TXGunNut said
May want to look into rust blueing. It’s rather time-consuming but the results are rather attractive.
 

If the metal has been buffed before the re-blue, cost of rust-bluing would be wasted.

I’ve “aged” several newly rust-blued barrels & CC rcvrs. with 4-0 steel wool, oil, & most importantly, PATIENCE.  On hot-blued metal, think it would require a mild abrasive like Clover 4A used with the wool, remembering that this kind of work is not only trial & error, but also an art–you’re trying to simulate the uneven pattern of natural wear, not make it look uniform. Would also try the lead removing cloth with oil, though I’ve never done it that way.  Doing it right takes many hours of tedious work.

[email protected] said
Thanks for the replies, what do you guys think of adding a little vinegar to the process? Or would that be too drastic?  

Think it would be hard to control, & anyway, incompatible with oil.  I don’t think there are any shortcuts to rubbing down the blue.  If you want to take it down to bare metal, muriatic acid sold in hardware stores for rust removal will do that; it’s so mild, getting it on your hands will cause them to tingle, but won’t burn your skin.

Old-Win said

Clarence,  muriatic acid is another name for hydrochloric acid. It usually comes in a diluted form of around 30%. Definitely dangerous and you need to dilute it further when using it.  

I’m sure there are stronger concentrations, but I used a can of unknown strength I bought at the hardware store to scrub down some rusty metal with steel wool without injury to my hands beyond the sensation of tingling & a little redness I described.  Now it wasn’t a long job, maybe about 10 min, so no doubt the harmful effect would have been greater with longer exposure.  It did however cause the latex gloves I started out using to split open, which is how it got on my hands.  If I ever have reason to use it again, I’ll pay attention to the concentration, & wear better gloves.