I have a new rifle with a gold S for “Safe” on the safety button. The rifle has been rust blued but the gold in the S is a little duller than I think it should be.

How do you protect the gold on an engraved rifle so it doesn’t dull during rust bluing? Or is the gold supposed to be polished or cleaned again after bluing? It’s not so bad that I can’t live with it as is, but I do think it should have a little more bling to it.

TIA,
- stu

I haven't found anything to protect the gold during the rust blue process.

I repolish the gold with some semi-chrome or Flitz on a q-tip. If the rust blue is well done you will not have a problem...just keep an eye on the blue surrounding the gold. Normally the gold polishes right up in a jiffy with no damage to the blue.

good luck