Gun bluing wont take..What am i doing wrong?

Power Pill

Power Pill

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Im attempting to re-blue some rough spots on a Mossberg 500 barrel.

Im using Birchwood Casey Super Blue. I followed the directions on the bottle..but the the blue just doesn't seem to take. I've tried several different degreasers with no luck.

Here is the method im using:

- polish metal with sandpaper to remove old finish.
- degrease with either hot soapy water, vinegar, or CLR.
- Rinse and dry
- apply the bluing and let it sit for a minute or so.
- rinse with water and buff area with steel wool.
- dry again and then re-applying blueing.


I'm thinking of degreasing with acetone and heating up the barrel ahead of time with a blow dryer..but i'm not certain if it will help.

Any ideas?
 
Hate to be a negative Nelly, but odds of matching a factory blue with a cold blue are very long. At best, it'll be splotchy (but better than rusty, or bare in the white). Knowing this, I have improved a bit by pre-heating the parts in question (almost too hot to touch)in my oven (about 125-150F), and doing multiple treatments rinsing with water as hot as my tank can make. I don't touch the area I'm touching up with anything but hot water n' clean cotton rags during the process.

If you're hoping to match, you'll be disappointed. If you can accept it's bluer than rust or bare metal, it'll be easier to accept end result. The area you're working on can't be too clean. I keep doing coats until it won't get any darker (minimum has been two and maximum approaching a dozen).
 
Power Pill said:
...
Here is the method im using:

- polish metal with sandpaper to remove old finish. Don't remove old finish, remove rust. Sandpaper would be for dire circumstances. I have had red-with-rust gems come in that look ok with just 0000 steel wool n' oil. No blue required
- degrease with either hot soapy water, vinegar, or CLR.
- Rinse and dry
- apply the bluing and let it sit for a minute or so.
- rinse with water and buff area with steel wool. Issue! Steel wool is pre-oiled. I have treated it with acetone with mixed results...anytime you touch the area being re-blued with something other than the bluing agent re clean.
- dry again and then re-applying blueing.


I'm thinking of degreasing with acetone and heating up the barrel ahead of time with a blow dryer..but i'm not certain if it will help. Acetone is great for the job (not great for us...), then HOT water, blowdryer (oven), and bluing agent.

Any ideas?
Click to expand...

Posting twice in the same thread, but the whole "steel wool then blue" popped into mind later (happy long weekend, and crack another!)
 
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and maybe use a different blue- I've found all of birchwood casey to be absolute crap- mostly water- meant for joe q consumer that doesn't know any better- ABSOLUTEY NOTHING beats a good hot tank blue= then , if you must , go with the cream- maybe g 96- the best liquid stuff I found was
STAG,followed by outers, then g 96 and finally birchwood crazy- no spelling mistake- I was doing an old 98 mauser and went the through the whole league , and about a mile of 000 steel wool- regardless of what blue you buy, it has to be FRESH - I could tell the STAG stuff was good as it started to burn my fingers when I was using the sheeps wool applicator- I had to water up in a hurry- the birchwood casey stuff was just like water- and I don't see anything about applying OIL in your steps- check your bottle- i'm pretty sure you'll find that there
 
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