You need to aneal it, bend it, and then heat treat and quench it to regain your temper.
Gotta do it just right, too soft and it bends, too hard and it snaps.
Believe it or not that's how gunsmithing was done back in the day. Because machining didn't have the tolerances that it does today it was easier and cheaper from a labor standpoint to just find one that matches the tolerances of the other parts, instead of hand fitting them
What gun is it for? I have hundreds of miscellaneous antique gun parts, and with my network of Antique Brokers and Gunsmiths, I have access to literally millions of antique gun parts.
And yes.... Literally Cold Blue stinks. And there is only one product I have found to remove that pungent odor.
I am somewhat grateful for the stank though, cause it has kept me from buying some antique guns that were refinished and advertised as original. If you ever hang out at my gun show...
Yeah. But I am not sure you want to go to there.
Those wizard's in the Pakistan caves of the Khyber region can teach you to make some impressive AKs. And if you find one that can read or write, then I am sure they would make you a certificate.
Stuff looks great. You will never get a super high Polish out of it, but it's still pretty good.
I just picked up a Remington 58 today that I will be doing that to soon.