About 10 years ago I worked on a hot bluing recipe that would reproduce the pre-war 'blue' found on most pistols - especially Webleys- which is slightly greyer and bluer than the usual postwar deep ebony black. When I was happy with the result I reblued a straight grip Webley Mark 1, which had lost virtually all of its original finish, but amazingly had no pitting and still had crisp lettering. I then distressed it to match a similar Mark 1 which had all its original blue. Here are the two together. I did not keep a record of the serial numbers, and after ten years I genuinely do not know which is which. So although one can be critical about refinishing vintage guns, it does not always have to be aesthetically annoying.