I found this old Colt 1903 on Gunbroker and decided to buy it and try to make it great again. As you can see, most of the original bluing was gone except small area under the grips. The grips themselves are the ugliest ones I’ve ever seen, they somehow remind me of Spanish Inquisition.

I don’t know when was the last time anyone took it apart, but there was a lot of rust inside. The most damaged part, unfortunately, was the barrel, the rifling is completely gone. I’ll try to find a replacement barrel somewhere, but Type 1 barrels are really rare.

I boiled the rest of the parts in water for about an hour, then carded with 0000 steel wool and wiped with cotton patch soaked in Birchwood Casey Super Blue. Wow, it really made a difference, the color matched the original bluing almost exactly and the metal took the chemical really well. Here are the frame and slide after I soaked them in oil overnight.