so I know it works. You can't hold the parts with your hands while doing this, you need to hang them from hooks to make sure they're not contaminated again. Wire hangers from the dry cleaner make good hooks for this. Also buy some nitrile gloves from Walmart. No matter how careful you are, you will touch the parts or get the rusting solution on your hands.

Do you clean with acetone after carding and before the next rusting?

There are "instructions" for rust bluing on the "net".

Sounds like to need to read several, and look on utube also.

But no, if you don't get finger prints(oil) on the pieces, you don't need to clean again.

I have been reading everything I can find and watching as much as possible. I just try to make sure I am thinking right before I mess something up. I don't mean to be a bother.

Hugh,
sometimes you just have to learn by doing.
All the reading and questions are good, but you and the writers of instructions won't think of every eventuality.
You can't really mess up that bad, unless you really go off the reservation.

I believe that I, or someone else, recommended you start with a shooter or "beater" pistol or just a piece of steel!

You have got to start somewhere, sometime- just do it. :)

I started on some steel plate I had in the garage yesterday. The first rusting/boiling went fairly well I think. It is a little streaky on one of the plates. I hope that will work its way out as the process goes. The plates look good to me so far. The gun I am working on is a shooter. I am just very skeptical until I start in. And I do greatly appreciate all the info you and everyone else has shared.

I don't like acetone for this. It will dissolve oil, but since the oil will contaminate the acetone it can also contaminate the parts when the acetone evaporates. Purple Power and hot water is much better IMO.