"Anyway, "tarting up" takes a variety of forms."
REALLY?
I never knew! I thought waffle patterning your blue stock was a factory option...
"Tarting" infers "enhancements" that are done in poor taste.
Yes, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but grips, engraving, things that actually become a part of the gun and which are by and large traditional, aren't tarting.
Painting the stock to your Ruger blue and when waffle patterning it?
Well, maybe not really tarting, but damn, you're starting to hang out on sketchy street corners at night when you do that *expletive deleted*it.
I don't do any of that.
I don't like stainless steel, I don't even like engraving.
Perhaps the most decorative stamp I have on any of my guns is the set of faux Ivory grips I have for my Model 28, and the deep red highlighted wood grips you gave me for my one J frame.
I guess you could call my guns Amish.