The gun was originally a gun used by correctons officers in a prison somewhere (I'm still researching that aspect).
I completely disassembled the gun and cleaned it in an ultrasonice cleaner to get all the gunk off and out of it.
I then polished the hammer, trigger and hammer pivot pin and set them aside.
To take the etching off, I used a dremel tool swith a flap sander, cratex and other tips, working very carefully around the Ruger lettering and making sure I didn't round anything that was supposed to be a sharp corner.
The front sight looked like the rest of it so it came off and was replaced.
I masked off the cylinder and used an x-acto knife to remove the tape from the flutes of the cylinder.
I then blasted the cylinder, frame and trigger housing with 120 grit aluminum oxide. Recleaned the frame and trigger housing with acetone and set them aside.
I removed the masking on the cylinder and put a long bolt up through the center and secured it with a nut to keep it centered. I chucked it in the drill press and used various grits of sandpaper (finishing with 600 grit wet/dry automotive paper) to polish it.
Put everything back together and greased or oiled it where needed. After everything was back together, I just put a coating of a substance called Weapon Shield (a cleaner, lube and protectant) on the outside.
The grips were original Ruger/Pachmyer grips and looked like crap so I put the Ruger Target grips on it.
Came out pretty nice, even if I do say so myself.
FYI, I do this commercially also, I have a part time general gun repair and refurbishment business in central PA (just outside State College). I am also set up to do firearm coating, I use Cerakote. Personally, I like Cerakote over Duracoat.
