Custom CZ 75 - Color Case Hardened Frame

[Pilot]

There's a guy on http://www.czfirearms.us forum, usually in the gunsmithing sub-forum, that buys surplus CZ's and refinishes them. I have seen pictures of his work and it's really nice. His rust blue is beautiful, and he not shy about helping and detailing how he achieves his finishes. Probably you can just ask a question and he'll answer, seems like a nice guy.

He is very talented. I love his rust blue finish, and his guns look GREAT when they are finished.

 

[Walt Sherrill]

I'm finding all of this interesting. While I have no interest in doing this sort of process myself, I do like to TRY to understand what's going on.

The OP mentioned the quality of his charcoal was possibly a problem. In the following link, a pro who does this uses both BONE and WOOD charcoal, and makes sure that the water used at the end of the process is highly aerated.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_KiiMxJDLg

 

[dakota.potts]

The plan was to use bone and wood charcoal (Brownell's supplies both) but it turned out the charcoal I thought was supplied as part of the program was not what we were told it was and I believe the quality of the charcoal I used was not what it should have been which may have resulted in some loss of color. On the other hand, I don't know if impurities in the charcoal result in more or less color as the science behind it isn't really clearly available.

I did aerate the water with a bubbler set on a pretty strong setting. A more powerful pump may be a worthwhile investment if I get into my own place and plan to start doing this.