Roadkill,
The reddish parts are from a time/temperature and chemical control in the bluing bath. What makes the reddish hue is probably from the hardness of the steel and the time/temperature of the bluing bath not being exact for that particular steel hardness.
Now, the steel hardness on some parts is probably from the plants were being pushed to produce parts as fast as possible, the speed/feed of the cutting tools was creating heat in the part and the cooling water for the tool actually hardened the surface of the part (another possibility could be a small change in the steel composition too), and the bluing bath was not adjusted for this slight change. As you have noticed, the ejector is one part that is most likely to have a very red hue to it. This is because that part is a spring, and has been heat treated to a much higher hardness. With the part being harder, and probably put into the same bluing bath as other small parts, the time/temperature was set for the regular steel parts resulting in the reddish hue.
The reddish hue does not effect the protection, but just makes it appear different, and this is the reason the pistol/part was not rejected
As we all know, bluing is a real science and it takes certain controls to make sure it is correct. This only effected the appearance of the pistol and not it's usefullness. This coloration is more frequesnt on the P.38 than the Luger since the large scale manufacture ended in 1942.
This is my reasoning for the reddish hue. I personaly think it looks good.
Marvin
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