Refinishing a barrel

[devinf]

I've got an older (40+ years) .22 rifle that I rescued from a garage some years ago - it was slowly dying from neglect. It has now become one of my favorite shooters.

It still shoots great, but the barrel is in serious need of being refinished. The original black is almost completely gone. I'd like to give it a shot myself, but have no idea where to start... any help on techniques and what products I should use would be of enormous help!

Thanks!
Devin

 

[Romulus]

I've heard good things about Oxpho blue for cold refinishing, but I've accomplished good things myself with Herter's Belgian Blue...fabulous long lasting finish, you will need a metal container to boil the water long or deep enough to submerge the whole barrel (and don't forget to plug the bore). So nice you'll want to do the whole gun. Check collector value before you attempt any home-brewed restoration though...