De-bluing a barrel

[dagger dog]

I want to remove the blue from a Pedersoli Kentucky flintlock barrel and then brown it, I will use the Mountain Laurel browning.

Used that solution to brown an in the white Lyman pistol barrel and it came out very well.

Need opinions on "the best way" to remove the bluing so I have a good base for the browning solution to come out even.

Thanks for reading !

[tradbear55]

Evaporust will remove the bluing and you can rinse it off with water when finished. Neutral PH means no neutralizing like with an acid.

[Nobade]

Might be the same thing, but Naval Jelly works really well for that. It's just phosphoric acid.

[Geezer in NH]

Then you got to get rid of the phosphoric finish left on it.

Get Blue remover from Brownells or Midway. Then the LMB will work great.

[dragon813gt]

Evaporust will remove the bluing and you can rinse it off with water when finished. Neutral PH means no neutralizing like with an acid.

Yep, it removes bluing quickly and easily. But if left soaking to long the barrel can darken. Just something to be aware of.

[LAGS]

to remove the bluing , Vinegar.
Naval Jelly works good, but you have to neutralize it with something like baking soda in water

[BPSharps]

I got to agree that Evaporust is some amazing stuff. Quick and easy. Bought a double barrel muzzleloader shotgun as a project gun. It had some rust in the barrels. Plugged them and filled with Evaporust and let it set over night. It cleaned up real nice but that is when I found out it removed blueing really easy too.

[sharps4590]

Good info, I was wondering the same thing. I can now get to the browned barrels on my Manton ML double gun. To add to the question, if a fella was doing Damascus barrels, what and how would the last step be and be done to get that stunningly gorgeous contrast between metals?

[bedbugbilly]

plug your bore - wrap it in a number of layers of paper towel - put in a pan and soak towels with vinegar - that will remove the blueing. If it doesn't get all off the first application, repeat. Then rinse in hot water, dry well and polish with something like 600 grit. Wipe down with alcohol and then proceed to brown.

I've used this method a number of times when "antiquing" C & B revolvers. I like the Plum Brown where you heat the barrel warm and wipe on - several applications give a good deep brown.

I just bought a Pedersoli Moore flintlock pistol from a member here that has a blemished barrel - I'm going to do the same as you - remove the blueing and brown the barrel.

Other products will work but vinegar is cheap and my wife always has some on hand!

[charlie b]

When working with double barrels make sure your solution is lead safe.

Saw the results of aggresive rust removal once. Barrel ribs came off in the soak. Gaps between the barrels.

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[waksupi]

I use muriatic acid. Brush it on, instantly removes blue. Then wash the barrel down with baking soda. Actually, if you just leave it on, it will brown a barrel itself. If I'm not careful with it, I end up with things browned in the shop I don't want browned, as the fumes travel. Best to use outside, potent stuff. It can etch the barrel somewhat, but you are better off just going over it with 320 grade sandpaper, nothing finer, for a good tooth for the browning to bite.

[dagger dog]

I have an old Spanish repo' flintlock barrel I can try the above methods.
Thanks to all that replied.

[sharps4590]

The barrels on this Manton double will be rust browned. I'm not about to apply heat to 150 year old, or older, barrels. I have used the Brichwood Casey browning solution with heat and it does work good with enough coats.

[DIRT Farmer]

To get the Damascus pattern to show there is a procedure. Back in my memory it seems it involves polishing the barrels and using an amomnia solution. There is a builder in south central MO that I think refinishes classic doubles and builds big bore shotguns from scratch, like 2 and 4 ga. You can find his contact info in Muzzle Blasts under field reps, Rod Gates

[Gtek]

Demineralised, Deionised water can be your friend in the end.

[2152hq]

To get the damascus or twist pattern to reveal itself, you have to 'etch' and then card the browned (or rust blued) bbls before rusting them again thru another cycle.

The etching soln quite often used is a very dilute soln of ferric chloride. Ferric chloride is commonly used as a copper curcuit board etchant. It is acidic on the Ph scale and that is what you want.
In the etching phase of the process, the rusted bbl is dunked quickly into and out of the etchant soln and then carded w/ fine steel wool under running water. The etching process loosens the rust (or rust blue) from the harder steel composition of the damascus pattern and makes it easier to remove in carding. But the softer iron composition strands of the damascus bbl tend to hold the color better and resist the tendency to loosen and card off. You do loose a little from the softer iron in the pattern in each etch and carding,,so it's a process of 3 steps forward and 2 steps back each time you do a cycle, building up the color and contrast a little each time.
Damascus finishing generally takes 15 or more cycles to finish a set of bbls., where if you were just rust browning or rust bluing them, they could be done in 4 or 5 cycles.

Some 'smiths don't etch & card every cycle, instead choosing to do that every 3rd or maybe 4th cycle. Saves time and still gets results.
Some use very dilute Muriatic acid for the etchant instead of the Ferric chloride. What ever you use, start very weak,,3% soln is fine. and room temp.
Lots of different techniques to get the process to end in damascus finish. Everyone has their own special way just like rust bluing or stock finishing. But that's the basics.

A simple way to bring out the pattern on a freshly polished damascus bbl is to wipe it down with common laundry bleach.
It can work wonders,,it can be a miserable failure or somewhere in betw. You will usually get some kind of brown on white pattern to show however.

[jjarrell]

+1 here on Naval Jelly. It works almost instantly and takes it back to "the white". You also can't go wrong with Laurel Mountain Forge brownin solution. Take your time applying and it will give a great deep chocolate brown to the barrel.

[Mac118]

I use a 50/50 solution of muriatic acid and water. Wash down with a baking soda/water solution to neutralize.

[curioushooter]

I did the same thing with a T/C Hawken. Evaporust my friend. (Harbor Freight sells it and Meijer and many other places). Then follow the directions from Laurel Mountain.

I have used Evaporust to remove rust and blueing from other rifles, too. I have used Birchwood Casey Plum Brown and it works well, too. So does Brownells Belgain Blueing.

Basically, a good even layer or red rust is what you want then to boil it in distilled water which turns it to blue rust. If you want it to be brown all you are doing is trying to get a nice even layer of brown rust then rubbing a bunch of grease or oil into it which creates the finish.

The best humidifier I tried was an old plywood box with a light bulb in it (for heat, so incandescent) and a pie pan of water (I believe it was an old chicken egg hatcher). The way to boil in distilled water is take clean 4 or 6" PVC half pipes with endcaps on saw horses and lay the barrel down in them and submerge them immediately with the boiling distilled water. You can also hang them from the celiing with wire. Make it sturdy though.

[Whiterabbit]

I use muriatic straight like waksupi. Very cheap in the garden section of home depot. I'm still on my first two gallons I bought a decade ago.