You can get a brighter, shinny finish by hot rust blueing instead of cold rust blueing if you use the right techniques. Any cold rust method takes a while for the rust to form. All of that time the solution is on the surface of the steel etching it. Some more than others, but even in an artificial enviornment to promote quicker rust forming, it also promotes the etching effect. Give hot rust blueing a try. Hot rust finish has the advantage of less time on the surface to produce rust, so less time the solution has to etch it. Less foregiving than cold rust to get an even finish though.
