The rifle was heavily pitted and stuff didn't want to come apart.
I start by removing as much of the loose rust & old bluing as possible by soaking it in EvapoRust. I took a 4 foot piece of PVC piping, glued a cap on the bottom and then filled it with the Evaporust. I cut out grooves for a wooden dowel to sit across the top of the tube, the rifle hangs from the dowel via a piece of farm wire. I usually let it soak for 3 or 4 days.
Once I got it apart (Had to use the torch for the magazine tube cap), I filed the barrel down to remove the pitting, being careful not to damage any of the barrel stamps.
Obviously the filing makes a mess of the metal and the scratches/file marks need to be polished out. I have a variable speed buffer, I usually run it around 900 rpm. I start with 150 grit compound on a 8" loose muslin wheel, using Satin-Glow polishing compound. Once I've polished out the bulk of the file marks, I use the 220 grit wheel. I have a 320 grit wheel as well but rarely use it as I've had my best rust bluing results at 220.
The last step is to sand it using 220 grit paper. You want to make sure that your sanding marks are traveling in the same direction. It's much more pleasant to the eye.
The next step was too boil it in distilled water with Simple Green detergent. I usually let it run for about 20 mins or so.
Your rust blue finish is only as good as your prep work. Cleaning is super important, I start with acetone via 100% pure cotton makeup pads. Scrub the life put of it until the cotton pad isn't showing any signs of dirt/oil on it. I then flood the surface with isopropyl alcohol just to be extra certain that it's clean. Wearing medical gloves is imperative for this part.
As far as the bluing goes, I use Bob Veaseys American Rust blueing solution. It's awesome stuff. I use a 100% pure cotton cotton ball. A little goes a long ways and you only need to cover the metal once, no need to swipe the cotton ball over the same area multiple times. After about 2 hours, sometimes 3, I apply a second coat. I place all of the parts in a big heated box I made out of 3/4" plywood. It has a wireless weather station sensor in it so I can watch the temp/humidity levels. Heat the metal to about 44°c then introduce your moisture. I use a kettle and a small portable clothing steamer. It's usually about 90% humidity in the box so 1 hour is all I let it rust for, otherwise the metal may start to pit. Once the first rust cycle has occurred, put it in a tank of boiling distilled water. Let it got for about 10 mins. Some people say 5 but I'm my experience that isn't always long enough. You want to make sure that all of that orange oxide has time to convert to black oxide (black oxide is bluing).
Once you take everything out of the tank, you need to blow dry it with an air compressor. A lot of the water will flash off when you pull the gun parts out as they are quite hot.
The next step is to card the black oxide soot off of the part. I use a 4 row carding wheel from Brownells as it's easy to control the direction of the polish markings. You can use degreased 0000 steel wool but it's not easy to control the polish marks with wool.
This cycle is repeated 3 - 6 times but I find 3 is the magic number.
Once you've ran through the amount of required rust bluing cycles, soak it in 3 in 1 oil for at least 24 hours, 48 is better. This will give the metal that beautiful shiny satin look. You can use other types of oils but I've found that 3 in 1 is perfect.
Hope this helps
