Looking for SS identification help
I've been trying to talk to a major firearm supplier since early April with very little success. I brought this up here at the time but it wasn't appropriate I guess. That's OK.
What I have is a Ruger trigger guard that is supposed to be SS. After 2 months I have been told today that it is SS but has a dark grey coating. Why - who knows. It's magnetic (yes, I know some SS is) and scratching it I see a shinny metallic surface (which doesn't really mean anything today).
My question is if there is another way to determine if it's SS. I could put it in a tub of water for a month and see if it rusts but there must be a better way.
I'm not an impatient guy but I've been trying to determine what to do here for 2 months.
Any help appreciated.
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My question is, why is it so important to know if it’s SS? There are many ways to check to see if it’s SS but none are totally free except a magnet.
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If you were to call Ruger, I bet they will tell you it is in fact SS with their target grey finish. The grey is supposed to reduce shiny reflections and help you stay hidden from whatever critter you are hunting. It would have made more sense to call it hunter grey in my opinion. Bob
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17-4 is a heat treatable SS. When heat treated is turns brown and is magnetic.
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Well it's important to me because I want to install it on a SS 77/44 and the factory one is a shinny SS. That's what I thought I was buying. I see on the auction side that indeed the trigger guards are a shinny SS. Ruger probably wants a fortune for that part. If my pal hadn't retired he could tell by using his mass spec at work just what it is. I'll just use it anyway and hope the GB buys don't hold it too much against me.
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I have been told by several gunsmiths all SS is can be blued. Have had SS replacement trigger guards fit and blued on a couple of SA Rugers to replace ugly painted ones, SS is all you can find in the aftermarket.
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Some stores that buy a high volume of gold & silver have a device that non-destructively analyzes metal by sending some type of wave through the item, & gives a read out (to 2 decimal places) of every metal in the item. It looks similar to an auto timing light. It keeps them from buying phony gold plated lead ingots.
Check local pawn shops & jewelry stores.
Neal
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What if you were to go to the underside of the trigger guard, where the screw holes are, and sand the finish off ?? I don't know if the Target Gray finish was only applied to stainless or not but probably someone at Ruger will. If it is the TG and stainless it should be short work to sand off the TG and get whatever finish you want on your trigger guard.
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