Mossberg blueing question

[oldhenry]

I like the Mossberg carbine type .22 rimfires. I have four 152 models (all with the peep sight), two 142-A models and one 142K.

All except one have good factory finish. That one is a 152 acquired about 20 yrs. ago. The former owner had painted the bbl./receiver with a matte product. The bbl. surface looks fairly good, but the receiver is not so good. The stock is in good condition: an earlier model with the wood fold down.

Years ago I began stripping the paint. At that point in time I had been doing business with a gunsmith/locksmith in Jacksonville, FL. I would do all of the prep work & ship all parts to him & in a short time span I receive the parts back with an excellent blue finish. His charge was very reasonable.

For some reason or another that project got shoved to the back of my work bench & about five years ago I started to resume work on it: however, I couldn't located anything except the stripped bbl./receiver. I looked everywhere & those other parts were nowhere to be found. Every now & then I'd resume the search & always w/o success. 4 days ago while looking for something else I found those parts in a zip lock bag in a drawer that had nothing to do with gun parts.

With renewed interest in the project I find that the Jacksonville gunsmith/locksmith is no longer in business. I have 1/2 of a 16oz. container of Brownell's Oxpho-Blue that is probably 35-40 years old. I have used this product for touch-up work & it does a fair job there. I had tried to use it as an all-over blue job long ago with not so good results.

Checking Brownells web site I see 15 favorable reviews for Mark Lee's "Express Blue #1" & I think I'll give it a try. Has any member used this product? If so, I'd value your feed-back.

I did not mean to ramble.

Thanks,
Henry

[StuBach]

I too am fond of those old mossbergs. I have several 42/142s and a couple of 146s. I have found that no matter what spot/cold blue you use the finish will not be consistent nor will it hold up as well against solvents/oils over time.

Best luck I had with cold blues was with Outers Gun Blue Kit. Seemed to have a deeper finish that Oxpho and held up better than others.

Better bet would be to find a new place to do the bluing or maybe consider modernizing the gun with a cerokote finish (if your not attached to the classic look). I’ve toyed with this idea for one of my more beat up 142s just as an interest piece since the stock is in good shape and the gun shoots fine, just old poorly cared for finish. Cerokote up this way is way cheaper and has some very positive reviews in the weather resistance department.

[Ban]

I used a 30-40 year old bottle of oxpho on some sks parts & touch up on a couple other rifles. It took 15 applications but turned out as good or better than super blue I'd used previous. The only issue is all cold blue wears rather quick. Can be a good thing on older guns.

A matte or satin clear coat can help keep a cold blue job looking good a while.

Never used the other one you mentioned. Duracoat also makes a coating that replicates old deep blue real well might be worth a look. There's some utoobs of a process to make fake case color hardening look using cold blues. Clear over that on the receiver might be appealing. Endless options.

Heres an older test of cold blues.
https://www.huntingnet.com/forum/gunsmithing-projects-techniques/390731-evaluation-several-cold-bluing-products-w-pics.html
Mods if the link isnt allowed please delete, was just trying to help.

[oldhenry]

I too am fond of those old mossbergs. I have several 42/142s and a couple of 146s. I have found that no matter what spot/cold blue you use the finish will not be consistent nor will it hold up as well against solvents/oils over time.

Best luck I had with cold blues was with Outers Gun Blue Kit. Seemed to have a deeper finish that Oxpho and held up better than others.

Better bet would be to find a new place to do the bluing or maybe consider modernizing the gun with a cerokote finish (if your not attached to the classic look). I’ve toyed with this idea for one of my more beat up 142s just as an interest piece since the stock is in good shape and the gun shoots fine, just old poorly cared for finish. Cerokote up this way is way cheaper and has some very positive reviews in the weather resistance department.

You're probably right about finding a new place to do the blueing. That thought usually hits me after I've gone to the expense of getting everything needed to do it myself.

[oldhenry]

I used a 30-40 year old bottle of oxpho on some sks parts & touch up on a couple other rifles. It took 15 applications but turned out as good or better than super blue I'd used previous. The only issue is all cold blue wears rather quick. Can be a good thing on older guns.

A matte or satin clear coat can help keep a cold blue job looking good a while.

Never used the other one you mentioned. Duracoat also makes a coating that replicates old deep blue real well might be worth a look. There's some utoobs of a process to make fake case color hardening look using cold blues. Clear over that on the receiver might be appealing. Endless options.

Heres an older test of cold blues.
https://www.huntingnet.com/forum/gunsmithing-projects-techniques/390731-evaluation-several-cold-bluing-products-w-pics.html
Mods if the link isnt allowed please delete, was just trying to help.

Thanks for that older test of cold blues. It was both informative & entertaining. The results with Nu-Blue is impressive.