It colors just fine.  Some look pretty nice colored others don't.  I think my wifes gun is ugly, she loves it.

I built this rifle for her some years ago it took two years to build. 

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The first year the rifle was in the white and the stock was unfinished.

She shot it to get the feel for it and fine tune it to fit her .

LOP is 10.5" and BBL is 24"

After the first year of shooting I added a ball to the end of the lever so the lever wouldn't hurt her hand when she opened the lever.  Not a big deal shooting 20 rounds at targets.  Shooting 100-150 rounds at gophers caused a sore spot.  

The ball is the end of a Mauser bolt handle.

She wanted color and not blue.  I got quotes from Turnbull for charcoal pack and Tom's gunshop for cyanide coloring.  She noticed the price difference and said she wanted the cyanide, prettier, no cheaper.

I sent the action and Jerry Fisher grip cap off to Tom's. Tom's is no longer in business I understand. I had used Tom's for years and was always happy with his work.  I was not happy this time.  The grip cap was warped and the repolish he did washed out the square edges especially at the back by the stock tenon.

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Here is the gun now, after 12 or 14 years hunting gophers and a thousand or so rounds.  The color is worn off the lever where the fingers grip as well as on the ball where it is worked back and forth to to open and close the action. There is also some fading where her hand touches the action.  The grip cap lost most of its color the first year, but I think that might be more property of the metal, than wear and tear.

If I were to do this rifle again in color I would do the charcoal, but If I were to do this rifle agian, I would rust blue.

Thanks folks, this will be a long term project so this will help the planning phase.

Dino in Reno