Bluing is a form of protection correct?

[locomotiveguy]

When I clean guns the parts surround my lazyboy as well as not. Cleaning done and mostly picked up I fetched a Bloody Mary with lime juice back to the chair and tripped over the cat. Not a major mess but one quarter inch spot landed n the Ruger 45 Blackhawk Convertible bbl. and I didn't wipe it right off. When I noticed it the bluing was gone. Bare metal on a once near perfect finish. Has the bluing on one of yours suffered the same shame?

[SA1911a1]

No, I don't put lime in my bloody mary.

[Junk Yard Dog]

Bluing is a form of controlled rust, it is not a very good metal protector and requires oiling . At one time metal was kept in the white, or even highly polished, but this was during the black powder era were having reflective gear didn't seem to matter when your coat was brick red, trousers were white, and you wore a two foot tall cap. There was chemical browning available, again, a form of controlled rust. Spilled your alcoholic beverage tripping over the cat.....yea, ok. Ruger Blackhawk is not a milsurp, just a commercial firearm, you will have to get it reblued. Forget the patch it up shit in a jar, it needs a hot tank reblue job if you want it to look good. If it's just something you keep in the glovebox of the truck then run a black magic marker over the spot, or a splatter of black paint Soviet style and call it good. It was the lime juice that did it, not the alcohol. Citric acid will strip rust off of metal, and as bluing is a form of rust....

Why didn't you wipe the booze off the...Oh, you didn't notice it until you sobered up the next day? Very sad to lose a weapons finish that way. Alcohol and weapons do not mix well, I am not sure how much assistance we can offer here on this problem, but I am told this organization can help- http://www.aa.org/pages/en_US/find-aa-resources

[locomotiveguy]

Ok Ok stop the personal recriminations, I figured it was probably the lime juice, but it happened quickly and completely. I suppose battery acid could be similarly affective. You see firearms that have sat on something corrosive over the years reflected by bluing discoloration patch on a more or less decent finish on the rest. I once saw a first gen Colt single action where the bluing just flaked off the cylinder and the rest looked pristine. If given a choice I think a plum brown is better.

[Junk Yard Dog]

Fingerprints and blood will have a similar effect. Even dry blood once humidity liquefies it a bit, it goes right back to work eating into the metal.

[Igrlik]

PPK slide bite of my friend removes bluing very fast - just some drops of blood and next day white spots.

[Junk Yard Dog]

PPK slide bite of my friend removes bluing very fast - just some drops of blood and next day white spots.

Thin leather shooting gloves, and better hand position would help this