I have a couple of 1903 Colts that suffered from some neglect in the past so I tried two different methods of restoration. Both projects proved to be very rewarding.
The first one got disassembled, bead blasted, in-house electroless nickle and the trigger was sent out to be gold plated.
The second was disassembled, bead blasted and sent to john @ DC camshafts where he Parkerized the pieces for me.