rebluing over old bluing?

[RU shooter]

I an planning on restoring an old shotgun I got real cheap, I was planning on cold rebluing or maybe even rust browning as I like how my flintlock barrels turn out , Now theres not much original blue left on the old gal,Will I need to take it down to bare metal to do anything at all to it? any advice is welcome as far as process or product . One more thought Is there a cold process for parkerizing?

Thanks,Tim

[Ragnarok]

Just depends on what you have and what you want....just want it back blue and don't mind pits...pickle it and hot blue it...want it just perfectly restored..,polish it very carefully or send it off to Fords or Turnbull or whoever... cold blue for touch-ups and a gun no money is spent on...or spray paint/and paint..can get that in many flavors..some better than blue...from $5.00 to $5000..the world is your's for the taking...

[leftiye]

I do exactly what you are talking about to almost all of my guns that need touch up (and to whole guns). Brownell's oxpho blue really is a good cold blue, and will elevate your gun's appearance to a very good state. With some blues, it takes some of the old blue off, it still ends up looking better. I have some old Remington pump rifles that were really rusted. One I sanded, filed, polished the whole gun and cold blued it (it had crud mixed with rust all over), it looks better than the original finish did. Interestingly, with several others I just went over the finish as it had gaps, but much of the original finish still there. Oxpho blue will give a brownish hue over an old patina. I really like it actually.

[RU shooter]

I do exactly what you are talking about to almost all of my guns that need touch up (and to whole guns). Brownell's oxpho blue really is a good cold blue, and will elevate your gun's appearance to a very good state. With some blues, it takes some of the old blue off, it still ends up looking better. I have some old Remington pump rifles that were really rusted. One I sanded, filed, polished the whole gun and cold blued it (it had crud mixed with rust all over), it looks better than the original finish did. Interestingly, with several others I just went over the finish as it had gaps, but much of the original finish still there. Oxpho blue will give a brownish hue over an old patina. I really like it actually.

Thank You Sir, Ive heard of it before and did some reading and will be the route I go.

[leebuilder]

Tim, RUshooter does what i do. Suprizing how nice some rifles turn out, seems the older the nicer,, i has to be the steel they are made of. I use extra strong window cleaner for a degreaser then a good wipe with some sort of alchool this will just make the Blue go a bit farther. Then slather with oil.
tip- run the parts to be blued under hot hot water. The little bit of heat makes the blue look deeper.

[leftiye]

Believe it or not, Oxpho blue has little or no need of degreasing, though I've never tried it on anything that is oily or greasy (and wouldn't).

RU shooter thank you (right back at you)! I am so used to being dissed for my DIY methods that I really get off on it when I can help. Cold blue has probly saved me thousands by now.

[Ballistics in Scotland]

The cold blues, other than rust blues, are quite different from conventional gun blues, in that they don't actually consist of black iron oxide (which won't rust, if uninterrupted, because it is rusted already. They deposit copper and blacken it, which is about as durable to handling as the thinnest copper plating that ever can be. They are also sure to look patchy when partial old bluing is left behind.

Rust bluing or browning is better, but demands total freedom from grease, fingermarks etc. The metal has to be polished, and the best form of degreasing is boiling in a weak caustic soda solution, and then washing it off with water. Even hard tapwater is likely to make the bluing imperfect.

My favourite for jobs of this kind is Birchwood Casey Plum Brown. While I would polish the metal, with successive grades of silicon carbide paper down to 1000 or so, backed up with things like stiff card or leather), it isn't strictly necessary, and it isn't as demanding of perfect degreasing as some. You heat the metal until it hisses when you swab the stuff on, which produces instant fine brown rust Leave it ten minutes or so, then wash it off with water and scrub away the rust with something like very fine steel wool. (Steel wool is commonly greased to prevent rusting in storage, so you should clean that with alcohol or detergent first.) Repeat as required to give a deep brown, and then, if you wish, boil it in clean water to alter it to a warm black. This looks very much in keeping with an old gun. It is one of the most protective of finishes against atmospheric rusting.