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Walt Sherrill · July 17, 2002, 12:23 PM

I'm reasonably sure that rust bluing is a good way to reblue -- perhaps the best way for purists, but its so darned labor intensive. And I'm not a purist.

(My shooter friends couldn't tell that the gun had been reblued, but the ones who had seen it before I started the "redo" were amazed.)

I'm not particularly gifted when it comes to stuff like this, but I have figured out what works pretty well.

I spent about 3 hours, total, stripping the gun in my photos of the old Polycoat, sanding, and then rebluing -- about an hour and a half a night. That's not a lot of work, and that's all it took.

I used a mild wire wheel in the tool shed, and some hand sanding, very light. Just to get a sheen on the metal. (I've always been told that the smoother the metal, the darker the bluing job will be.)

You've just got to do a lot of thin coats of Ox-Pho Blue and the other ingredients, to get it where it looks right.

(I wore plastic/rubber gloves from the drug store when applying the bluing compounds.)

July 17, 2002, 12:23 PM	#9
Walt Sherrill Senior Member Join Date: February 15, 1999 Location: Winston-Salem, NC USA Posts: 6,348	I'm reasonably sure that rust bluing is a good way to reblue -- perhaps the best way for purists, but its so darned labor intensive. And I'm not a purist. (My shooter friends couldn't tell that the gun had been reblued, but the ones who had seen it before I started the "redo" were amazed.) I'm not particularly gifted when it comes to stuff like this, but I have figured out what works pretty well. I spent about 3 hours, total, stripping the gun in my photos of the old Polycoat, sanding, and then rebluing -- about an hour and a half a night. That's not a lot of work, and that's all it took. I used a mild wire wheel in the tool shed, and some hand sanding, very light. Just to get a sheen on the metal. (I've always been told that the smoother the metal, the darker the bluing job will be.) You've just got to do a lot of thin coats of Ox-Pho Blue and the other ingredients, to get it where it looks right. (I wore plastic/rubber gloves from the drug store when applying the bluing compounds.)