Rust Browning/bluing over pits

[mdevlin53]

I reacently picked up an 1860 Lyman pistol, it came to me fairly cheaply so i don't have much in it. The pistol had a wierd almost varnish like cooating on it that someone put on it to hide the fact that it had been allowed to rust up at some point. i have been slowly removing the coating and am making good progress but, there is always a but. the pitting is allover and while not deep it would take quite a bit to sand it all out. now this pistol is probably going to get a rust browning on it (i may use Laural Mt,browning) but my question is will leaving some pitting cause a problem with the browning process? in the end if this pistol looks like it has been antiqued it wont bother me. Might look somewhat old timey.

[Bent Ramrod]

As long as you get the rust and any residual oil out of the pits, you should have no trouble with the browning. A light bead blasting would give a matte finish that would make it harder to distinguish the pits than a polished surface would.

[mdevlin53]

Thanks, there is small pits over the entire pistol moreso on the right side. how would i get the rust out of each of these tiny pits?

[johnson1942]

bent ramrod is right, get it bead blasted real good. it will give it a good matte finish. i even bead blast new barrels as matte finish is more scratch resistant than a smooth finish. i just bueblacked a .22 barn gun covered in dust and bird dug for years and the matte finish now looks better that it ever did new. the bead blasted metal even browns or blues easier because more surface area is exposed to the browing solution.

[Bent Ramrod]

Citric acid solution or Evaporust will eventually dissolve the rust out, and won't dissolve the steel at the same time. Dilute muriatic or sulfuric acid solution will get rust out quickly, but will also start dissolving the surrounding metal, so you have to watch the process carefully.

Some of the solutions that are inhibited from dissolving the metal sometimes leave a residue or treatment on the metal surface that has to be resanded or otherwise removed, as it will interfere with the action of the browning solution. I haven't tried to blue or brown an Evaporust treated part (yet) to see if that is the case with this product. You might treat a piece of rusty scrap steel with the Evaporust and see if the browning solution takes after it is rinsed and wiped off. I have to say that for overnight rust removal without otherwise damaging metal, Evaporust is the ace.

But the bead blasting will dig the rust out quickly and completely as the matte finish is generated. Then you just degrease the parts and start the browning.

[mdevlin53]

i will ask around and see if any of my friends have a bead blaster, it might be an option,but i am not sure what that would do to the engraving on the cylender. i think i want to keep them as sharp as possible. evaporust will be googgled up to see where i can bick some up. i do have naval jelly that i have used in the past, but i would have to try a scrap peice to see if that prevents the browning solution from working as well.

[Walter Laich]

Stained glass as well as commercial glass places sometimes have bead blasters to frost glass. Might check with them

[johnson1942]

machine shops that grind valves and put in sleeves have them also.

[leftiye]

Laurel Mtn brown is rust. Mine when they got wet went to rusting right away (boil it to get black finish, it will help this out). When done in the coarse method , Laurel mtn will give you a matt finish without any glass bead blasting. Best thing I've found to clean out pits has been those little round abrasive mesh wheels on a dremel tool. Bead blasting will probly complement your existing pits.

[KCSO]

You have rust in the pits, bluing and browning ARE rust. Clean and degrease well and use a quality browning solution and it will all even out. If you carry the browning too far it will MAKE pits. You want to brown to a slightly rough finish to blend in, and when you kill the brown heat the parts and di in oil or melt in beeswax to seal the pores.

[mdevlin53]

This last post answers my original question. i am not going to ever get all the pits out and i really don't wat a matte finish so i will clean it up to a level where the proofs and other stamped and engraved stuff is fairly sharp and go for the rust browning with the boiling step to black it up. this pistol will never look like new again, the product of a careless former owner. it was used and never cleane went so far as to have peices of the percussion caps down inside the action. what a mess. It does give me something to do on the winter days when its not fit outside for man or beast.