Rossi Rifleman

My newer Rossi 92 in .38/.357 has a distinctly plum colored receiver, although the barrel, mag tube and other blued steel parts are a typical dark blued finish. By contrast, my older Interarms Rossi 92 in .44 mag has a receiver that is the same nicely dark polished blue finish as all the other steel parts on the gun.

Is the plum colored blueing on the receiver of my .38/.357 model 92 pretty typical?

Just curious.

Thanks,
Mike

I can't speak to the Rossi turning plum but it is not an unusual phenomena and can be a result of the particular bluing salts and specific alloy in question. I have heard of some batches of bluing salts giving different shades than expected and just about everyone has heard of Winchester's mystery metal receivers.

Winchester sometime in the late 60s or early 70s changed the steel formulation of their receivers and from what I've heard may have coated them lightly with a mild steel or iron in order to get them blued. The finish had a tendency to turn plum. Rebluing receivers from this time frame is generally considered an effort in futility. The base material of the receiver does not take the blue well and if the receiver is scratched or buffed the coating or cladding is easily removed. Further normal bluing salts(whatever that means) do not give the same uniform color on the receiver that you get on the barrel.

Some Ruger collectors look for plum Blackhawks. It's actually a fault in the blueing prep. My old style R92 is plum and that's fine with me.

I just bought my '92 a couple of months ago and the top of the bolt has a bit of a plum color. The barrel band is definitely plum colored and looks a little strange since the rest of the rifle is a regular blue.