Refinishing A Rifle Barrel (Mosin Nagant 91/301)

J

j.hayes.sd

Inactive
I hate to "beat a dead horse" but I am very new to "gunsmithing" or anything to do with guns at all other than shooting them. I have a mosin nagant 91/30 that I am trying to "refinish" the barrel and reciever on, and am completely lost.

I have heard of several ways of refinishing but cannot seem to find the "right one" I have heard of parkerizing, bluing (hot and cold), duracoating, painting, and even powder coating...

What I need to know is which of these will provide a durable, descent finish with minimal upkeep and minimal resources to complete.

I am limited to the equipment needed to complete this project, as I live in an apartment.

P.S. To those who adventure to offer advice on this topic, please if at all possible break down the procedure so that a "rifle refinisher for dummies" can understand. :D Thank you so much for your time and knowledge
 
Since most of the coatings do best over a sandblasted surface followed by baking at 350 F or so; and bluing or parkerizing involves boiling chemical vats, I fear a DIY in the apartment might not be feasible.
 
What do YOU think looks best?

I like good old bluing. I recently took my Ishapore A2 in to my local gunsmith to be blued, as it came painted. The guy kind of gave me a hard time. "Why spend the money on this rifle?" Was his reaction. But the thing is in great shape, and I paid $180 for it. I've seen them going for around $350 lately. I just wanted to spruce it up because its a cool rifle. He sort of argued about if I was sure. I said to him "they're not making anymore of them, and I'm kinda partial to it."
 
I am limited to the equipment needed to complete this project, as I live in an apartment.
Click to expand...

There's the killer right there. It's not something you'll be able to do successfully in that kind of environment without creating annoyance or safety issues for your neighbors. I used to try and refinish guitars in military housing, almost got kicked out...
 
Without the aid of a buffing wheel, your project is going to take you many hours of surface prep. Cold blueing will work, or you can Dura Coat it if your action and barrel will fit in your oven.

You can remove the old blueing with vinegar and then start polishing all your metal. Remember, the polish will determine how the job will look in the end. I use a buffing wheel with rubbing compound, and after that, another wheel with polishing compound. When done, all the metal looks like chrome.

Once the polishing is done, spray down with Brake Kleen (at your automotive store) and from that point on, do not touch unless you have latex glove on. Any kind of residue on the metal will prevent your chemicals from doing their work on the metal.
 
on the cheap

Get flat black high temperature engine block paint. Clean and prep the barrel then spray it. Do a couple of coats then let dry a few hours.

I have done a few beater shotguns this way. The paint protects the metal and the flat black color seem to look "right".

No you won't win Gun Builder of the year, but for $6 your gun will be protected from the elements.

Think of all the "sniper" rifles that are tactility painted.
 
You need no special equipment for rust blueing that is not found in most households anyway. Rustblueing will give a very durable finish and is very inexpensive. An internet search will let you find plenty of how-to info.



98er.jpg
 
NICE WORK!

PzGren, your rifles look really nice! I think I will try rust bluing...

ONE MORE THING... Can the bolt be blued? Or will the constant movement cause the bluing not to hold up?
 
Thanks for the compliments. The bolt can be blued but it will eventually wear off. Anyway, Mosins originally had the bolt in the white. Rustblueing is really not that difficult and the parts will turn out black if clean water is used and the parts are boiled long enough.
 
I got a $20 bluing kit from Brownells for my Mosin. That, rubber gloves and a blowtorch is all I needed (although I heard a heat gun or even a hair dryer works just as well). I blued the barrel where I cut it, the bolt, pretty much any metal that looked like it was in the white. It has stayed on pretty well (although the bolt handle is getting worn). Just follow the directions, it is something you should be able to do in an apartment. Just make sure you don't skimp on the prep work.
 
Simple cold blueing is more of a spot repair than suited for a restauration. I have tried pretty much all cold blues over the years and while there are big differences in outcome, they all wear faster than hot blue.

Rustblue is applied in several layers and each layer has to wear separately before you see "bare" metal. Handguns are a whole lot easier to rustblue than a rifle, simply because if is easier to find a container to boil the parts in.

What you see in the photo is pretty much all you need, plus some 400 grit wet/dry sand paper, a fine steel brush, the pot, and elbow grease:

Rugerpolished.jpg
 
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