Thread: rebluing

got a old mauser 98 that i want to get reblued anyone in the Bop area or gunsmith that can do it?

@Chop3r does a great job.

what does a re blue come out like from a gunsmith?

the cold blue that I did a few years back looked top knotch but provided no rust protection at all

Originally Posted by risshans

got a old mauser 98 that i want to get reblued anyone in the Bop area or gunsmith that can do it?

have you thought about cerakote instead, craig aka @Double Shot does a great job at cerakotenz

Originally Posted by Bill999

what does a re blue come out like from a gunsmith?

the cold blue that I did a few years back looked top knotch but provided no rust protection at all

Cold blue? As in birch wood type in a bottle? It doesn't add rust protection, slow rust blueing does and hot caustic blueing does offer rust protection. Slow rust blueing would cost an arm to get done, but looks awesome.

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this was a small bottle that would cause the metal to blue
the look was perfect, It rusted ten times faster aftewards tho

I do rust blues and and have done quite a few for guy on this web site and others. Based in Hamilton. Ask Philipo, I have done a few for him

Originally Posted by Davecbnz

Cold blue? As in birch wood type in a bottle? It doesn't add rust protection, slow rust blueing does and hot caustic blueing does offer rust protection. Slow rust blueing would cost an arm to get done, but looks awesome.

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Its a time factor that slows the process down a bit but its still not too bad

A bit of a side note, but it's my understanding that the cold blues are actually just a surface layer of selenium dioxide. In effect you're doing the same thing with cold blue as drawing on it with a vivid marker.

The cold blue seems to have a mild degreaser or acid to help it grab which might be why things rust if you don't thoroughly wash and neutralize the part after cold bluing. Might also be some sort of salt in the solution. I did one old gun with it and as Bill999 noted, it rusted like crazy even with heavy oiling - anywhere the oil thinned, it would bloom rust. That experience led me to experiment with it on pieces of metal and best solution I could find was to scrub the parts in a tub of water and sodium carbonate, then rinse heavily, dry with air and then oil. The parts that were washed in the basic solution then dried and oiled rusted a lot less than unwashed or water rinsed only parts, but they still rusted more than any bluing, and the cold blue rubs off easily, so it's one of those things that doesn't really stack up as worthwhile in the end.

Surface prep's the key on any bluing - any flaws you can see before will be there after. Blueing hides nothing, really you're just changing the colour of the metal and getting a rust resistant finish at the same time Since it's a mauser, a rust blue would be very appropriate for such an esteemed gun

What Canross said!

Have done a fair bit of hot caustic type of blueing when I was working for Air New Zealand, in the trade, it`s called black oxide and you have to watch what you are doing. My foreman put a double barrel from his shot gun and pulled it out in three bits, the caustic eats solder.

Originally Posted by homebrew.357

Have done a fair bit of hot caustic type of blueing when I was working for Air New Zealand, in the trade, it`s called black oxide and you have to watch what you are doing. My foreman put a double barrel from his shot gun and pulled it out in three bits, the caustic eats solder.

Bet his first words were ops

It occurred to me that nitriding might suit you too. Just beware that A) it will show every surface flaw present when it goes in, and B) it is tough as hell, so any future job on the gun will be way more difficult or impossible. Makes a hell of a tough wearing good looking finish though!

Backyard hot caustic bluing