Finish question

D

Dr Killdeer

New member
Anybody know what the finish is called that makes the metal look like it was painted with a high gloss black lacquer?

It’s not blueing and supposedly it’s a much more involved process. The finished product is impressive and I may want to try it on one of my shotguns, but I don’t know what it’s called. It looks like the metal has a deep, shinny black gloss finish.
 
Results from the bluing process can vary greatly in color and sheen. The differences are attributable to the nature of the metal to be blued, its preparation (polish), bluing method selected (hot [furnace or bath], cold, fume), the salts/chemicals selected (and their freshness), attention to details during the process, and the final carding and oiling.

Who hasn't seen cheap bluing that looks as thin as blue watercolor, or used a touch-up blue that comes off the first time you holster your gun? As a rule of thumb, you wouldn't have your car painted by someone without a spray booth -- you want a LGS re-bluer who has a tank bench out back.

I've had custom blue jobs come back looking as deep and shiny as any black chrome and they would put a lacquer job to shame. It's beautiful; but, do you really want to deal with that shine glaring in the bright sun? Many of the high grade gun makers are more concerned with providing more durable but less shiny finishes. With their high gloss wood and shiny blue steel, many mid-level guns look great in the LGS; but, you'll curse them the first time you lose a target because of glare.
 
I do believe Zippy hit the nail on the head - a really high-end hot blue on a properly prepared gun will look awesome with its almost 3-D appearance, but it does like to glisten in the sun. Of course, if you live where BigJimP does and it's always cloudy, it will just look good.....:D
(Seattleites don't tan, they rust)
 
Anybody know what the finish is called that makes the metal look like it was painted with a high gloss black lacquer?
Click to expand...
Several possibilities:
* GunKote makes a gloss black product (several, actually) that is both durable and very appealing cosmetically. Gloss black, gunmetal blue, midnight blue are all colors that look like bluing.
* Brownells sells a bake-on lacquer product that is very durable and very attractive on firearms. By "very durable" I mean that if you choose to remove it, you will have to sandblast the gun.
* There are black teflon and plastic coatings.
* Powder coating is available for firearms.
* Black oxide is a commercially applied plating product that looks very much like gloss black enamel, but being metal it is extremely durable.
* Black chrome is available, but quite expensive, and depending on the metal being plated the results may not always be black black.
* Black nickel is applied to some firearms, it is a very attractive dark grey, not black.
 
Ok, now they're just getting mean ....but they're right ...unless you're dealing with a really high end shop ...rebluing a gun can result in some poor quality finishes.

Usually, its just better to leave a "standard" gun as is ... unless you're talking about some really high end shotgun ...say valued at over $ 20,000 ....then maybe consider re-finishing, if you want to keep it forever ...but on standard production guns like Brownings, Berettas, etc ...don't fuss with it ( but we still don't really know what it might be either ...)...

and hey ...it was 75 deg and sunny yesterday ....so what if it rained all day today ...it was still 65 deg and warm ...( and a little gun oil behind each ear, and I'll be fine all winter, and spring ...and next summer....) ...
 
Black Chrome!

I asked my gunsmith about it too and he also came up with a whole realm of possible finishes, but he invited me over to take a look at a shotgun with a black chrome finish. That was it!

I have an old Winchester Model 12 Featherweight. My father bought it for me when I was twelve years old, back in eighteen seventy….no, seriously, it was my first gun. I’m going to have the wood professionally refinished and I was going to have it blued, but that black chrome finish really appeals to me.

After I broke into adulthood and joined the taxpaying public, I bought my share of Berretas and Brownings and I retired the old Model 12. Today, it’s like a family heirloom. I’ll never hunt it again, but it’s special to me, so money is no object.

I’m leaning toward the black chrome finish. It may be like putting a Mercedes hood ornament on a Ford Taurus, but it’s all in the eyes of the beholder.

Thanks for the help guys!
 
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