Kutter, thanks for the loads of information. I will copy that to what I have already.
I went and got a round stainless dish, about 9" in dia. and 3" deep. Mounted my old hardware on it and had removed the old salts from the other pan. This was 3 lbs of salts and I bought another one just to make sure I had enough. When it all melted I barely had enough in there, (where the heck does it go).
Temperature still would not go above 600 deg. So now I'm blaming it on the burner (what else?).
After everything melted and when the bubbles stopped, it was a nice amber color (as described by Robert-Highstrap) and you could see to the bottom.
I did the for-end and it came out like the trigger guard. The knuckle area after I buffed it didn't look bad but I know I need higher temperatures.
I will experiment more. I put the gun together, looks a whole lot better than when I got it. Still a "klunker" but one that I won't mind being seen with. I rusted the barrels but only 4 rustings, 3 boilings and 1 etch. Could have gone more, but good enough for this application.
I wish to thank everyone for their valuable information. I will keep on trying and will post when I get right.
