Cold Bluin our guns

[Hardy]

Well, I played in a rock band and also wrote a novel Hell's Island/William D Hardy Jr. So I'm more artistic than engineering. Heck, I can't put a garden rake together without a struggle But I like pretty guns I like bluin--kinda gives me back an artistic flare. I did find something that works better than Perma Blue.

You have to practice--but if you want to re=blue your barrel get a perma blue kit and put the bluing aside. Use the de=greaser plus everclear before starting. G 96 bluin cream is the best I found. Swab it on w/ swabs from perma kit--not cue tips. Leave 4 minutes and spunge off w/ distilled water. Repeat. Then mix G96 w/ 3&1 oil and polish gently w/ cotten. Leave over might. If it ain't right-apply more cream and set for awhile and saturate again w/ 3&1 . No ballestol. Keep it up after 12 to 24 hrs and then polish with Ballestol. It worked for me but I would like to see some better experts showing how to maybe do it better.

 

[Bill DeShivs]

No cold blue will hold up. It is for touch-ups only, regardless of what the label says. Mixing oil and cold blue defeats the purpose.
I'm not sure what else to say.....

 

[Razor740]

I ain't no expert, but I've used 'bout ev'ry cold blue out there in the past 40 yrs...
OXPHO-BLU works the best for me..

 

[Jbar4Ranch]

BLUE WONDER is the best I've ever used, but it's also the most expensive.

 

[kwhi43]

Van's for me and I've used them all.

 

[MrWesson]

oxpho is the best ive used and stay away from perma-blue.. That stuff is garbage.

 

[Hardy]

Thanks guys. yeah you can't do the whole barrel but you are right-cold bluin w/ perma blue is bad. The G 96 worked better. Never heard of the others--good advise! I guess what I meant about the oil was that you have to get it blued and then saturate oil and some blue cream on last working to keep it from rusting and blending.

 

[oilcan72]

I've used the G 96 and it has worked the best for me, I warmed the gun in the oven for about three minutes, blued it rinsed it off then soaked it in oil for an hour, it has a really nice finish. I agree that perma blue is junk.

oilcan72

 

[Hardy]

3 and 1 oil is the only thing i have found to polish on fresh bluin that blends it in and keeps it there. I tried heating frame in oven, but using a hair dryer blowing inside muzzle on hot seems to work better for me. Oilcan, what kinda oil do you use? Have you tried heating the barrel from the inside?

 

[Old No7]

The BEST ever!

"OXPHO-BLU works the best for me..."

Works super for me too! Best I have tried, and I've used them all.

The trick is to:

(a) Buy the cream formula, not the liquid, as it has better "cling" to rounded surfaces found on guns.

(b) Degrease (even though it says you don't need to) and wear rubber gloves, then preheat the parts with a blow dryer. I find it applies and sticks better to warm metal.

(c) After the first few coats applied with soft cotton, I "cure" it with Birchwood Casey Sheath. Then degrease it again, then reheat and apply again with 0000 steel wool lightly polishing it with the cream. Do as many coats as needed to get the color/finish you want.

When I've done this, and really taken my time, I have gotten great results that proved to be very durable.

I guess you could call this a "Warm Blue" formula, but it works for me.

Hope this helps.

Tight groups.

Old No7

 

[Hardy]

Well, I thought everyone was gonna chase me down and put some rattlers around my neck for saying I was an artist Anyway--it is now called warm bluing and Perma bluers can't come to the art festival
WBH

 

[rattletrap1970]

The most resilient form of gun bluing you can do yourself (easily) is rust bluing. I've done it on many guns. I wouldn't use cold blue on anything except a small repair.

Rust Bluing is easy. I use Mark Lee Express Blue, but Brownells is good also (just takes longer). I hear Belgian blue is very good although I haven't used it. I have also fume blued (An enclosed cabinet with a heat source, moisture source, a small amount of Nitric Acid in one container and a small amount of Muriatic Acid in another container. Parts are left hanging in the cabinet over night. After the parts rust you process from step 5 onward (below).

The rust blue process is very rust resistant when you are done as you have converted most of the freely rustable iron from (Fe2O3) to a black magnetite (Fe3O4). Evidence of this is shown as you are doing this process and the parts rust less and less with each application of solution, as there is less and less available to rust. This is the process that was done on double barrel shotguns as they are largely silver soldered together a very hot or corrosive process could weaken the joints.

1. Strip the old bluing off. You can use bluing remover (50/50 water and muriatic acid and the bluing just disappears, then neutralize well). To brighten up the metal use 400 grit wet or dry paper (wet) and buff the metal.
2. Clean the metal well, from here off it's latex gloved to prevent finger prints.
3. Warm the metal parts over a clean flame (gas not a wood fire) till they are almost too warm to handle.
4. Rub the rust blue solution on in long even strokes.
5. Boil for about 15 minutes in Distilled Water (yes is should be distilled, depending on your mineral composition of your tap water you can get streaks or uneven coloring).
6. The red/tan rust the was on the gun converts into a black, kind of velvety coating. you buff this off with a carding wheel or carding brush. Carding is just a fancy word for brushing off the parts with a very fine brush made of .002-.003 dia bristles (they're very soft). This will remove the fuzziness but not the color.
NOW REPEAT.

Depending in the iron content you may have to do this up to 10 or more
times, but to be honest I rarely have to go over 5 or 6.

Here is a French SACM M1935A that I did.

Original Finish

Stripped

Bluing Solution Applied

Boiled

After multiple applications, final carding and oiling

Any questions let me know.

 

[rattletrap1970]

Here is a Stevens Tip-up single shot pistol that a buddy of mine inherited. It was in a tacklebox all rusted up. The nickel finish was shot so I Rust blued it and Niter blued the screws. Sanded the grips a bit and put 5 or 6 coats of gloss tung oil on them.

All in all I'm pleased.

 

[Hardcase]

Rattletrap, thanks for the excellent posts!

 

[Navy joe]

I rust blued a Sistema 1911 and I agree that it is the only way to fly. Thing stopping me on long guns is having a way to boil them.