Uhlster,
The original grips don't look too bad, in fact I prefer them to the repro grips that you showed previously. Bronze wool impregnated with CLP applied with a light hand will clean the pistol up, but if the finish is damaged, the evidence will remain. You want to get rid of the active rust without removing the remaining bluing. I didn't have much luck using nylon brushes except on the strawed parts. Do not expect miracles but I found that the light, careful application of bronze wool did improve the appearance of the pistol. It sounds as if your pistol and mine were in much the same condition but mine had a bit more pitting and loss of finish, particularly on the left hand side. The frame under the grips of my pistol as well as the pistol interior wasn't nearly as bad as I thought might be the case so those areas cleaned up well. Looks like you have strong "lands" in the bore although you do have some pitting. You have a good, honest pistol that would have some interesting stories to tell. You take very nice fotos by the way.
Regards,
Ricardo
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