Blueing bolt handle?

[dan tanna]

I have a Ruger 77 MkII with the bolt handle left in the white. I prefer the blued bolt handle of the tang-safety 77. Could I simply blue the handle using a bottle of cold blueing from the local gun shop, or is this something best left to a gunsmith. Thanks for any information.
Dan

[Unclenick]

Cold blues are not very durable, and I suspect you will not be pleased with the result. Additionally, they contain acids which can initiate surface rust and weaken springs over time if they aren't properly neutralized, so you will want to strip the bolt down to apply the stuff.

If you are up to stripping the bolt, then I would suggest you look at the old fashioned process of rust bluing. I made a front sight extension for my old Ruger Mk I bull barrel pistol by filing it from key stock. I rust blued it and got very satisfactory matching appearance and ruggedness. The process consists of using a special solution (such as the Pilkington solution sold by Brownells) to intentionally induce light surface rust that is then boiled in distilled or deionized water to convert it to the black oxide form. After boiling, the loose black oxide is rubbed off (carded) with degreased steel wool or a fine wire brush. The process is repeated a half dozen times, at the end of which you have a beautiful looking bluing job that is real bluing and not a selenium substitute, as with cold blues. The solution that induces rust needs about 24 hours to act, so this a week-long project.

[Scorch]

Ruger 77 Mk II rifles have stainless bolts. You could soak it in cold blue for a month without turning it black.

[dan tanna]

Great, guys. Thanks for the input. I'll call up a few gunsmiths and see how it goes.
Dan

[Scorch]

If you really want a black bolt handle on your Ruger 77 Mk II, you might try GunKote. It is a bake-on epoxy product, and it is tough as nails. Comes in gloss black and flat black, plus a variety of other colors.

[Unclenick]

I didn't remember that bolt is stainless. There is stainless bluing available, both cold and hot. Brownells sells the salts for professional hot bluing of stainless. You won't want to mess with that, but you can look for an outfit that does it commercially. Unfortunately, a different process on a different base alloy is not going to produce a matching bluing. All you can be certain of is that it will be darkened considerably.

I have the cold blue chemical for stainless that I got from an industrial source for coloring some stainless screws. I found it produces something more like dark gray, and you have to blast or otherwise remove the chromium oxide layer from the surface of the stainless before it can work. Lots of trouble for so-so results.