To Re-blue or not Re-blue

[morel]

I have a Marlin 336 which saw a lot of use this season in very wet weather. I treated the metal with turtle wax (but won't do it again because of the abrasives) before heading out in the wet but still ended up with some small rust spots in areas where the wood of the fore-end and stock were in contact with metal. Part of the problem seemed to be that the wood in contact with the metal was not sealed and remained wet longer and held moisture against the metal. I have sealed with wood with paste wax (minwax) and was planning to re-blue the rust spots with a cold blueing kit (Outers from Canadian Tire). The rust spots are not extensive, mostly clusters of pinprick size spots in the bluing. The instructions on the bluing kit say to remove the rust and surrounding bluing with steel wool prior to treatment. My feeling is that by removing parts of the factory bluing to use the kit, I would be removing a lot of the higher quality factory bluing and replacing it with the less durable cold bluing. Would a better approach be to 1) seal the wood with wax to provide a moisture barrier 2) remove the small rust spots with a cloth and 3) treat the metal with gun oil and paste wax rather than damaging the finish more with the cold bluing?

Alternatively, is it possible to remove the surface rust with a cloth and use the kit on the small spots to refurbish the bluing?

Hunting on the coast in BC means being out in very wet weather for most of the season so I would like to make sure the rust problem does not get worse with the expectation of many more days of hunting in the rain.

Thank you for the help.
Cheers,

 

[pilot2001]

I have a Marlin 336 which saw a lot of use this season in very wet weather. I treated the metal with turtle wax (but won't do it again because of the abrasives) before heading out in the wet but still ended up with some small rust spots in areas where the wood of the fore-end and stock were in contact with metal. Part of the problem seemed to be that the wood in contact with the metal was not sealed and remained wet longer and held moisture against the metal. I have sealed with wood with paste wax (minwax) and was planning to re-blue the rust spots with a cold blueing kit (Outers from Canadian Tire). The rust spots are not extensive, mostly clusters of pinprick size spots in the bluing. The instructions on the bluing kit say to remove the rust and surrounding bluing with steel wool prior to treatment. My feeling is that by removing parts of the factory bluing to use the kit, I would be removing a lot of the higher quality factory bluing and replacing it with the less durable cold bluing. Would a better approach be to 1) seal the wood with wax to provide a moisture barrier 2) remove the small rust spots with a cloth and 3) treat the metal with gun oil and paste wax rather than damaging the finish more with the cold bluing?

Alternatively, is it possible to remove the surface rust with a cloth and use the kit on the small spots to refurbish the bluing?

Hunting on the coast in BC means being out in very wet weather for most of the season so I would like to make sure the rust problem does not get worse with the expectation of many more days of hunting in the rain.

Thank you for the help.
Cheers,

Well ... i live on the island and hike hard for blacktail , I feal your pain. My dad does a bit of gunsmithing and has done lots of hot and cold bluing. I will tell you from Expierience that cold blue is dog sh*t. What i would do if its a real big deal to you is send it and have the hot bluing redone. Or ... take it apart and clean the hell out of it with the " Gun Treatment Oil " the stuff that smells real sweet. I think its G96. Anyway i hate to break it to you late ,but when you get blued rifles wet you need to oil them as soon as you get home. If you dont reblue it just keep it nice an oiled until you do. I would not piss around with that cold bluing... Rubing off the factory hot bluing " BAD IDEA " Your just gonna have to bite the bullet and keep'er oiled right up or have it redone for about $250. I wouldnt go stuffing wax into anything anymore either. Never heard of that.
before.

Anyone out there that knows someting about cold bluing i dont feel free to elighten us.

 

[mechanic]

I’ve used cold blue with very good results, not the same as hot blue, but good for the effort involved. I’ve found that if you use a process like rust bluing it makes all the difference in the world.
Scrub off the rust with emery cloth 400grt for heavy pits and finish with 800grt. If you have a small spot pour hot water over the area (cold bluing works best if the part is hot) with a cotton makeup pad, rub on cold blue (I have been using Hoppes), let sit for 5 minutes. Buff area with 0000 steel wool. Repeat this 4-8 times and the bluing will get darker and more durable, really. It’s all about technique
I have pics I will attach when I find them

 

[BCRider]

You've made one important mistake. Wax is not a good moisture barrier. I'd suggest that you wash the wax out with a good solvent style "wax and grease remover" from an autobody paint outlet and seal the wood with a proper product.

If the wood is finished with an oil finish then multiple coats of something like a polymerized tung oil is one option. You need to be patient though since it takes around a week or more for each coat to fully cure before you apply the next. A good indicator is when the aroma of the surface changes from smelling like it did when "wet" to a different sort of aroma. Then you can re-apply. Both tung and boilded linseed undergo this shift in smell when the oil polymerizes into a solid. Each smells different in a different way. And it's not the sort of thing you can put words to in any event.

If the present spots are small pin marks as you say then there's no need to try to polish the areas back to "white" and re-blue. Instead use some oil and 0000 steel wool and just polish the spots and area with the oil. The rust spots will then be "dead" and the steel wool will not harm the intact blueing. I don't know why they said to use steel wool to remove stock blueing since the blued steel surface is harder than the edges of the steel wool. So you won't remove the blueing in any case. Only the crusty parts of the rust spots.

Protect the metal that is covered with something more long term and water resistant. Car wax, or any wax, isn't the stuff to use. It scuffs away too easily to leave raw metal. You want a proper "raw metal" sort of protectorant instead.

 

[morel]

Protect the metal that is covered with something more long term and water resistant. Car wax, or any wax, isn't the stuff to use. It scuffs away too easily to leave raw metal. You want a proper "raw metal" sort of protectorant instead.

Thank you for the help. What products would you suggest for protecting raw metal?