Case Hardern or Blue?

[Hickory]

I have a (baby vaquero) Ruger Single Six in 32 magnum that has Rugers [case color] finish that will rust at the drop of a hat no matter how well I try to protect it.
I'm not against reblueing it, but I like the case [coloring] but I think case hardening would be nice to keep it in its original finish.

Does anyone have an idea of the price difference between the two finishes?

[reed1911]

CCH is much higher, but so much more worth it if the gun in question is a beloved. If not, just a shooter, then go the blued route for the cost saving.

[pretzelxx]

Turnbull prices cch fairly well I believe and it looks better imo. I'd check out their website for a full estimate!

[Silver Jack Hammer]

Ruger will refinish it with their copy of cch which will save you a lot of money, Ruger's imitation cch should not be so prone to rusting.

[rking22]

I am refurbishing an IJ SxS and will probably have my action CCH. Here is a link with some info for you. May send him a Bearcat too :)
http://danthegunman.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=12&Itemid=26

Oops forgot, look at the info on protective finishes. I have a 686 with Turnbull CCH and it has a "clearcoat" finish on it. I think that is typical now days.

[Dryball]

One thing to note if going with Turnbull...They charge by the a-la-carte method. They charge for everything they have to do. If you were up to it I would disassemble the gun and send ONLY the part to be done. Do all bluing removal and metal prep yourself. If done this way, Turnbull is very reasonable. I have sent numerous parts to them in this manner.

[Hickory]

One thing to note if going with Turnbull...They charge by the a-la-carte method. They charge for everything they have to do. If you were up to it I would disassemble the gun and send ONLY the part to be done. Do all bluing removal and metal prep yourself. If done this way, Turnbull is very reasonable. I have sent numerous parts to them in this manner.

The only problem I'd have would-be removing the barrel and knowing how smooth to sand the frame.

[pretzelxx]

I think the better polished the better cch gives results wise..

[Markbo]

80% prep to 20% finish = 100% best job. Just like house paint, car paint, gun stock or anything else.

[Whiterabbit]

Big question is how nuts to go with the prep. No idea how much prep is needed. For example, with a partial strip, full strip partial polish, or does it have to be dead nuts bare metal grip-frame-no-longer-fits-perfect metal strip rust-in-a-day clean before sending off for CCH?

Because it doesn;t have to be that nuts for rust bluing to get perfect results. I don;t know for cch. But I'd be upset if I paid $200 for a frame to get CCH only and the job sucked because I was not aware how my prep job would affect the finish.

I would for sure remove the barrel though. :)