all opinions are welcome. i have some ruger single six wheel guns i want refinished. i would like them to look as close to the ruger stainless steel brushed finish as possible. i am looking at finish jobs from robar (np3) or magnaports  ss mag-na-life finish. any thoughts would be appreciated. wildwest

Quoted: all opinions are welcome. i have some ruger single six wheel guns i want refinished. i would like them to look as close to the ruger stainless steel brushed finish as possible. i am looking at finish jobs from robar (np3) or magnaports  ss mag-na-life finish. any thoughts would be appreciated. wildwest

The closest in appearance and IMHO the best for performance would be Hard Chrome Plating.  You could leave it in the "brushed" appearance or polish it up to nearly rival nickle.

The closest to a stainless look is hard chrome.  It's also the best all around gun finish yet.

It's extremely thin, pretty well rust and corrosion proof, HARD (actually harder than a swiss file), and is generally a true life time gun finish.
After years of hard use, you may find sharp edges lightly polished by wear, but nothing else.
Scratches show up as slightly shiny marks that don't break through.

The finish can range from a flat pearl-gray to a shiny satin stainless look.  Many platers offer different looks.

Some good ones:
www.originalmetaloy.com/

www.apwcogan.com/1911_colt.htm

There are others.

I have a Python I'm rebuilding. I have to replace quite a few of the parts (just about everything but the frame) to get rid of corrosion pitting caused by the chucklehead who owned it before me leaving it in a holster for too long. There's only one relatively minor area of pitting on the frame itself. It's minor, but noticeable. I can live with it, but will it cause any problems for getting a hard chrome finish? Brushed is fine, but I want it looking good again.

Most refinishers offer a heavier bead blasted prep that helps conceal pitting.
This usually results in a slightly rough surface in a flat gray color.

While I've seen plenty of guns with hard chrome over pits, you're best off talking to the people actually doing the work for what they think.