Printable View
I’ve a 22 that has had the outer part of the barrel sanded ( rather roughly!) by a previous owner.
I’ve sanded it smoother to the point it looks like a stainless barrel.
Is there any finish I can give it that’s presentable and durable?
Bearing in mind in this Level 3 environment I won’t have access to much in the way of chemicals etc!
well if it isnt a heirloom........some good etching primer first off and finished with suitable top coat....actually talk to @257weatherby he has something that looks awesome....have contemplated getting him to do my SS Howa...but cheated and used silage tape on barrel instead.
A while back I fine sanded a 22 barrel and used autosol polish to finish it and give it a stainless look. Looked good. Otherwise I get good results with cold blue - but I do it my way..
Silage tape.... Sure you're not a coaster?Quote:
Originally Posted by Micky Duck
The surface of the barrel still has a ‘brushed’ finish from the sanding and I can’t be naffed sanding it any smother at the moment.
I did contemplate etch primer and satin black top coat but thought a wipe on chemical finish would look good. (If there is such a thing!)
Na, He was going for carbon fibre look but had none in the implement shed!
Dunno, will see on Monday if nobody comes up with another idea.Quote:
Originally Posted by muzza
Matt black etching paint (or semi / or gloss) give a reasonable finish. Especially if you dont want heirloom finish. A decent coat of paint does wonders for rust prevention too...just can be a bit naff looking if you do it wrong. One of mine has been painted rather than reblued. Went one step further and put a gloss varnish on top...looks like new now......
Bubba's Cerakote:
Attachment 177644
Duracoat for firearms,can buy it off trade me.works well
I’ll flag the rust blueing at the moment, as it is the previous owner had sanded the barrel from the rear sight boss to the muzzle, ergo that’s the area I’m focusing on on, the barrel and action can stay the way they are for the meantime.Quote:
Originally Posted by mimms2
I have had good success with full barrel among other bits with Brownelles oxpho (creme not the liquid)
It sounds like you're looking for a fairly easy solution, so an etching paint is probably the best option. Really don't bother with cold-bluing solutions... they're just a selenium dioxide solution. It doesn't offer much in the way of surface protection and wears off quickly... paint is better, and that's not saying much.
For rust bluing you can always mask the areas you don't want to blue - use something like a lacquer and take it off with stripper afterwards. With bluing it's important to remember that whatever it looks like before is what it'll look like after, just blue or black... it doesn't hide anything.
Another option might be ghetto phosphating. A metal pipe with one end welded shut can be a really ghetto phosphating tank, you can get manganese phosphate from old batteries (dark blue/black finish), or zinc off of old bolts (grey finish), and phosphoric acid from a cleaning supplier or bunnings (https://www.bunnings.co.nz/quik-1l-r...mover_p0270367)
Looks like this guy has done something similar to what I was describing. Don't know why he needed 2-4 hours, but it's also a home-brew solution so that's how it goes. Probably don't go for the iron phosphate solution unless you are going to do further surface coatings.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SI7U...el=DanielTokar
I have used duracoat on a few rifles now. Easy enough to apply with a spray gun and seems to be holding up fine. It tool a long time to cure properly completely and stop out-gassing (as in my gunsafe smelt like duracoat for about a month)
I have also had good luck with cold blue if the process is followed correctly. Most important thing is to have the steel squeaky clean before starting.
I do all my bluing in a vertical 15 cm diameter steel tube with a big steel plate welded to the base. The tube is put onto a single gas burner to boil away gently. I can easily do 3 or 4 guns at a time. Takes me about 2 hours with repeated 10 minute boilings, wipe on bluing solution and gentle carding with soft steel wool followed at the end by hard rubbing with wool soaked in engine oil. Left overnight then wiped down with old rags. The deep blue satin finish is fantastic. The solution is Clyde Bakers formula so being a chemistry teacher it is easy to make up .
I would be interested to hear more about this. I did a quick search for the formula you mentioned, but what exactly are you using? Are these chemicals reasonably easy for someone not in the chemisty/industrial circles to get hold of? and most importantly how hazardous is the stuff? Is it something you would recommend someone who failed chemistry in high school to mess with?Quote:
Originally Posted by garyp
Im guessing your using the wipe on bluing solution to promote "rust" very quickly and then boiling it in water to convert to ferric oxide which you then card and repeat?
I have been doing a bit of reading into this and it seems a common modern rust blue solution is hydrogen peroxide saturated with salt.
You apply this liquid to the cleaned part, it causes red rust to appear very quickly, you rinse the part with water then boil in water for a few min. Remove, card off the black fluff and go again. Does anyone have any experience with a mix like this? Any idea as to the strength of hydrogen peroxide to use?
I ended up using CRC Black Zinc, I masked the breech end up to the front of the rear sight mount as it was sort of OK.
The rest of the barrel had been roughly sanded as mentioned and I sanded it to a brushed appearance so as it was bare metal I decided to use the above paint.
Sprayed it during a hot time of day and warmed the can and barrel first.
It turned out a nice even matte finish that doesn’t look out of place.
How long it will last remains to be seen…
If anyone wants bits blued I can do them in a few weeks when I do a number of guns, only stipulation is that they are already polished/sanded of any previous bluing, that is bare steel surface. Cost will be munimal.
Lol!Quote:
Originally Posted by mimms2
Yeah mist coated the barrel first, left it for 1/2 hour in the sun the lightly coated it twice more with one hour gaps, I never let it get to a ‘wet’ stage as I wanted no hint of gloss.
It’s a really acceptable sort of satin finish with minute texture.
Obviously not as good as blueing but hey, it’s a budget build done during lockdown.
I did the same with my old shotty but used heat proof satin engine paint - seems to be a bit more resilient than normal spray paint .
:oh noes:;)Quote:
Originally Posted by mimms2
so you jokers are saying...blueing does nothing to help prevent rust????
interesting...very interesting
THANKYOU for taking time to type that.....so keep them guns oiled,is as relevant today as it was 200 years ago..... strangely enough when I took scope out of rings tonight,there was rust inside rings and light coat on top....both got oily rag treatment before scope went back in...and outside got another whipe before going back in cupboard/safe....blood has always been one of the worst for stripping blue/causing rust.
Depending on what you are bluing you may have an issue with hydrogen embrittlement doing hydrogen peroxide flash rust bluing on hardened or high stress metals. Won't hurt mild steels, but things like hardened parts or springs might become brittle. Just something to be aware of in relation to an otherwise excellent method for bluing parts.Quote:
Originally Posted by SixtyTen
A good basic video on the process, and mention of embrittlement
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmv58Z3RZ9c&ab_channel=thecogwheel
Somewhere in the depths of the internet is a video of a guy who caused embrittlement in flat springs to show what happens, but no idea where it is.
Camouflage colour in one can?? Sounds as viable as tartan paint.Quote:
Originally Posted by caberslash
Likewise barber pole paint, one of the things that new apprentices used to be sent to the store to get, back in the day.Quote:
Originally Posted by 6x47
Jumping in on an old thread as I'll be trying this soon on a small part that needs re-bluing. How long was long for it to fully cure?Quote:
Originally Posted by SixtyTen
From memory, touch dry within a couple of hours depending on ambient temp, can be reassembled after 24h and completely cured after about a month (again depends on ambient temp. Personally I would leave it after spraying for at least 3 or 4 days before reassembling as I managed to put a couple of marks in an action when reassembling a rifle after 1 day. If that time is not practical, just be really careful.Quote:
Originally Posted by dnsn
