Need to blue a Crazy Horse

I picked up a Crazy Horse rifle (1894 in 38-55) the other day with a great bore and good wood. Got it cheap as it has a few problems with it. It has a broken ejector, and I ordered the part yesterday. It has some rust on barrel and the magazine tube as someone hung it above the fireplace and did not maintain….sad. I think it will be light pitting from the looks of it. I may draw file it out myself and clean it up, or just send it to somebody to do this and re-blue, I would like to keep the case hardened look on the receiver. Definitely need blueing services at a min. Any suggestions on who I can send this to? Would you love it if I could find someone on the forum to do all the finish work.

Attachment 312455

Thanks,
Kev

I’d check with JES, he does custom barrels and chamberings. I’m sure he can blue.

Before you go the re-blue route I would try steel wood and oil to remove the rust. Scraping the surface with a single edge razor blade or sharp knife lightly will also take a lot of the rust that is above the surface of the steel. Done carefully to avoid scratching. You may find that when the nasty active rust is gone the barrel and mag will look good enough that you will want to leave alone. Old Winchesters look better to my eye with the character years have provided. Yes there will be some pitting but that will likely be the case with a re-blue job. From your pic looks like most of the original blue is there.

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Originally Posted by Rockingkj

Before you go the re-blue route I would try steel wood and oil to remove the rust. Scraping the surface with a single edge razor blade or sharp knife lightly will also take a lot of the rust that is above the surface of the steel. Done carefully to avoid scratching. You may find that when the nasty active rust is gone the barrel and mag will look good enough that you will want to leave alone. Old Winchesters look better to my eye with the character years have provided. Yes there will be some pitting but that will likely be the case with a re-blue job. From your pic looks like most of the original blue is there.

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I’ve used old copper pennies, steel wool, and and a copper wheel. Have soaking in some kroil now as well but definitely will need a reblue. Normally I would slow rust it myself, but don’t have time and kind of wanting that original, to this rifle, darker blue.

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The barrel & magazine tube would need to be removed from the receiver to preserve the faux case colors on the receiver. [smilie=b:

I would instead respectfully suggest using an oiled pad of Big 45 Metal cleaner, which will readily remove surface rust w/o effecting any remaining bluing.

I've been using that stuff ($6, directly from the maker) for restorations, for years - with excellent results.

https://www.big45metalcleaner.com/

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Appreciate the tips and have been doing this a while myself. Just looking for a pointer to a good blueing service.

Thanks,
Kev

Williams gun sight did mine

to be done right here is some info on redoing post 64 winchesters
https://du-lite.com/blackening-post-...ter-receivers/

This is a possibility: https://wrightarmory.com/np3-metal-finishing/

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Originally Posted by farmbif

to be done right here is some info on redoing post 64 winchesters
https://du-lite.com/blackening-post-...ter-receivers/

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I believe rifle was made in ‘83 and as such the article implies regular blueing should work. Case hardening should be chemically done, and can be polished out possibly? Tempted to just slow rust blue it myself as I have done many rifles with this method over the years, but never with the chemical case hardened receiver. Though I do admit I would hate to loose that look…

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Originally Posted by pietro

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The barrel & magazine tube would need to be removed from the receiver to preserve the faux case colors on the receiver. [smilie=b:

I would instead respectfully suggest using an oiled pad of Big 45 Metal cleaner, which will readily remove surface rust w/o effecting any remaining bluing.

I've been using that stuff ($6, directly from the maker) for restorations, for years - with excellent results.

https://www.big45metalcleaner.com/

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This used with kroil , works wonders