Rebluing

[tommyid1]

I have come upon 2 very very old break open single barrel stevens shotguns 12 guage. one wood needs to be refinished, the other needs to be repaired with cracks etc. im confident i can do the woodwork. the metal is pitted slightly on one. what would you all use to strip and is bluing feasable to do cheaply in my home?

[tankerman]

Stay away from them, it's not worth the hassle or the money.

[Vacaville]

Three words: Don't do it!

I refinished a revolver a couple of years ago and have regretted it since. Stripped it first, and then looked into refinishing options (Doh!). If you try to cold blue it at home it will look like ****. To do a good blueing you need some pretty heinous chemicals and a heat bath. Best left to professionals.

I ended up using Duracoat from Lauer Custom Weaponry and it came out OK, but don't fool yourself - it's paint. Now I'm saving up money to have the thing sent out and reblued professionally.

[Splinter]

If you want to do it cheaply. I would just clean it up as best you can, and then do the cold blue. As a touch up/refresher, i have had great luck with cold blue. To strip a gun down and use it as a complete finish is not a good idea. It will even worn areas out pretty well if you do it right.

[tommyid1]

fair enough. both would require a complete strip and reblue so i guess ill send em out. anyone have someone in the east bay they use?

[tankerman]

I wouldn't do anything to those old beaters but get rid of them.

Reblue will cost way more than they are worth.

Maybe could use them as stakes for your tomato plants in the spring.

[tommyid1]

they are my godfathers. one was his bday present and he got it when he was 9 the other is his great grandfathers. he wants me to clean em up and he said it would be nice to shoot em again. neither have been fired in over 40 years. i guess its just sentimental value.

[gottarollwithit]

Then do the woodwork yourself. Send out the metalwork. Any decent smith will have a good bluing setup. It's not that difficult, just a PITA that's not worth doing yourself. Ya might want to look into doing something about the pitting, maybe some Durafill?
Maybe i'm just paranoid here, but i'd feel a little shaky about firing something with that kind of age. I'd let a smith check it out and test fire it before gambling with my fingers/hands/wrists/face.

[gunrun45]

I have tried several of the home bluing kits available.
Birchwood casey stinks, even years later it litteraly still smells bad. Also, getting an even finish is almost impossible on larger surfaces.

I have had great luck with Blue Wonder though. So far I have done a Winchester 94, ruger P89, ruger P85, Ruger mark II and a Makerov handgun. All now have very nice finishes and I'm still on the first bottle.

I would recomend investing in the bluing removal kit also though. Makes things a LOT easier in getting good results on the first try.

[scarry scarney]

Dicropan IM

Brownells sells Dicropan IM. With this, you heat the metal up in hot water, remove the metal from the bath, then rub the Dicropan on the metal. Once "stained", you card the metal with 0000 steel wool. You repeat the process of hot water, dicropan, steel wool, until you achieve the "depth of blue" you want. The wipe everything down with an oily rag. Just be sure to wear rubber gloves, and dont do it in the kitchen. (of course, you need to strip the metal of all blueing before you start. The cleaner the metal, the better the blue job. It's all about the prep).

[tommyid1]

all good advice you guys are great. I dont know if he would actually fire them. he literally said it MIGHT be nice to fire them again. we will see

thanks,
Tom

[westcoastr]

discover the lost art of RUST blueing, they are family heirlooms right?

http://www.akfiles.com/forums/showthread.php?t=31594