Do it yourself bluing?

[SD_Chop]

Quick quesintion, do they makes kits where you can refinish the bluing on a gun. I have a XD and its showing slight holster wear, i really keep my guns up and clean and was wondering how to do this or should i take it in. Mostly the corners down by the muzzle and one other small area halfway up the slide. Thanks chop

[James K]

My strong recommendation is to forget it. There are all kinds of cold blues that supposedly work magic but I have not found one yet that is durable; most wear off in a few days or even a few hours depending on the handling and use.

In addition, any attempt to just "touch up" the worn areas will very likely look a lot worse than the current wear. To have it hot tank reblued will not be much better, as the wear will only recur and the polishing necessary for rebluing can really hurt the looks of the gun.

There are some coating type finishes that can be done at home, basically laquers or epoxy finishes. Some require sanding the gun, others can go on over the original finish.

I know it is a personal opinion, but I would rather see a gun with honest wear than one covered with a spray finish.

Jim

[SD_Chop]

thanks jim

[Romulus]

Belgian blue is beautiful and easy to master at home on a stovetop. Tough as nails too. I've used Herter's Belgian blue, but there are alternatives like Brownell's Dicropan and Pilkington's.

[MountainBear]

I would recomend sending it off to be coated. EIther duracoat or one of the robar treatments. These (especially the robar) are supposed to wear exceptionally well...

[Mike in Michigan]

Take a look at the automotive supply catalogs for the custom car and hot rod crowd, like Eastwood and J.C. Whitney. They have complete systems suitable for home use for powder coating and Dura-coat and the like that are quite reasonably priced. Figure on also getting a toaster oven, unless you are single and don't have to worry about stinking up the kitchen oven and the house when you bake the finish.
Also take a look at Steve Wagner's website for detailed info on constructing a finish baking oven on the cheap (I made one using his plan and it works great) from pipe wrap, standard hardware, and common electrical components.

[rem33]

Try some oxphy-blue from Brownell. It can be ordered or found at some better gun shops. It has done OK by me on a old shotgun barrel and corner touch up such as you ask about. It isn't quite as tough as hot blue but can do a surprisingly good and durable job. Some touch ups come out great and have lasted way better than expected for me.

[briang2ad]

I took a mag down to the white, and Oxph-Blued it. It is now dark and quite durable. Not as dark as a Mec-Gar blue, but looks VERY goos, and is durable. I did get some blotchy areas, but it was probably my fault. I am about to "darken" existing bluing with Oxpho - if I can...

[dfaugh]

I've had good luck with several of the cold blues on the market---I've even had compliments at the range, and questiosn about "who did the bluing?"

The KEY is surface preperation. Need a good smooth surface, and absolutely NO oil or other contaminants. I have several guns that I've touched up, and an old sporterized Mauser that I did pretty much the entire gun with cold blue, and they're holding up well.