Refinishing a Ruger MKII?

[wonderwolf]

Have a Ruger MKII "TARGET" roll stamped on the receiver, has one of the heavy taper 6 7/8" barrel...almost every one of these I've come across has been badly abused it seems like. This one just has cosmetic issues. Anyways the previous owner polished the **** out of the front sight band (that is machined into the barrel right?) to a mirror finish....really shows all the deep scratches and scuffs now. I want to finish just the front part back to match the rest of the gun but if I have to I'll do the whole gun, my question is seeing how shiny that is and how it has not rusted is there a lot of chromium or whatever in the alloy? What kind of bluing method should I use? I have a friend doing Belgian and I think this might be a good candidate to try it on....but I have read rust is involved and that gives me pause. Is the rust superficial?

[Petrol & Powder]

For starters, I would separate the barrel/receiver from the grip frame. No need to refinish the entire gun unless you want to. I had the opposite issue with a tapered barrel MKII and needed to refinish the grip frame and not the barrel. I used Brownells Gunkote and it turned out very well.
I'm not sure about the carbon steel used to make the "blued" Mark II's but I'd be willing to bet that any of the decent bluing methods will work. Now, if the barrel is made of a stainless alloy that was blackened to mimic blued carbon steel, you have a different issue. I don't think Ruger used that process so you're probably just dealing with polished carbon steel that hasn't rusted yet. The quick test would be to apply a little cold blue and see what happens. If the part easily takes the bluing then it can be re-polished and blued properly.
The good news is you have almost nothing to lose by trying.

Good Luck.

[seagiant]

Hi,
The "Belgian" is slow rust bluing and would look very nice on your Ruger!

[wonderwolf]

Yeah, I don't have any cold blue handy. The stuff I had went bad a few years ago and I haven't had a reason to replace it since. I'll take a good long look at it and talk with my friend who will show me how to hot blue and see what he thinks.

[Petrol & Powder]

How about testing it with one of those bluing "touch-up" pens? They're cheap and most gun shops sell them.

[roadie]

I doubt the steel in the barrel is anything very exotic. A mirror finish polish tends not to rust as easily as a lower grit polish. If I was doing it, I'd just knock back the polish on the sight band and cold blue it. Setting up for a hot blue seems like a lot of work for one lil part, same with rust bluing.

[JWFilips]

Here is some photos of one I did a few years ago with rust blue. It was in pretty bad shape with muzzle damage. Now it is one of my most accurate 22's. Laurel Mountain Forge Rust blue solution 8 applications with boiling in distilled water and carding with 4/0 steel wool:
122493
LHS before
122494
LHS after
122495
RHS before
122496
RHS after
122497
Muzzle before
122498
Muzzle after

[Petrol & Powder]

Well done !

IMHO, The Ruger Mark II is one of the best .22 pistols ever made. Don't let the simple design and low price fool you, it is a work of art and one great pistol !

[wonderwolf]

JWfilips that is a superb refinishing job you have done there. I admire your attention to detail with the crown work.

I much prefer the MkII over the MKIII...there was actually enough points on the differences I was compelled to do a write up on them for my blog not long ago. I have 2 MK II's now and am looking for one in stainless to have as a upgrade to my blued pencil barrel 6" for more hard outdoor use. Seem's .22's guns on the second hand are becoming more available as people are having a hard time feeding them. I have a MKIII bull barrel target and now a Mk II target (I promise I'll post pictures around thanksgiving when I get a chance) it will be interesting to see which is more accurate, although I've split playing cards with the MKIII at 7 paces before, the tall target sights are not my favorite.

http://wonderwolfs.blogspot.com/2013/07/quick-look-at-why-i-prefer-ruger-mk-ii.html

[seagiant]

Hi,
Nice work JW!!!

[JWFilips]

I just have to say it was a $195 buy on GB a few years ago. At that Time after the end of auction ( I was the only bidder) I thought: what have I done! On the way home from my FFL transfer agent I stopped at the range. I had a 4 " black bull target I set up at 25 yds. I fired 50 shots into it and didn't see a shot on the paper until I walked down to pull it and all were in the black ( off hand) I got excited and thought "what a sleeper" Now she will do 2" so I cut that in half. I lucked out with the rust blueing because the Northeast had a small hurricain that came on land about the time I started blueing it. It was September so I should not have had the humidity! Sometimes things work out!

Yes; the way to go is slow rust blue.... The nice blue matte finish is what you want for a target pistol IMHO

[Petrol & Powder]

I too prefer the MK II over the MKIII and I've owned a bunch of them over the years. Blued, stainless, bull barrels, slab sided barrels, tapered barrels, fixed sights, adjustable sights - they're all great guns. I let an early production MK II bull barrel get away from me and regretted that decision ever since. That particular MKII would out shoot most rifles.

The triggers are fine out of the box but can be improved with aftermarket parts. When you start tinkering inside of a Ruger Standard Pistol or MKII you realize the genius of Bill Ruger. The simplicity and efficiency of that design is the strength of that design. It is inexpensive to produce but the final product is not "cheap". The pistol is very accurate, durable and reliable.

The barrel is affixed to the receiver and the sights are in turn, affixed to that rigid assembly. That results in a longest possible sight radius and sights that do not move with each shot. The round cross section receiver is inexpensive to produce and simple. The round bolt is equally simple. The grip frame is made of two stampings welded together and is inexpensive and very functional. Everything about that pistols design is efficient.

They also shoot really well !!! :drinks:

[cheese1566]

I would love to find another MKII in the condition and price you guys have found. I want a finishing project myself and turning the barrel down and threaded to dedicate my last years project of a suppressor. I haven't coated my suppressor yet as I am waiting to do it and the gun together.

i have an older MKII now but I use it for indoor postal league during the winter. Hate to mess up that one as it is a sweet shooter for me.

[HeavyMetal]

All Blueing involes rust to some degree that's why you have to card it with "clean" steel wool between applications or dipping.

Very caustic and a hassle to dispose of I decided to go Duracoat on the three I have and have been very happy with the finish's so far.

A big plus to the "paint" is a simple color change any time you want the down side is you really need to sand blast the metal for a good bite and I have "baked" the last one in a gas oven ( just pilot light on which gave me just under 200 degrees) for a few days which really hardened the Duracoat up nicely.

Lots of paint schemes as well should you want something wild but I went with a titanium color for a semi stainless steel look and was pleased with the result.

They now have a nice looking gloss Black that I may use shortly, go have a look at the web site for some Ideas you may be impressed.