Is Re-blueing easy?

[titegroup]

I have a Browning A Bolt .06 that is 10 yrs old. It started pitting and rusting the first time hunting with it. I am maticulous in cleaning my weapons and was shocked at how quickly it began to rust.

It has the matte finish. Personally I like the high gloss blueing. Any recomedations? Is redoing the blue on a rifle hard? Can you get a factory like finish again? Is it better to take it to a professional? THanks!

[kraigwy]

Reblueing per se, isnt hard, its just a matter of keeping the salts a costant temp.

However, prepping the gun for bluing is time consuming. It has to be completley stripped, and all parts to be blued have to be polished. Bluing will magnify all scratches and defects in the metal.

You can get a factory or better finish.

Lets explain the hot tank process, or how I do it.

(I dont do cold bluing)

You have four tanks, One is full of hot water with non sudsing soap, to clean the polished partsl. It has to be hot enough to remove all the oil and grease.

Next comes a tank of cold water, (fresh water running through the tank) rensed thougherly then the gun and or parts are put in the blueing tank for aprox 20 mins. The bluing tank has to remain constant between 295 and 300 degrees, too hot and you'll get a red or rust tint, too cold and you'll get a green tint. Then the rifle is put back in the cold rinse, aggitating it to remove all the clumps of salt. Then the rifle is put in a not non soliable oil, left in the boiling oil a few minutes.

After which I rmove the rifle and flood it with WD40 washing off all oil, water etc, then wipe all the WD40 off completely with paper towels. I then coat the whole thing with gun oil. A freshly blued gun is easily rusted so keep the oil on as long as posible, at least until its completely cooled.`

So basicly thats the process I use. Its not practical for one or two guns. Polishing before bluing is the most important part.

After reading this, you can see where I recommend taking it to a good gunsmith for bluing.

(no I'm not in the business any more, I'm not solisting nor will take on the job)

Pardon the spelling

[Bill DeShivs]

Bluing offers very little protection against rust.
Try lightly scrubbing your rusted areas with 0000 steel wool soaked with WD 40.

[Teppo Sensei]

cold blue is easy but wont stop rusting
you just have to remove all oil and rust polish smooth
tenifer and parkerizing would be better protection

[James K]

For rust protection it would be hard to beat some of the spray on/bake on finishes available today. They may not look as good as a professional blue job but they are very durable and stand up well to the elements.

If conditions in your hunting area are such that a matte bluing rusts quickly, I would not think a high gloss blue would be any better.

kraigwy is talking about professional hot tank bluing, and as he says, it is not for the DIY type.

Jim

[bigb00mer]

hot salt blue is best for factory style refinish
parkerizing is strong rust prevention but ugly
dura-coats are good but I just like a nice blue finish, old fashioned I quess

[ActivShootr]

Check out a product called "Blue Wonder". There are videos on www.youtube.com on how to use it. I have not tried it but it looks really easy.

[MountainBear]

If you are so inclined to find a rust resistant finish, look into either having the rifle powdercoated or having a proprietary finish applied (robar and other companies have some excellent finishes).

Either way, let a professional do it or you may end up having to spend more having a pro undo mistakes before he does the job you originally wanted done.

[George R]

My working with powder coating has not been positive, because it can't be burnished and smoothed like the polymer coatings, such as gun kote. It's rough and stays rough. I don't know of any full time refinisher who powder coats anymore. Many of us tried it, but found it isn't very good on firearms. Maybe there's an application technique I don't know about. Mountain Bear, I'd be interested in your experiences with it as I am always looking for better coatings.

[Artisan]

Reblueing a rifle is not difficult. Reblueing a rifle well, however, is. It takes quite a bit of practice in blueing and surface prep to produce a nice "factory fresh" finish.

[drail]

Oh yeah, it's really easy, although if you want to see what it looks like go to any gun show. Seriously, hot bluing is the correct way. Cold blue solutions are good for touch ups but they wear away very quickly. If you want a pro finish pay a pro shop to do it.

[hillbillyshooter]

I have cold blued a couple times. i got good results. only did this because i dont have the space otherwise. i put 2 or 3 coats of bluing the last time i did it.

[Bill DeShivs]

One man's good results are another's nightmare.....

[hillbillyshooter]

true, and they i only did this on rifles that were old and were rusting and pitting. before i did it i figured that i could only make it look better. anyway, it turned out good, but you have to remember to go at the metal with the steel wool until all the small scratches are out.

[rburch]

Check out a product called "Blue Wonder". There are videos on www.youtube.com on how to use it. I have not tried it but it looks really easy.

Don't want to thread jack, but anybody use this product?

I've got a few guns I need to refinish, and for the price this looks like it's worth trying.

[Bill DeShivs]

No cold blue works well for rebluing. It is for touch ups, regardless of what it says on the package. Even if you get it looking decent (you won't) it will look like crap in 6 months. Just spray paint it black, then you can use paint thinner to take the paint off when you want to do it over.

[drail]

I have been able to get it to look decent but it absolutely will wear off very quickly. By six months it's pretty much gone. Plus it smells awful.

[jdowney]

Wow, no one rust blues? That's what I want to try - once I've got about a million other projects out of the way !

[4V50 Gary]

What Kraig says. I've done hot bluing like that and it's all in the preparation work. You have to make sure the metal is prepared to take the blue and the better polished it is, the better it'll take the blue. Polishing is also a skill since you don't want to remove any maker's marks. Colts without the rampant Colt just doesn't look right. Same with the S&W gibberish on the frame. You don't want to soften them either.

If you want to hot blue it yourself, go to a NRA summer gunsmithing school and take their bluing course. It's easy, but it's a lot of work that can be very rewarding.