Blueing at home

[Buffy]

Guys, I'm in the process of tidying up my old 303 and was wondering if any of you blokes have done blueing at home? any tips, tricks, do's and dont's would be greatly appreciated

as well as some brands of good blueing kits would be real handy.

once I feel confident I'll be rubbing the old girl (and the rifle, see what I did there hahahaha) back to bare and going for it. Barrel, action and bolt handle need to be done so it's gunna be a challenge I think.

I'll do a write up of my experience too

cheers

BB

[DMC]

I used one of those Birchwood Casey 3 bottle packs of cold bluing, on a Savage receiver, turned out ok, but i dont think its very durable.
Any of the cold blues ive seen wont evan get close to a pro job, but it depends on your required finish, besides im not sure many people can still do the
hot tank jobs ??

Good luck if you try it !

DMC

[Mulga]

I have done slow rust bluing. Hard to find in OZ and had to mix the chemicals myself. It works really really well. Here's a doc I did up on how to do it. I have plenty of the base chemicals. You can have some if you like but shipping may be the issue.

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B-bv03L ... sp=sharing

Regards

Dan

[The Raven]

I've used the Birchwood Casey kit to reblue an old Sportco. It's a good kit and works well if you do things properly. Still, it's never going to be as nice as a proper hot blue.

Here's some things I learnt:

1. Clean everything spotlessly! Obviously removal all rust, oils/greases, and old bluing (the bluing remover is excellent, so keep it away once you start bluing).
2. When prepping the bare metal you want to get it looking as polished/smooth as possible! This will ensure the finish is consistent, without any patchiness.
3. Disassemble everything you want to blue, don't cheat and try to do assemblies. For example, take the front and rear sights off the barrel/receiver rather than trying to treat it as one item.
4. I used the oven on it's lowest temperature to dry parts as I clean them. I also do this to warm parts before applying the liquid blue, and later to 'cure' it.
5. Your rifle will probably use a few different metals, expect some parts to blue easier than others.
6. Don't forget to blue ALL the screws and other minor hardware as you go. It makes a big difference to the overall finish. I cleaned up screws heads with a file and disassembled my factory swivels.
7. On less than pristine metal (eg. old Sportco's), you may get a bit of an antiqued look to the blue. I don't mind it.
8. Birchwood Casey also sell a bluing paste. Occaisionally I'll strip the oil from the metal and rub some paste in to enhance the bluing. It's not as effective as the liquid blue but makes for easy touchups.
9. Despite all the cold bluing products/videos on the internet, don't expect the same miracle results they often show.

If you want to blue your 303, I think you'll like the finish the kit gives. It will suit the rifle and it's age without looking too perfect/artificial.

You can see my reblue of the Sportco in the Gallery, noting I could do a better job the second time around. viewtopic.php?f=21&t=13467

[Mulga]

Still, it's never going to be as nice as a proper hot blue. viewtopic.php?f=21&t=13467

A proper hot blue will nearly be as nice as a proper slow rust blue. All the manufacturers used slow rust bluing (SRB) up to the second world war when hot salt bluing introduced for its speed and reduced cost. SRB is greatly superior to a cold blue and done right will get exceptional results.

Unless cold blue is just for touchups and you don't want to go to the trouble to SRB just get the firearm hot blued. Do the prep work yourself to save $ ie sanding, polishing etc. It will look heaps better.