Removing marks from bluing

moogles

moogles

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Yesterday I came across a close-to-new 70s Wingmaster 870LW at the LGS. The action bars were slightly twisted so there is some minor rub marks from the fore end where the wood was touching the receiver while racking. I twisted the bars just by hand and it won't mar it any more.

Question: is there any way to polish this out, or am I better off just leaving it. It would be terrible to make anything worse as the shotgun is pretty much mint otherwise.

Advice?

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After polishing it will require professional re bluing... I had the same model with the same markings and sand blasted the top of the receiver, draw polished the sides of the action and then hot blued it... it looked better than original. It would be a $250-$300 job today...
 
Thank you for the reply. I suppose it's worth clarifying further - the picture posted makes it look somewhat worse than it actually is. The marks haven't "penetrated" the bluing to the steel. A better question would have been if using the finest steel wool with some oil would "blend" the marks, or is this even worth attempting and just leave it as is?
 
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Rubbing with 0000 steel wool and oil should not harm the bluing. It will remove rust. I doubt it will remove marks in the bluing which I believe are streaks (thinning) in the bluing due to bluing that has been removed from the wood rubbing on it... if the wood rubbing has been corrected this marking should not get any worse...
 
That was my next question. I guess I'll test some perma-blue in a discrete spot and then go from there. I have the Birchwood Casey stuff on hand. To the guys that have tried several brands, which do you prefer?
 
it is real hard to touch up with cold blue and blend it in so it don't look patched, even doing the whole side.
I would just not mess with it.

If you go that way , practise on some old beater, first, you have to degrease,, and don't touch it after the cleaner.
Brake cleaner works fine, and it will not hurt the original blue, be careful inside with it, it has set off my CO2 alarms.
 
Any extra advise is still appreciated. I'm going to approach this with extreme caution. Sometimes it's probably best if I just learn to live with things.
 
moogles said:
Any extra advise is still appreciated. I'm going to approach this with extreme caution. Sometimes it's probably best if I just learn to live with things.
Click to expand...

There is nothing wrong with using at is ... the only reason I refinished mine was because it was worse and I was able to do all the work myself...
 
moogles said:
Any extra advise is still appreciated. I'm going to approach this with extreme caution. Sometimes it's probably best if I just learn to live with things.
Click to expand...

That's a fine looking shotgun as it stands. I'd be reluctant to do any touch ups to it beyond trying the 0000 steel wool and oil. I agree with a previous poster who said that attempting to cold blue will likely not blend any better than the current marks, and could look worse (and is irreversible).

I like to obsess over making new-to-me used purchases look perfect, but the results are often unsatisfactory. I've found that after several months or use, I simply forget these "marks of age" and stop noticing them --- I think you'll find the same with your new shotgun.
 
Yeah you're right. My compulsions and being a perfectionist have gotten the best of me in the past. Hence the thread in the first place. It's such a shame though. I'm definately going to enjoy it regardless :)
 
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