Old Vaquero ejector housing

[Dogg]

Both of the old model vaqueros I recently bought had excessive holster wear on the ejector housing which turned out to be painted on. I took off the paint and tried to cold blue but it would not take, are these housings stainless? i would really like to get a gray patina/case hardened look to them to match the frame,has anyone tried this? If so how do you do it or what chemicals do I need to get.
Thanks
Dogg

[c.r.]

some of the blued vaqueros came with steel ERH's, while others had aluminum ERHs that where coated/anodized. It sounds as if your vaqueros each have aluminum ERHs.

see if a magnet will stick to the ERH's.

[EDK]

I've got VAQUEROS with different serial number pre-fixes. The early ones (55 to ?) have aluminum ejector rod housings. Like the man said, touch it with a magnet.

I have installed stainless grip frames on several guns ..DRAGOONS or HUNTERS...and will change the ejector housing to stainless on them. You can buy blued steel housings from RUGER or various suppliers like Midwayusa or Brownells...if they have them in stock. Some parts are in short supply...SUPER BLACK HAWK hammers, various grip frames, parts needed to convert to BISLEYS.

[Jeff H]

.....You can buy blued steel housings from RUGER or various suppliers like Midwayusa or Brownells...if they have them in stock.......

If you use Ruger as your source, you just have to keep calling back until you get lucky. I have bought steel ones for old models for $20 to $25 from Brownells, I think, but never had to wait.

If you want to go for a subdued case-hardened "look," and you have a little patience, I have done this to steel parts I have case hardened using bone dust and leather bits. I would guess you don't HAVE to case-harden it first, but I used Birchwood Casey Plum Brown barrel finish. Heat the part to something just too hot to touch and dab the liquid on with a q-tip. Roll the q-tip around and dab here and there as randomly as possible while keeping the heat with a pass of a propane torch now and then as you go. It will have a subdued look, not the bright colors of a professional cyanide job, but it may be close to what you are looking for. It is not a super-durable finish, but then the "case-coloring" that ruger was putting on them when I had mine wasn't either.