Well, blue. Much better than it was. But not uniform darkness.
I degreased using a good detergent and 0000 steel wool, so I’m pretty confident it was good and clean to start.
OK, you didn’t degrease/de-oil well enough.
First, the 0000 steel wool you used? Did you de-oil that? Because unless it is the type of steel wool you obtain through woodworking outlets, the steel wool probably had some oil in it as well.
To de-oil steel wool, you dunk it in acetone. Or you could buy some 0000 non-oiled steel wool through an outfit like woodworker.com.
OK, next, you need to clean the gun parts. Acetone is the first step in de-greasing. Brownell’s sells a degreaser called “Dicro-Clean 909,” which is used in hot water (just below the boiling point) to dunk gun parts into for 10 minutes to finish stripping any oils off the gun.
But let’s back up a bit: How is the polish on the piece? Blue results are all predicated upon a good polishing job. You need to polish the surface to 320 to 400 grit - no finer, no coarser. If the polish job is uneven, then so will the blueing job.
Lastly, since you lack the facility for hot caustic blueing, might I recommend rust blueing? It will take some patience on your part, but the results can be VERY good, and slow rust blueing is what is still used today on the very finest firearms. If you’re curious, I can explain the process, or I could give you a “fast rust blueing” process, both of which you can easily accomplish at home, without lots of equipment.
Tried heating the gun? Multiple applications with a good wash and dry between? Some spottiness will even out after a period with a good oil coat over the finish.