Ithaca M37 Rust Blue

I acquired this Ithaca M37 in 1985 when I was 19. I was a tinkerer even then. Over the years this has been a project gun. Stock refinishes, new stocks, recoil pad(s) etc. One thing I did was cold blue the receiver. As cold blues tend not to be very durable, over the years it became a nice gray. At one point I bought a new vent barrel, so I had this gray gun with a nice blue barrel. My success rust bluing a Browning A5 barrel 2 years ago inspired me to tackle this project.

So here we can see where I was starting
https://i.imgur.com/3XDTMTk.jpg

The entire receiver group, trigger guard, and trigger were polished by hand to a 320 grit. I did lightly draw file a few deeper scratches.
https://i.imgur.com/rnwvQ7H.jpg

Since the original slug barrel only had a few worn spots, I didn't polish it bright, nor some of the other small parts. The beauty of rust blue is it can be done over existing blue.

Here's the receiver/tube and the slug barrel rusting up in the steam cabinet
https://i.imgur.com/4ZKi7Su.jpg

And the trigger guard
https://i.imgur.com/qScavnF.jpg

My boiling setup
https://i.imgur.com/ZaAmnj8.jpg

And my carding wheel in a drill press
https://i.imgur.com/oE8lFsV.jpg

I think it came out quite well
https://i.imgur.com/ggWrbZq.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/8YM9Gls.jpg

I also replaced the Pachmayr pad I put on at some point with a repro Ithaca Sunburst pad
https://i.imgur.com/DhJnKSX.jpg

I think this little project turned out pretty darned good. I'm not a gunsmith, but I play one on TV!

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Looks skookum to me ! :drinks:

Well done!

Looks better than factory!

Looks fantastic. How many times through the rusting cabinet did it take to get that nice finish? What did you use to get the rust going?

I bought some rust bluing off this site a few years ago to play with when I retired. If I remember correctly it was called Andy's rust bluing. Retired 3 years ago and haven't tried it yet. You've gave me new inspiration. I've got an A5 I that was my intended project. It's not in bad shape at all. I just thought if I could make it look more like new I'd try it. I really liked your photos of your equipment. If I can find an old cardboard box I think I'd be good to go.

Really does look great....Floyd

Just Brownells Rust Blue.

I was done after 4 cycles, but I got careless and accidentally hit it against the wall, put an ugly smear in the top of the receiver, so the receiver/mag tube assembly got 3 more to get rid of that, so a total of 7 for that.

Thanks. Definitely gonna add this to my bucket list of things to do.

Floyd

That is beautiful! I have browned some muzzle loaders, but not rust blued anything. The beginning of the process looks similar. Dan

That looks good.
When I Rust Blue guns, I soak the parts in Vinegar to remove any old rust or old bluing.
Then I bead blast the metal to give the finish a matt color finish.
Over the years I have done several shotguns in Rust Bluing.
In fact , two were model 37's

Looks sharp Patrick,you should be proud of this project. Thanks for sharing.

Thats a nice refinish!

Just saw this thread. Outstanding job!!

I just saw this thread as well. Very nice rust blue. I always liked the Ithaca 37. The bottom eject is a cool feature. Your shotgun looks great.

I love Ithaca 37's. I got one new in 1978 when I turned 18 so can identify with you here. I liked it so much that I bought another one years later and they are still my favorite shotguns because of how light they are to carry. Since I don't hunt waterfowl, there is no need for 3 inch shells anyhow. Your bluing job looks great to me too by the way!

What a nice looking Deerslayer! Well done, TV gunsmith![emoji106]


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What did you use in the cabinet to create the rust? Water pan and what to heat it?

I used a vaporizer, like you put in your child's room when they have a cold. I also put a clothes steamer in there to get things started, but I would only run that for like 3-4 minutes. That thing cranked out the steam, and you don't want so much that it condenses and drips.

That is very nice.

I have a M37 Deerslayer from the first year. These are perfect for lefties! Almost sold mine a few times but never did. Yours looks great!

Nice job on the rust blue. I have a rusty 20 Ga Model 37 DeLuxe that I hand polished and hot blued. Restoring the wood now! Lots of work. Rust blueing is even more work rusting and carding. Nice story! Now find a WWI Luger P08 and rust blue it!

Well done. You do very good work!

On older guns, those that were originally rust blued, the rust blue finish just looks so right. Like your horizontal carding wheel, was thinking about making an arbor for my mill and doing the same thing, mine is currently mounted on my buffing machine, verticle. Good looking finish. Love the steam, much easier and faster than the boiling business.

One of my great regrets was passing on a 16 ga. M37 that was a friend's trunk gun! It was around 1978 or 79, and he wanted 40 dollars for it..... I passed it up because it was a 16, and l didn't have anything else in 16. Teenage stupidity on my part!