Cold Blue-what works

[218bee]

Being that I am prone to buy "beaters" to play with and shoot and that I am a definate amateur when it comes to gunsmithing but always try anyway....I was wondering if anyone has any thoughts on using a cold blue like Brownells OXPHO BLUE or 44-40 or something similar. Now I know it will never be as good as the traditional methods but am talking about shooters not collectors. Can one of these be used to give a decent finish? Also has anyone tried the "blue and rust remover" products. I am not talking about "touch-up", but rather re-blueing a small frame handgun or small rifle action.
Anyone have any tips or comments..always appreciated

[todd987]

I have had best luck with Brownells OXPHO BLUE. My tip is to use the creme style (doesn't dry so quick) and heat the metal a little using a hair dryer.
I did a couple of old Turk mausers and they turned out pretty nice.

[leftiye]

Considering how fragile the professional blueing is, I don't use it anymore (why pay $100 for something that is that easy to scratch?). There are browning solutions that when boiled (the part - after being browned) turn black. There was a thread the other day about one of these. Or, why not just brown instead of blueing? Oxpho blue is the only one I've used (of the cold blues) that was worth the time to put on.

[Beekeeper]

I have used birchwood casy and had very good results.
I followed a sticky by a guy called popeye over on surplusrifle.com and it has worked quite well on a couple of shooters I have


beekeeper

[R.C. Hatter]

I would use Brownell's Oxpho-blue ! I used it for over 30 years for touch-up, and even bluing barrels with very good results. It works best if you warm the metal to be blued with a hair drier just prior to applying the solution or creme form, whichever you are using. Repeat application as many times as needed to get the color you want. Buff the metal with 4 or 5 ought steel wool between applications. A couple of years ago, Shilen,
in TX. re-barreled a .22/250 for me, and I used Oxpho on it and it looks real good.

[Bret4207]

Remember to degrease the steel wool before using it. The slightest bit of grease will give you fits. Oxpho works great.

[Lloyd Smale]

me too

I have had best luck with Brownells OXPHO BLUE. My tip is to use the creme style (doesn't dry so quick) and heat the metal a little using a hair dryer.
I did a couple of old Turk mausers and they turned out pretty nice.

[EMC45]

Wow you guys read my mind about the bluing. I am going to probably slap some cold blue on the Rem mod. 11 I just got. It is a even brown rust color now.

[gnoahhh]

If an old gun has a nice even brown patina I like to leave it alone. It was earned honestly, over a long time and is a testimonial to it's service life. I always said that the guy who would touch-up or reblue a patinized old gun is the same guy who would use Grecian Formula to hide the gray on his head!

To finish small gunsmithing projects I like Oxpho Blue. Preheating the part is good. For browning traditional muzzleloaders I like Laurel Forge Browning solution. Boiling the part after browning, but before carding, will turn it black. Repeat the process 'til you get the desired result.

It isn't beyond the realm of home hobbyists to do rust bluing. It's quite a simple process and provides a better finish than any of the above. I know several guy doing it in their basesments who get beautiful results. One guy's work looks just like the rich bluing on Colt revolvers of a century ago. He has about $30 invested in his setup.

[Ricochet]

What's your friend using for a rust bluing solution?

[GabbyM]

I've done some re barrel jobs with Oxpho Blue.

I've a pair of M-700's in my cabinet now. One with factory barrel the other with a Shillen I Oxpho Blued. You can't tell much difference between them side by side.


A few applications and it looks so so. Blotchy and uneven. Then after it sets over night it looks just like the flat finish on a factory Rem barrel. They tell you all that in the instructions. Gives you a pleasant surprise in the morning. It scratches easy but so what. You still have left over chemical to touch up with. I wear my varmint rifle barrels out from the inside anyway.

They say you can polish a glossy finish with it. Way to much work for me though.

[rmb721]

I use Brownell's Oxpho Blue. I also use some type of heat.

[EMC45]

Do tell about the rust bluing technique. How did you know I had greying hair?

[waksupi]

I rust blued the fowler I have posted in the muzzleloading forum. I used the Laurel Mountain Forge browning solution.
Simple operation, really. Get the metal to the polish you want, put the solution on in a long stroke, and let it rust, from 3-24 hours, depending on your humidity and temperature. You should put on another coat after a couple hours, to be sure you have a complete coverage.
Once it has rusted, you need to boil the parts, to convert the rust. I just dipped the small parts, and made a trough from some PVC with end caps for the barrel. Brought a pot of water to boil, and poured it over the barrel as quickly as possible.
Use either rain water, or distilled. Don't try to re-use the water, as it will have minerals in it the second time around.
You then need to card the surface. I use one of the baby butt soft wire wheels from Brownells.
Repeat as necessary. It took 6-7 rust cycles on my project. The first couple cycles, you don't think it is doing anything, but it will come.

[fourarmed]

You can produce a very nice matte black finish with Oxpho Blue by sandblasting the part first. It seems more durable that way, too.

[gnoahhh]

My buddy uses the Laurel Forge solution, and for the really serious projects a solution purportedly used by A.O.Niedner using nitric and hydrochloric acid, a handfull of nails, and distilled water- with a homemade humidity box. Tightly fitted plywood, sized big enough to hold a long barreled action with a water pan heated by a hot plate set on low. Overnight in the box per coat. Boils and cards for blue, just cards it for brown. Looks utterly like hell the first application or two but evens out with a couple more cycles. He polishes to a minimum of 400grit. 600-800grit for a mirror finish. He claims that the choice of oils used to finish it has an effect on the color too. Can't say that I've noticed much difference. I must say that no matter how big the project or what type of solution one uses, the key (as in any kind of finishing) is how well the surface is prepped. Then there is the apocryphal tale of old gunsmiths using urine as a browning solution. We won't go there!

I'm seriously considering just browning the metalwork of a repro Oberndorf Mauser Sporter I'm building right now. I really like the look of a quality browning job. (Not Birchwood-Casey's Plum Brown either!) The finish I put on the metal work of the last Vincent Rifle I built is a sort of a thin transparent light tinge of brown on the steel. Very elegant looking to my eyes.

A little historical note: back in the day, all gun steel finishing with acid solutions was called browning, even if it ended up being boiled for a blue look. Bluing was the term used for blue finishes imparted by methods employing flames and other sources of heat. I highly reccomend books that were popular a couple of generations ago for well written treatises on the art of bluing. James V. Howes "Modern Gunsmithing", and Roy Dunlap's "Gunsmithing" come to mind. The art of browning/rust bluing went by the wayside with the introduction of the hot bluing we're all familiar with today. Thank goodness it's making a comeback.

Of course if all you want is stainless-in-plastic, forget I said anything! The silver on my head is a tip-off!!

[waksupi]

This is a Mauser I did a year ago, withthe Laurel Mountain Forge browning. It doesn't show well in the pictures, but it did a nice looking job.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...ghlight=mauser