barrel bluing restoration tips needed!

[Plinkster40]

Hello all!
I'm finishing up a Kentucky rifle kit, and I'm restoring a Hawken. I would like to blue the barrels, but are there any bluing tips to get a more period "authentic" look than the basic bluing kits? Also, tips on removing scuff/scratches from the barrel? I appreciate the help!!
God Bless!
Mike

[KCSO]

First off brown rather than blue would have been the finish for most guns of the era, second would be the barrels left in the white to turn brown naturally. Europen guns were BRONZED which is just your old slow rust blue. Case hardened locks were left in the case finish as case didn't blue or brown well. If you insist on blue to be authentic you will need to do a rust blue job and Brownell's sells several solutions for this and there have been extensive threads on rust bluing.

For browning there are several solutions that work well but you can use plumb brown as a starter and put it in a high humidity area to finsih with a deep slow rust brown. I finish my browning jobs by heating the barrel and brushing in oil and smoing it off then rub bees wax into the hot barrel and towell off with sacking. This give a deep brown the resists further rusting and will look good for at least the next 30 years. I use a humidity cabinet made from 2x2 and plastic wrap with a pan of water and a light bulb inside. I run it at 95% humidity and about 100 degrees in the cabinet and it takes about 48 hours or so to get the old time deep brown. Track of the Wolf has several different browning solutions available.

[Der Gebirgsjager]

Some folks would say that to be really authentic they should be browned instead of blued. I have a couple of Hawkens and they are blued, so I'll go with that in addressing your question. Most Hawkens, period and replica, have octagon barrels. If you want to remove the scuffs/scratches then it is pretty much a do-it-by-hand job, as a buffing wheel will round the sharp edges. You will have to obtain some wet & dry abrasive paper in grits ranging from 220-600, depending on how smooth you want the surface to be, and a hard sanding block made of hardwood or a piece of metal. You should then periodically dip the paper in some kerosene and work on the flats lengthwise as much as possible. If you need to sand crosswise in a certain area you need to again be careful not to round the edges of the flats. Now and then wipe away the dirty kerosene so you can see how you are progressing. If the scratches are across or angled across the flats you may be able to get rid of them by just sanding lengthwise, but if they are lengthwise then you'll have to sand across the flat to reduce them. A properly done hexagon or octagon barrel is difficult and labor intensive, and gunsmiths charge a lot of money to do them right. As for the actual bluing, short of a dip in a hot tank, I've had great success using Brownell's Oxpho Blue. If you are unfamiliar with that product you might visit their website and read up on it's use and anticipated results. I have actually reblued entire barrels with this product when there was a problem with putting the work into a hot tank, and they turned out well. It might even hide the scratches enough that you'll decide to skip the hand work!

[nekshot]

Kysco I am keen on your process. I can brown metal but in due time it loses the deep brown and looks like a manufactured brown. When do you use your humidity box for those specific hours, is that after you rubbed it down the first time and the box is a seasoning of the brown process and I would assume need be rubbed again or do you use the box right at the beginning after solution is applied to metal?

[doc1876]

I use birch woods plum brown years ago on my hawken, and to this day looks original

[TAMU74]

Here on the hot, humid Gulf coast I have successfully rust blued four rifles using Laurel Mountain Forge's chemical bought from Track of the Wolf. I de-greased with brake cleaner, then removed the rust and old blue by plugging the bore and suspending the stripped barreled action in a length of PVC pipe capped on one end in Evaporust from the auto-parts store. Small parts were done in an old bowl. after sanding to a uniform finish with 320 emery cloth (go along the barrel not around it) the chemical was applied as per the instructions and hung in my non-climate controlled garage and monitored for uniform covering of rust (90+ degree temp. and better than 90% humidity) usually took 3-4 hours. If you want it browned card it off with 0000 steel wool then repeat you just keep doing this until you get it the way you want. If you want blue, hang it back in the PVC pipe and pour in boiling, distilled water and leave it there until the water is cool enough to comfortably hold your finger in before you card it off. Wear gloves while doing all of this.

[slumlord44]

I have used the browning solution that Dixie Gunworks sells on a couple of black powder kit guns and have been happy. looks the same or better than it did 20 or more years ago when I did them.

[Bad Andy]

My Pops is finishing a flintlock kit he made and is Plum Browning the metal. The smaller parts are coming out darker then the barrel but he is slowly getting it to darken up. I have passed on some advive from your posts. Thanks!

[KCSO]

I'll post some pictures and details of the process shortly.

[Geezer in NH]

Laurel mountain browning solution. Easy to use. Want it black boil in water after every carding. My son uses this when he blackens older double shotgun barrels for restoration at $400 bucks a set. It is labor intensive.