I'm getting into the late stages of refinishing a JC Higgins 50 (FN Mauser). I just polished, degreased and then blued the sling studs by heating with a torch until dull red and then quenching in oil. The results are nice. In fact it looks so good I would like to do the ejector this way. However I'm wondering if this would be a bad idea given that a Mauser ejector is basically a leaf spring and I worry that heat might wreck it. Does anyone know for sure?
Heat bluing
- Thread starter Chuck
- Start date
REALLY not a good idea!
Well, unless you crave the pain inna arse of finding and fitting a new one, anyways.
If I'm not mistaken, the Luger ejector is a "straw" colour, not blued. You could do that with your torch, if you are careful. It does not take much heat to get to that colour - only a few seconds, depending on your flame temp. It's a very small part and heats up fast. You're looking at heating it to 450 F + or - 5 degrees.
Sorry - I have to learn to read more closely. I saw Mauser and immediately thought Luger. If you want to use the same method for your part, you just need to heat it a bit more - around 560 -570 F. It will go from blue, to purple, to black, very quickly - then, dunk it in your oil.
Sorry - I have to learn to read more closely. I saw Mauser and immediately thought Luger. If you want to use the same method for your part, you just need to heat it a bit more - around 560 -570 F. It will go from blue, to purple, to black, very quickly - then, dunk it in your oil.
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- Location
- Western Manitoba
Just curious if this heat colouring can be done by salt bath or similar immersion - would have much better control of the heat applied, and I believe the colours are simply the colours created on polished steel when heated to specific temperatures? Dark Straw about 440 F; Dark Blue about 590 F, and so on. I have a couple older Mauser sporters - remnants of just gorgeous "fire bluing" on the bolt stop bodies, so there was a way to do that.
And I suspect OP meant "extractor" not ejector being pretty much a leaf spring.
And I suspect OP meant "extractor" not ejector being pretty much a leaf spring.
The straw color on Luger extractors and triggers were done in heat controlled furnaces, I believe.
Yeah, pretty commonly taught to anyone doing blacksmithing and knifemaking too.
But nowhere near what you really want to have, for any part that relies upon it's heat treatment for it's function, unless you are willing and able to make several of them, as each failure adds to the experience base for that particular batch of metal.
For anyone looking to heat blue screws, there are a couple good videos on youtube, I can suggest a fella that posts as "Clickspring" as a pretty decent video producer, he does clock making. A tray of brass filings, and a small torch or alcohol lamp to heat it, and you can watch the colors until they reach the correct shade you are after.
I believe you are correct. What I have had good luck with, is a high temp "pencil flame", on small parts - which is to mean - parts that are small enough to reach the desired colour, with only a few seconds of application of the flame.
