[cmp944]

I am waiting (desperately) for my NIB Blued P95 to arrive, and when it arrives I want to take proper care of it.

Is there anyway to avoid having the slide turn that plum color that my P944 has? I notice a few other people have commented on there plum colored Ruger slides and I am hoping this does not happen to my P95.

I wonder if Ruger fixed this or if this is something that happens to all guns?

Any advise will be much appreciated.

Oh just to mention, I plan on using break-free CLP to clean and lube the gun. First thing I am going to do is clean all the factory grease of it.

 

[RNettles]

Mine has not "plummed" and it's coming up on a year now...

 

[cmp944]

Ok I found some info on why sometimes the blueing turns that odd plum color.
Found this info at https://store.bluebookinc.com/Info/PDF/Firearm/PPGSPistols.pdf (on page 8).

Here is the text that pertains to plum colored slides.
"60% condition, Beretta Model 1934, .380 ACP cal., 3 3/8 in. barrel, ser. no. 666496
- mfg. 1937. One of Beretta's most popular pistols, over one million Model 1934s were
manufactured between 1934-1980. Some of you may already be concerned about why
the slide is a completely different color than the frame (i.e., possibly non-original finish
or replaced slide). Not to worry here - this is what happens when the bluing process
interacts with metal composition that differs in the carbon makeup from one part to
another. In this case, even though the same bluing technique was applied to both the
slide and the frame, the slide's metallurgy resulted in a plum-colored finish compared
to the normal blued frame. Separate image of back of gun reveals quite a bit of wear,
corrosion, and light pitting on both the rear grip strap and metal grip backing. It is
especially important on handguns to carefully inspect the grip straps, because if the gun
was extensively used, this is where most of the wear should accumulate."

I am still curious if other P owners have the plum color, and if so how old there handgun is.

 

[cmp944]

quote:Originally posted by RNettles

Mine has not "plummed" and it's coming up on a year now...

Thats great news, hopefully my P944 is just one of a few.

 

[cmp944]

Ok I found some more info, apparently even pricey Les Baer 1911's get this too. Guess my P944 is in good company then .

 

[rman]

I had a P944 made in 2000 that was plum and I still have a P93 that is also. I haven't seen any blued P-Series that were made after about 2001 that have turned plum-colored. Hopefully that is not due to age only...I'm guessing that Ruger changed the type of steel used in the slides on the newer ones. I have noticed the same thing with Remington 700's. Several that I have owned over the years had bolt handles that turned plum.

 

[cmp944]

If I remember right my P944 was made in 2000.

I did see your post about your P93 RMAN, I read it awhile back and read it again today when I searched the forum for "Plum". That was a nice find on your part, it cleaned up really well.

 

[Tweek]

I had a P95 that was made in '01 (bought it new in '04). Slide turned purple after 6 months of use/cleaning with Hoppe's. Called Ruger, they had me send it back to be reblued. There was also a tiny crack or casting void under the decocker, so they just replaced the entire slide. That one stayed black.

 

[Iowegan]

The Plum color is by far not unique to Rugers. I have a SIG P-220 that was black as a whore's heart when new (1998) but has now turned plum.

Having blued hundreds of guns, I can tell you a bit about the process. Hot bluing salts react with the metal surface and turn it blue. This process does not stop the moment the gun is taken out of the salts but rather continues for many years. You will get a plum color immediately if the salt's temperature is too high or the salt solution is too concentrated (not enough water). Bluing salts boil at 292 deg f. Water boils at 212 deg f. That means the water is boiling off the solution leaving the solution too concentrated. You must continuously add water and maintain a constant temperature to keep the solution from turning the metal plum.

The alloy has a huge influence on bluing as do cast parts. Even if the salts were properly controlled, the gun may look black at first but it will "age" and turn to plum. No big deal, strictly a cosmetic thing. The bluing (or plumming, har har) will still do its job to help prevent rusting. After all, that's the primary purpose of bluing.

Oddly enough, Ruger SA Revolver collectors like the plum color and it adds to the value of an old model. Go figure!

 

[cmp944]

Thanks for the informative post Iowegan, I did not know the process for Bluing was so precise.

Some people on the Les Baers forum believe there 1911's leave the factory that way deliberately. Maybe Ruger knows people like there revolvers that plum color and wanted to test out how popular it would be on there P-series? Who knows?

Personally I don't like the plum color on the semi-autos. I think semi-auto's look best when they are (to steal your phrase) "black as a whore's heart".

I will keep my fingers crossed.