Thread: Home ‘bluing’

I’ve a 22 that has had the outer part of the barrel sanded ( rather roughly!) by a previous owner.

I’ve sanded it smoother to the point it looks like a stainless barrel.

Is there any finish I can give it that’s presentable and durable?

Bearing in mind in this Level 3 environment I won’t have access to much in the way of chemicals etc!

well if it isnt a heirloom........some good etching primer first off and finished with suitable top coat....actually talk to @257weatherby he has something that looks awesome....have contemplated getting him to do my SS Howa...but cheated and used silage tape on barrel instead.

A while back I fine sanded a 22 barrel and used autosol polish to finish it and give it a stainless look. Looked good. Otherwise I get good results with cold blue - but I do it my way..

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

well if it isnt a heirloom........some good etching primer first off and finished with suitable top coat....actually talk to @257weatherby he has something that looks awesome....have contemplated getting him to do my SS Howa...but cheated and used silage tape on barrel instead.

Silage tape.... Sure you're not a coaster?

The surface of the barrel still has a ‘brushed’ finish from the sanding and I can’t be naffed sanding it any smother at the moment.
I did contemplate etch primer and satin black top coat but thought a wipe on chemical finish would look good. (If there is such a thing!)

Na, He was going for carbon fibre look but had none in the implement shed!

Originally Posted by muzza

can you buy spray can Cerakote or similar?

Dunno, will see on Monday if nobody comes up with another idea.

Matt black etching paint (or semi / or gloss) give a reasonable finish. Especially if you dont want heirloom finish. A decent coat of paint does wonders for rust prevention too...just can be a bit naff looking if you do it wrong. One of mine has been painted rather than reblued. Went one step further and put a gloss varnish on top...looks like new now......

Bubba's Cerakote:

Duracoat for firearms,can buy it off trade me.works well

Originally Posted by mimms2

Rust bluing is simple, no chemical. Just a hefty time innvestment and you'll need to find a tank big/ long enouh to boil the parts in, assuming you don't have an isobaric furnace.
Also gives the deepest/best blue.

Cold "blue" is no better than paint and i never recommend it for anything.

I’ll flag the rust blueing at the moment, as it is the previous owner had sanded the barrel from the rear sight boss to the muzzle, ergo that’s the area I’m focusing on on, the barrel and action can stay the way they are for the meantime.

I have had good success with full barrel among other bits with Brownelles oxpho (creme not the liquid)

It sounds like you're looking for a fairly easy solution, so an etching paint is probably the best option. Really don't bother with cold-bluing solutions... they're just a selenium dioxide solution. It doesn't offer much in the way of surface protection and wears off quickly... paint is better, and that's not saying much.

For rust bluing you can always mask the areas you don't want to blue - use something like a lacquer and take it off with stripper afterwards. With bluing it's important to remember that whatever it looks like before is what it'll look like after, just blue or black... it doesn't hide anything.

Another option might be ghetto phosphating. A metal pipe with one end welded shut can be a really ghetto phosphating tank, you can get manganese phosphate from old batteries (dark blue/black finish), or zinc off of old bolts (grey finish), and phosphoric acid from a cleaning supplier or bunnings (https://www.bunnings.co.nz/quik-1l-r...mover_p0270367)

Looks like this guy has done something similar to what I was describing. Don't know why he needed 2-4 hours, but it's also a home-brew solution so that's how it goes. Probably don't go for the iron phosphate solution unless you are going to do further surface coatings.

I have used duracoat on a few rifles now. Easy enough to apply with a spray gun and seems to be holding up fine. It tool a long time to cure properly completely and stop out-gassing (as in my gunsafe smelt like duracoat for about a month)

I have also had good luck with cold blue if the process is followed correctly. Most important thing is to have the steel squeaky clean before starting.

I do all my bluing in a vertical 15 cm diameter steel tube with a big steel plate welded to the base. The tube is put onto a single gas burner to boil away gently. I can easily do 3 or 4 guns at a time. Takes me about 2 hours with repeated 10 minute boilings, wipe on bluing solution and gentle carding with soft steel wool followed at the end by hard rubbing with wool soaked in engine oil. Left overnight then wiped down with old rags. The deep blue satin finish is fantastic. The solution is Clyde Bakers formula so being a chemistry teacher it is easy to make up .