van's instant gun blue ?

[porthos]

anyone ever try this stuff for re-blue. a guy told me that it's the best cold blue that he has ever used. I take this with a "grain of salt" because I haven't found anything that I like yet. I know that nothing beats hot salt blueing, because I used to do it. any comments on vans cold blue??

porthos

[Shooter6br]

I use Van; s on a Mod 10. Isnt bad but still a cold blue. Good match with Smiths blue

[nekshot]

I use it and luv it!

[LAGS]

I have only used it to touch up or Blue small parts like triggers and stuff.
I never tried it on a whole gun, since I slow rust most of my big stuff.
But no complaints on the Van's

[oldred]

Vans is nothing special and is just another variation of the common Selenic Acid formula and as such is really only suitable for touch-ups etc. If you must settle for a cold blue then Oxpho-Blue from Brownells is by far the best choice, even it has it's shortcomings and is not nearly as good as hot or rust blue but it's way better than any other cold blue on the market. With the exception of Oxpho-Blue all the Selenic Acid cold blues are pretty much the same no matter what name is on the bottle.

[porthos]

thanks oldred. I've always used oxpho blue and also fine it is superior. but, wanted some feedback on van's. i'll save my money.

porthos

[oldred]

Since you have already been using Oxpho-Blue I can pretty much guarantee you would be disappointed with anything else currently available.

[nekshot]

not to disagree but I have found if Oxpho doesn't give a good take on first try I use Van's and it almost always covers. That is why I luv it. If I have to cold blue the item I am positive I can get a blue color with those two cold blues.

[troyboy]

I have used Vans a bunch. When doing a full job on a pistol it is more grey than blue. When doing dies is is more black then blue. Works best by submersing the whole part. Have not tried any other cold blue. Vans is not a wonder blue. It protects well so is good for dies and tooling. Not impressed with results from complete or partial re-blue on more than a few firearms.

[practical_man]

Vans is nothing special and is just another variation of the common Selenic Acid formula and as such is really only suitable for touch-ups etc. If you must settle for a cold blue then Oxpho-Blue from Brownells is by far the best choice, even it has it's shortcomings and is not nearly as good as hot or rust blue but it's way better than any other cold blue on the market. With the exception of Oxpho-Blue all the Selenic Acid cold blues are pretty much the same no matter what name is on the bottle.

absolutely agree.

I have used used vans for touch up. It is satisfactory for vary small areas. Since I tried oxpho blue I have never used vans. Oxpho-blue is a superior product in all respects for cold blue.

I also like rust blue for jobs small or large. It isn't difficult to do. A little time consuming but very nice results.

[Chris24]

Oxpho-Blue is the only one I use. I just reblued an old 20 gauge my brother found. It looked like an old rusty water pipe! I couldn't even read the roll mark. I polished it down to white, cleaned it with acetone, and then put on the Oxpho-Blue. About 7-8 coats later, it looks almost new.