Remington 1100 restoration part 1

This is a restoration I did a couple of years ago, I hadn't gotten around to posting it yet.

A member of our local gun forum saw my posts on my Remington model 58 project and contacted me about refinishing his Remington 1100.
The model 1100 is the updated version of the model 58 and like the model 58 Remington put some "engraving" on the sides of the frame. Fortunately the engraving as well as the roll marks are deep and the pits on this gun are pretty shallow.

The gun had been neglected by the owner's brother and he bought it from him with the intention of making it look like new again.

Here is what it looked like when he brought it to me:

 

I had to do some dis-assembly, the owner forgot to remove the recoil spring, which is located in the long tube that goes into the buttstock

Then a good cleaning/de-greasing and remove the bluing with naval jelly

Then I cleaned up the metal with the wire wheel on my grinder

I started sanding with 220 grit paper, backed by my trusty piece of 1x1x4 purple heart

 Then stepped up to 320 grit

  and 400 grit

before finishing the flats I had to remove the pits and scratches from the top

 We then stepped up to 600 grit

 This is 1000 grit

 Then 2000 grit followed with 2400 grit crocus cloth

The barrel got the same treatment, I didn't bother polishing the parts that will covered by the stock.

This is the part where I would normally insert pictures of the nicely blued steel...but not the case here....

As you can see the metal did not turn out at all the way I had hoped. This is a part of gunsmithing, you deal with set-backs and failures, figure out a way around them and keep moving forward.
The best I can figure is that my chemicals used in the solution are contaminated with something. I always use food or lab grade sodium hydroxide, but my sodium nitrate that I have been using the last few times is industrial grade (I bought it from a pottery supply warehouse).

So I broke down and ordered some commercial bluing salts. I had a few choices. Many manufacturers and professionals go to Du-Lite Corporation. Another commercial supplier is the Heat Bath Corp.
Both of these companies sell large quantities of their solutions and are not really the best place for a hobbyist like myself. Fortunately we have Brownells, who caters to gunsmiths and hobbyists. 
So I bought a pale of Brownell's Oxynate No. 7.

Stay tuned to part two where I strip the metal back down and start over