Going to blue my musket barrel. I've blued before using Hoppes Gun Blue but this time I'm using Birchwwod Casey Super Blue for 1st time. Barrel is stripped and will degrease before hand. Any tips for a good job? Does warming the metal help? Anyone who has used this I would appreciate your results. Many thanks. Ian
Cold bluing
- Thread starter lyman54
- Start date
gunrunner100
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- NW Ontario
Slight warming definitely helps. I've been using Dicropan paste for years for small jobs and find it consistent in colouring. Make sure you degrease the steel wool by rinsing in alcohol prior to carding. The residual oil does streak the blue.
I like the Birchwood Casey Super Blue. The color varies depending on the type of steel. I apply the blue with a cotton pad and let it sit a few minutes. Rinse it off with water, dry the metal and apply another coat of bluing. In some cases it gets darker with subsequent coats. You can't judge the final product until you have rinsed off the residue for the final time and applied a coat of oil.
I use Birchwood casey super blue. I heat the parts in boiling tank of water, when the part is removed it dries very fast and I apply the blueing as evenly as possible and allow to dry. I then card the part with a brownells carding wheel and repeat till I get the depth of blue I want. I then oil the part and let set overnight.
Northern Amateur
CGN frequent flyer
I haven't had much luck with cold bluing other than very small marks here and there. I re-blued an old single shot shotgun barrel with heat and it turned out great! Of course I did a fair amount of practice on other non critical metals. It's a delicate affair and you need to pay attention not to overheat the metal however it's also a lot faster than cold bluing with much nicer (traditional) results.
