Very Disappointed with The Epp's Bluing Process

[bobbynewmark]

Here is what I would do:

dis-assemble COMPLETELY

replace any cheap parts (springs,pins,grip screw inserts..etc)

Tig weld any pits to deep to polish out (1mm pit would take a long time to polish out!) or maybe JB Weld?

Sand and polish to about 1000 grit

paint with CONDUCTIVE silver paint ( caswellcanada.ca/shop/silvaspray-conductive-paint.html )
OR
conductive copper paint ( caswellcanada.ca/shop/copper-conductive-paint.html )

then I would powder coat it myself ( a kit on ebay WITH sample powders can be had for around $150 CAN delivered ) or have someone do it for around the same ballpark price.

I think that would more or less restore it in the least expensive way...

IMHO of course. I am no expert... just sorta handy

EDIT:

Copper is the way to go.. silver paint is very expensive

[bobbynewmark]

BTW there is AWESOME stuff at caswell if you like to tinker LOL

[K-Roc]

TIG welding? Bust out the Oxy on that bad boy!

[carpetmonkey]

I learned a couple of things in this little adventure:
1) I didn't know there was "hot bluing" and "rust bluing".
2) didn't know only hot bluing will give the blue/black finish I was hoping for
3) with my poor surface finish, I didn't realize blue was likely impossible from the start.
4) I spent way too much on an old WW1 pistol

Sounds like even the OP is done with this thread.

All that is going on now is


Time to lock it and move on ...

[bobbynewmark]

FTR I have had work done at Epps. They are very busy as there are just too few gunsmiths around. I took in an old Mossberg .22 that is dear to me to have a liner put in the barrel about 2 years ago. It took them around 6 weeks IIRC but it was well worth the wait. It was installed perfectly and nicely crowned, I was shooting 3 inch groups at 100 yards all day on Good Friday with my 7x scope Also they have a great inventory of many things there.. its kind of Ontario's gun Mecca IMHO

I have few complaints..
The store is STUPID BUSY (not their fault)
The website is TERRIBLE
Ordering over the phone or net is unpredictable at best (so just go to the store if possible)

[Aries-]

A fine hand, a TIG welder, and a whole truckload of time.

The repair would cost more than the gun is worth.

[MustangFrank]

I can't believe any self respecting gunsmith would take on that blueing job without informing the customer it will look that bad. Cerakote seems to be the best solution if the customer wants to fill the voids. Socom Blue gives a nice black with a tinge of blue.

[Noob_]

The gun was a WW1 .455 and in terrible shape. It was very pitted.
Here are some photos of the bluing job. I did neglect to say that I paid for a medium polish as well as the glass bead and bluing.

If there is any sign of blue on the gun it is from the daylight and not seen by eye. The result is flat black.

Where are the before pics?

[Can-down]

[Garaldtao]

I can't believe any self respecting gunsmith would take on that blueing job without informing the customer it will look that bad. Cerakote seems to be the best solution if the customer wants to fill the voids. Socom Blue gives a nice black with a tinge of blue.

Agreed. To do the job right, it would have cost more than a new 1911. The gunsmith should have turned it down if he or she was not planning to do the work correctly. Who knows why they took on the job? The $250 profit is definatly not worth the hassle. If the pistol had sentimental value then the customer should be prepared to pay to have the job done correctly. You can not expect the world for $250.

On the flip side, Epps should have conceded and admitted that they should not have taken on such a difficult job for so little money instead of going on the attack. There is nothing wrong with showing a bit of humility, in fact in most cases, humility is a sign of strength, professionalism and respect of which non have been demonstrated here. I feel that a company with years of experience and so called experts working for them should have dealt with the situation from the time when the pistol walked through the door. And when it slips through the cracks they should have admitted that they should not have taken on the job. I would give the customer the benifit of the doubt because he is not a gunsmith and do not have any idea as to what it would take to get something looking like it just came out of the factory.

OK so the OP was ill informed and Epps is not admitting any lack of judgement on how they dealt with the situation from the begining or about how they are reacting to this thread. I would say that I would have to side with the OP which gives me an uneasy feeling because by saying this, will I be verbally attacked by Epps? It is too bad because I am a new customer of their's and since the begining of this year I dropped over $8000.00 there. I like the young guy who had helped me out with the purchase of my shotgun and he even answered all my questions about the long range stuff which is what he specialized in. I am kinda on the fence about going back because such as the OP, I do not want to be ridiculed for not knowing something after they have taken my hard earned money... I am just saying.