Blueing Question

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Fonzie765

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I picked up a great .22 at a gun show this summer for rabbit season (Mossberg 151k). It cycles great and shoots like a laser beam, but it would really benefit from being re-blued before I take it out into the wet and slushy East coast winter.

I've done some research and am about ready to start the process (using Birchwood Casey de-greaser/blue). I'm just wondering if there is a better/faster way to strip the old blueing off, other than using steel wool.

This is my first time re-blueing anything, so any extra tips or advice would be greatly appreciated
 
Sos scrubbing pads work great and are way faster than steel wool for taking off the remaining finish. Not the steel wool ones with soap, but the thin rectangular pads. Different colours are different grades of abrassive, but I can't remember which ones are which. I have used green and red ones for this though.
Kristian
 
You don't need to strip off all of the old blue.

You just need to get rid of the rust and oil/grease.

Immersion in boiling water will get rid of most of it. After letting it sit in boiling water for a few minutes, take it out, taking care not to burn yourself. A piece of wire through the breech to the muzzle that sticks up about a foot on each end will give you cool handles to hold onto.

wearing a pair of CLEAN oven mitts, take some paper toweling and wipe everything you can reach down. Use a toothbrush to get into the crevices and corners. Then, dip it into the hot water again and repeat the process.

As far as a good blueing solution goes, Oxpho Blue is about as good as anything out there and better than most.

Before applying the blueing solution, immerse the metal in boiling water again. Let it air dry for a few minutes and start applying the blueing solution by soaking a cotton pad with it and wiping it on. When everything has its first coat, let it dry for a few more minutes. A whitish powder will appear on the newly blued surfaces.

Some people use 000000 steel wool to card away this residue. I use paper towels. Both work, one is just more aggressive than the other.

Repeat the heating in water, blueing and carding, until the color is satisfactory to you. One caveat. The blue will look deeper indoors. Check out the color in sunlight. When you are satisfied with the depth of color, rub all of the surfaces down with an oily, non detergent oil.
 
bearhunter said:
You don't need to strip off all of the old blue.

You just need to get rid of the rust and oil/grease.

Immersion in boiling water will get rid of most of it. After letting it sit in boiling water for a few minutes, take it out, taking care not to burn yourself. A piece of wire through the breech to the muzzle that sticks up about a foot on each end will give you cool handles to hold onto.

wearing a pair of CLEAN oven mitts, take some paper toweling and wipe everything you can reach down. Use a toothbrush to get into the crevices and corners. Then, dip it into the hot water again and repeat the process.

As far as a good blueing solution goes, Oxpho Blue is about as good as anything out there and better than most.

Before applying the blueing solution, immerse the metal in boiling water again. Let it air dry for a few minutes and start applying the blueing solution by soaking a cotton pad with it and wiping it on. When everything has its first coat, let it dry for a few more minutes. A whitish powder will appear on the newly blued surfaces.

Some people use 000000 steel wool to card away this residue. I use paper towels. Both work, one is just more aggressive than the other.

Repeat the heating in water, blueing and carding, until the color is satisfactory to you. One caveat. The blue will look deeper indoors. Check out the color in sunlight. When you are satisfied with the depth of color, rub all of the surfaces down with an oily, non detergent oil.
Click to expand...

^ yup this covers it!
 
"...Blueing..." Bluing isn't a great rust inhibiter. Better than nothing though.
"...Birchwood Casey..." Cold bluing isn't made for entire firearms. Works, but isn't made for it. However, Birchwood Casey does make a paste bluing vs the liquid. Lets you leave it on a bit longer. As mentioned, the prep work is critical.
 
Rust remover from canadian tire works great for removing blue if you insist. (Automotive section).

Make sure the surfaces are as shiny as you want them, pitting-wise. Then 'simple green', dry off. Acetone, dry off. Blue away! (Wear gloves throughout prep and blueing process; we're all greasy bastards:)
 
Sandpaper, if you really want to do the whole gun.
Bluing is closely related to rust, so the rust removers will strip it down to the white metal in short order.

If you can get access to a lathe (even a wood lathe) to spin the parts while sanding, it will look much better than if you scrub away at it with any abrasives while the gun is still together.

Some hardware stores stock Plumbers Rolls, which are a roll of sandpaper, used to clean up the surface of copper pipe before soldering. The benefit of the stuff is that it is usually on a fairly rugged cloth backing, which allows you to whipsaw the strip over a round object like a barrel held in a vice.

Really, you could do with some homework on bluing guns before you start, and it could save you a lot of time and mess.

Give the gun a wipe down with an oiled cloth before and after the trip out, and yer good to go.

Or smack a coat of Krylon to it and be done. :)

Cheers
Trev
 
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