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Old November 7, 2012, 09:55 PM   #26
Super Sneaky Steve
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Looks great. Love the grips.
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Old November 8, 2012, 12:51 AM   #27
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Well, I have to give credit to the old Droid X2 for the color representation!
Not bad, at all, for the average consumer-grade digital camera, even better for a phone.

It looks good.
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Old November 8, 2012, 08:15 PM   #28
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Zhills (Zephyr Hills?) - agree that most people can learn by trying. It's also a lot of fun to pile on the kudos to folks like Mark who did so and give us a look at the results.

Until recently I never had a gun that was crappy enough to risk ruining, but that was OK enough that it might be redeemed as a potentially good shooter. I now have one, bought for $50 + $25 for a new base pin. Initially I was interested only in getting the rust off, but now I think I'll tear it apart and see what happens.

The first time I disassembled and rebuilt a carburetor, the results were not impressive. Had two tiny pieces left over - never a good thing.
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Old November 8, 2012, 10:21 PM   #29
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Originally Posted by marklmurray
The single most helpful accessory for the process, for me, was a carding wheel from Brownells. I chucked it in my drill press on the lowest speed and it really speeds things up. I still need to get into those nooks with the brushes or steel wool, but that's all you'll need the little ones for. The carding wheel got almost 100% of the cylinder each time, too.
Carding wheel?

I thought I knew Brownells' catalog inside and out, but that's a new one on me. Would you by any chance happen to remember (or have a record of) the catalog number?
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Old November 8, 2012, 10:35 PM   #30
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Aguila,

Luckily, it was still in my past orders: 360-164-631WB

Hope it helps!
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Old November 9, 2012, 06:53 AM   #31
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The first time I disassembled and rebuilt a carburetor, the results were not impressive. Had two tiny pieces left over - never a good thing.
I recently bought a Dan Wesson 22, and decided to replace the springs. Unlike some guns out there, I could not find much documentation on disassembly, although I have an older book with a few pages of instructions. Anyway, I took it down, and replaced the springs. Putting them back together is always the hard part. Took me about an hour, going slow, fitting parts, getting the springs in. I get to the end, and the gun will not function in double action.

I open it back up, and watch the function and see the DA sear keeps slipping under the hammer. I think to myself, there must be a something to keep it from doing that that I missed. Well, I look around the box in which I do all the work, and sure enough there is a very small pin and spring that the instructions never mention (although it is in the schismatic I have) and that I did not even see fall out that keeps the sear in the right position--and, of course, that is the first piece to be reassembled, meaning I have to completely strip it again (well, almost, as I did not have to remove the mainspring) and reassemble it.

The good news is that, because I have already reassembled it once, reassembling again took only 1/4 of the time, since I now knew the process.

All in all, a great experience.
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Old November 9, 2012, 05:13 PM   #32
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Though I still have to get the medallions changed out on the original grips, I did get them smoothed out - sanded down the worn-down checkering and re-finished them. So, not being able to wait to see how they looked on the gun, I went ahead and took some more photos:


r2012-11-09_11-03-50_450 by 69murray, on Flickr

r2012-11-09_11-09-39_117 by 69murray, on Flickr

...And my whole, meager revolver collection:


r2012-11-09_11-17-24_861 by 69murray, on Flickr
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Old November 10, 2012, 01:54 PM   #33
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You did an EXCELLENT job on that Ruger... what a great looking revolver!
You've inspired me to try my hand at rust blueing.
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Old November 10, 2012, 03:37 PM   #34
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Originally Posted by marklmurray
Aguila,

Luckily, it was still in my past orders: 360-164-631WB

Hope it helps!
Indeed it does. Thanks.

Did you use Brownells rust bluing juice, or some other product?
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Old November 10, 2012, 03:54 PM   #35
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marklmurray, did you re-blue the H&R? from your picture it looks new.

Last edited by rrruger; November 14, 2012 at 01:26 AM.
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Old November 10, 2012, 05:31 PM   #36
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In my opinion one of the all time great weapons! Tank-Tough and great preportions. Congrats! Excellent job, Sir.
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Old November 10, 2012, 08:43 PM   #37
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Great looking pistol - you did a beautiful job on it! I love Rugers and any Ruger fan would love to have that one! Thanks for sharing!
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Old November 10, 2012, 08:53 PM   #38
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marklmurray, die you re-blue the H&R? from your picture it looks new.
No, that one is just like it was when I bought it (about a year ago). It's a nice polished blue, with only one blemish towards the end of the barrel. No need to touch that one.
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Old November 10, 2012, 09:01 PM   #39
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Did you use Brownells rust bluing juice, or some other product?
Yep. That's all I've used on any of my projects, so I can't make any comparisons to other products, but it is the least expensive I could find (not counting the homemade recipes you can find on the web), and it made the parts rust every time.

Granted, I am in Georgia and you can make steel rust just by breathing on it.
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Old November 11, 2012, 01:15 PM   #40
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Finally located some 'before' pictures

I was regretting the fact that I forgot (as I always do) to get any "Before pictures". However, I was able to dig up the original online posting of the pics from where I bought it.

Here's what it looked like before the refinish:


2012-11-04_12-59-25_563 by 69murray, on Flickr


wm_2815264 by 69murray, on Flickr
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Old November 11, 2012, 03:23 PM   #41
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Wow! That looks amazing. How many rust treatments did you do? I tried my hand at rust bluing a few months back on an old Smith & Wesson Model 36. While it turned out OK for my first try, it isn't nearly as nice as yours.

Good job.
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Old November 11, 2012, 03:55 PM   #42
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Thanks!

I think I did 6 rustings on this, but it may have only been 5. At about 4, I could have stopped, but went one or two more 'for good measure'.

I did a CZ82 several months earlier and only did 4 on that one. I've had it to the range several times, so there are a couple hundred rounds through it since the refinish and, so far, there is no (zero) wear marks from the recoil spring on the barrel (it's a blowback operated semi - the spring surrounds the entire barrel). No wear anywhere else, either. This gives me a great deal of confidence in the toughness of a rust blue finish.

Of course, the durability and number of rustings necessary may vary greatly depending on the composition of the steel. I think I've been pretty lucky so far. I do try to be as careful as possible (for me). I always use distilled water, and I de-grease after every carding with acetone. One other thing I've taken to doing is heating up the metal (with an old blow dryer) before applying the rusting juice.
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Old November 11, 2012, 10:40 PM   #43
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You know, that is a fine looking job you did. It's something I've been interested in. How hard is it to do a rust blue?
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Old November 12, 2012, 07:50 AM   #44
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How hard is it to do a rust blue?
It's really quite a simple process:
  1. Take the gun apart
  2. Strip the old finish
  3. Clean the metal
  4. Let the metal rust (with a little help)
  5. Boil the metal to turn it black
  6. 'Card' the converted rust (brush off the powdery black stuff)
  7. Repeat steps 4,5,6 at least 4 times
  8. Soak the metal in oil for 24 Hrs
  9. Put the gun back together

For me, the most challenging parts of the process are the diss/re-assembly of the gun. The actual rust bluing is pretty much just waiting, degreasing, and boiling water.

Here are a few good articles to get you more details, but it really isn't much more complicated than that. It's easy, but will take several days (it's why the call it 'slow' rust bluing).

http://www.hobbygunsmith.com/Archives/Aug03/HowTo.htm
http://www.finishing.com/4400-4599/4469.shtml
http://powderburns.tripod.com/brown.html

In my opinion, the extra time is really worth it. Rust bluing provides a really tough (for bluing) finish - a good bit tougher than commercially hot salt blued finishes, in my experience.

Good luck to you!
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Old November 12, 2012, 11:17 AM   #45
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[Brownell's rust bluing is] all I've used on any of my projects, so I can't make any comparisons to other products, but it is the least expensive I could find (not counting the homemade recipes you can find on the web), and it made the parts rust every time
I have heard good things about Loural Mountain Forge's Gun Browning and Degreaser. As it is a degreaser, it is (supposedly) more forgiving of oil contamination. Anyway, I plan on using it, but won't start until I finish up refinishing the wood on a marlin 39m (a couple days now). Even then, I will be polishing the rust out of the old Iver Johnson.

And, since my eyes are always bigger than my stomach, I just bought a Colt 1903 for a follow up project.
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Old November 12, 2012, 12:48 PM   #46
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I have heard good things about Loural Mountain Forge's Gun Browning and Degreaser. As it is a degreaser, it is (supposedly) more forgiving of oil contamination. Anyway, I plan on using it, but won't start until I finish up refinishing the wood on a marlin 39m (a couple days now). Even then, I will be polishing the rust out of the old Iver Johnson.

And, since my eyes are always bigger than my stomach, I just bought a Colt 1903 for a follow up project.
I've heard the same about the Laurel Mountain product. I never used it mainly due to cost. Although, thinking about how much acetone, de-natured alcohol, and rubber gloves I've gone through, it's probably at best, a wash.

I love those 1903's and have thought of getting one of those as a project as well. Are you planning to put a high polish on it? It could just be a myth about rust bluing not working as well with highly polished metal, but that's what's always given me pause about re-finishing a Colt - doing it justice with a high polish.

However, the more I do these rust blues, the more I'm convinced that the process imparts much more depth to a 'matte' finish than does regular hot salt bluing.

I'm looking forward to seeing the results of your Iver Johnson and that Colt. Good Luck!
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Old November 12, 2012, 02:19 PM   #47
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This looks great I have redone a few revolvers. I have never seen this technique. I may give it a try next time. How well does it wear with carry?
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Old November 12, 2012, 03:16 PM   #48
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How well does it wear with carry?
I don't know, as I haven't carried any of the gun's I've rust blued. I can tell you, though, that in the process of researching, it was pretty universally agreed that rust bluing produced the toughest and most wear resistant of all the 'true' blue finishes. Way beyond cold blue, and better than hot salt blue - just slightly south of parkerizing, though.

The CZ82 I did earlier this year, though I don't carry it, has been to the range several times and has had several hundred rounds through it and shows no wear at all - none. It's a straight blowback design, so the recoil spring surrounds the barrel and this is usually the first place that wear occurs on these guns. So far, the barrel is still pristine. Just anecdotal, I know, but it's all the data I have at the moment.

My personal opinion: It will wear as well, if not better than any factory blue finish.
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Old November 12, 2012, 03:31 PM   #49
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it was pretty universally agreed that rust bluing produced the toughest and most wear resistant of all the 'true' blue finishes.
I would tend to agree with this. I had my Security Six bead-blasted and hot blued by a local Smith for $125. No complaints, he did a great job, but it seems to scuff pretty easy. I have a couple scuffs on the barrel that came pretty easy. Not sure how, it only goes to the range.

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Old October 25, 2013, 12:56 PM   #50
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I want to thank you. A while back I read your post and thought to myself, "I can do that" I did with two revolvers. Both turned out pretty good too. One was an Official Police made in 1932 and the other was a Smith made between 1948 and 1952. Both turned out pretty good! In the beginning they were rusted with deep pitting in places. Not to mention some springs and a bolt were missing. I got them cheap off Gunbroker and thought it would be fun to play with them. They both are now in fine form and shoot just fine although I use some pretty mild loads with them.

Thanks!
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