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.

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?

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

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..

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!)

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:

Originally Posted by caberslash

Bubba's Cerakote:

Attachment 177644

Camouflage colour in one can?? Sounds as viable as tartan paint.

Originally Posted by 6x47

Camouflage colour in one can?? Sounds as viable as tartan paint.

Likewise barber pole paint, one of the things that new apprentices used to be sent to the store to get, back in the day.

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

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.

Originally Posted by SixtyTen

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.

Jumping in on an old thread as I'll be trying this soon on a small part that needs re-bluing. How long was long for it to fully cure?

Originally Posted by dnsn

Jumping in on an old thread as I'll be trying this soon on a small part that needs re-bluing. How long was long for it to fully cure?

From memory, touch dry within a couple of hours depending on ambient temp, can be reassembled after 24h and completely cured after about a month (again depends on ambient temp. Personally I would leave it after spraying for at least 3 or 4 days before reassembling as I managed to put a couple of marks in an action when reassembling a rifle after 1 day. If that time is not practical, just be really careful.