Pointers requested on allowing sanded metal to turn naturally instead of bluing

R

RemTim

Moderator
I sanded one of my Remington New Armies in preparation for hot blueng, but have become accustomed to the old gun look. I am considering just letting the metal turn naturally. Does anyone have any pointers on how to get the best result?
I had figured the way to go about it would to just leave it upholstered and keep it dry.
Any pointers would be hugely appreciated.
 
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Naval Jelly well give raw metal a French Gray look. Using a diluted browning solution can get that aged look of an 150 year old gun. Don't be afraid to experiment, you can sand it down and start over.
 
Naval Jelly

Mad Crate Builder, How do you apply the naval jelly? I would assume the process would be the normal apply, rinse, sand, then repeat procedure. How do I make the browning solution you mentioned?
 
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keep it clean and oiled and it never will (turn)

Hawg, How do you keep it shiny? Besides oiling and keeping it clean, I guess that's all you can do. I'm in NC and the humidity is always high in the warmer months.
 
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I live in Mississippi and if anything it's more humid here. I don't do anything special. I've had this Hawken for almost a year now and the nose cap isn't pewter it's steel. Hasn't aged a bit. The guy that built it fitted it so close it wouldn't come off when he browned the rest of it.

IMG_0350.jpg
 
Thanks Hawg.
No matter what I do, the metal darkens in spots. I polish the metal, oil it every day or two,, but it darkens. If it were a uniform darkening it would be ok.
I thought about getting it like I want it, then waxing the metal, but I have never heard of anyone doing that.
 
There's a few things you can do. You can coat it with naval jelly and it will turn the metal a kind of a French gray(like MCB said) that holds up well. I used a salt and vinegar mix on an old 58 Remington I have but it isn't a consistent coloring. May not have let it sit long enough tho. It rusts it up really thick but cards off easily. Looks bad after a couple of days.

rust2.jpg


Came out looking like this.


100_0286.jpg
 
That certainly looks like an old gun that has seen a lot of action in the OLD West. So you just let it soak in salt and vinegar?
I guess it is easy to tell by the stupid questions that I am new to refinishing.
As for the naval jelly, do coat the gun then polish (blend) it then coat it again?
 
I've used it to clean off rust and just one coat usually does it and leaves a fairly uniform gray look. I don't know what would happen if you tried to polish it. Prolly polish it off.

As for salt and vinegar I removed all internal parts except hammer and trigger and coated bore and chambers. Add salt to vinegar til it quits dissolving and spray it on liberally. Let it sit a few days and card it off with 0000 steel wool.
 
I think I'll try the naval jelly first. I can't stand the thought of having it out of commission a few days for the salt and vinegar technique.I keep my guns loaded and with me all of the time. I would feel naked with just one.
I soaked my gun in vinegar to remove the bluing, it worked well.
I didn't realize you could use naval jelly and vinegar to blue a gun until this thread.
 
There's no need to sand or to use harsh chemical to remove rust or bluing.
Just soak it in Evapo-rust, a unique water based selective chelation agent.

On average, one gallon de-rusts up to 300 pounds of light to moderately rusted steel.
EVAPO-RUST is highly recommended by the NRA gunsmithing school and is utilized by FBI, CIA, NATO and other law enforcement and forensics agencies. EVAPO-RUST is perfect for removing oxide weapon finishes such as Bluing, Parkerizing, Zinc Phosphate, and Browning.
Click to expand...

http://www.evaporust.com/evaporust.html

Home page:

http://www.evaporust.com/
 
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Hawg Haggen said:
Weren't talking about REMOVING rust.
Click to expand...

Please, at least read the ad. I was in the process of editing my post and gun bluing is a form of rust.

There's no need to sand or to use harsh chemical to remove rust or bluing.
Click to expand...

EVAPO-RUST is perfect for removing oxide weapon finishes such as Bluing, Parkerizing, Zinc Phosphate, and Browning.
Click to expand...
 
RemTim, I use naval jelly to remove existing blue. It strips the blue and leaves the French Gray appearance. You just wash it off (the jelly) and dry and oil. You could also use the NJ over raw metal. This well leave a uniform dull gray look.

I think Hawgs method would work very well for getting the "old gun" look. Let the rust build up then go after it with 0000 steel wool or brass wool.
 
Thanks

Thanks for the info guys. I definitely learned something.
Last night I decided to try the naval jelly. After getting the gun shined up really nice, I decided to wax the frame and cylinder that I had prepared. I used Nu Finish Car Polish. The surface has not darkened yet.
I strip my guns when they are fired any way so I can probably maintain the finish pretty well. If it don't work out I plan to try one of the techniques discussed here. Thanks again.
 
I just ordered some of that Evapo-Rust stuff. I've been wanting something like that for some time now.

Thanks!!

Oly
 
I re-contoured the backstraps on my 1860s by sanding off some of the "excess" metal. I've always been going to refinish them in brown or blue. I just went and looked at them and they are a uniform gray. I use Ballistol for cleaning and assume the coloration is a natural oxidation controlled by the Ballistol so that it doesn't go to rust?
They look good so no refinishing will be done
 
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