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Ithaca M37 Rust Blue
I acquired this Ithaca M37 in 1985 when I was 19. I was a tinkerer even then. Over the years this has been a project gun. Stock refinishes, new stocks, recoil pad(s) etc. One thing I did was cold blue the receiver. As cold blues tend not to be very durable, over the years it became a nice gray. At one point I bought a new vent barrel, so I had this gray gun with a nice blue barrel. My success rust bluing a Browning A5 barrel 2 years ago inspired me to tackle this project.
So here we can see where I was starting
https://i.imgur.com/3XDTMTk.jpg
The entire receiver group, trigger guard, and trigger were polished by hand to a 320 grit. I did lightly draw file a few deeper scratches.
https://i.imgur.com/rnwvQ7H.jpg
Since the original slug barrel only had a few worn spots, I didn't polish it bright, nor some of the other small parts. The beauty of rust blue is it can be done over existing blue.
Here's the receiver/tube and the slug barrel rusting up in the steam cabinet
https://i.imgur.com/4ZKi7Su.jpg
And the trigger guard
https://i.imgur.com/qScavnF.jpg
My boiling setup
https://i.imgur.com/ZaAmnj8.jpg
And my carding wheel in a drill press
https://i.imgur.com/oE8lFsV.jpg
I think it came out quite well
https://i.imgur.com/ggWrbZq.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/8YM9Gls.jpg
I also replaced the Pachmayr pad I put on at some point with a repro Ithaca Sunburst pad
https://i.imgur.com/DhJnKSX.jpg
I think this little project turned out pretty darned good. I'm not a gunsmith, but I play one on TV!
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Looks skookum to me ! :drinks:
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Looks better than factory!
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Looks fantastic. How many times through the rusting cabinet did it take to get that nice finish? What did you use to get the rust going?
I bought some rust bluing off this site a few years ago to play with when I retired. If I remember correctly it was called Andy's rust bluing. Retired 3 years ago and haven't tried it yet. You've gave me new inspiration. I've got an A5 I that was my intended project. It's not in bad shape at all. I just thought if I could make it look more like new I'd try it. I really liked your photos of your equipment. If I can find an old cardboard box I think I'd be good to go.
Really does look great....Floyd
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Just Brownells Rust Blue.
I was done after 4 cycles, but I got careless and accidentally hit it against the wall, put an ugly smear in the top of the receiver, so the receiver/mag tube assembly got 3 more to get rid of that, so a total of 7 for that.
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Thanks. Definitely gonna add this to my bucket list of things to do.
Floyd
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That is beautiful! I have browned some muzzle loaders, but not rust blued anything. The beginning of the process looks similar. Dan
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That looks good.
When I Rust Blue guns, I soak the parts in Vinegar to remove any old rust or old bluing.
Then I bead blast the metal to give the finish a matt color finish.
Over the years I have done several shotguns in Rust Bluing.
In fact , two were model 37's
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Looks sharp Patrick,you should be proud of this project. Thanks for sharing.
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Just saw this thread. Outstanding job!!
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I just saw this thread as well. Very nice rust blue. I always liked the Ithaca 37. The bottom eject is a cool feature. Your shotgun looks great.
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I love Ithaca 37's. I got one new in 1978 when I turned 18 so can identify with you here. I liked it so much that I bought another one years later and they are still my favorite shotguns because of how light they are to carry. Since I don't hunt waterfowl, there is no need for 3 inch shells anyhow. Your bluing job looks great to me too by the way!
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What a nice looking Deerslayer! Well done, TV gunsmith![emoji106]
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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What did you use in the cabinet to create the rust? Water pan and what to heat it?
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I used a vaporizer, like you put in your child's room when they have a cold. I also put a clothes steamer in there to get things started, but I would only run that for like 3-4 minutes. That thing cranked out the steam, and you don't want so much that it condenses and drips.
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I have a M37 Deerslayer from the first year. These are perfect for lefties! Almost sold mine a few times but never did. Yours looks great!
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Nice job on the rust blue. I have a rusty 20 Ga Model 37 DeLuxe that I hand polished and hot blued. Restoring the wood now! Lots of work. Rust blueing is even more work rusting and carding. Nice story! Now find a WWI Luger P08 and rust blue it!