To reblue or not to reblue that is the question. PIC HEAVY

BRNO17

BRNO17

CGN Regular
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Location
Mississauga ON
I was going to go ahead and sand everything off tomorrow but I got a message saying that it might not be a good idea and guns value will drop.

Im looking to keep this for a long time, im not worried about selling it.

Here are the pics of the gun (Disassembled)

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Original gun
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Im changing the stock to
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Im not to worried I got the gun for only $150. I would of got 10/22 but my dad owned one when he was my age and its his Christmas present.

The owner said he sandblasted and reblued the trim piece around mag port that is screwed to the stock, but Im replacing all that so I guess it doesnt matter.
 
Value might drop. Yeah. Because there are a bunch if guys out there chasing down every already rusty .22, to pay top dollar for them!

Maybe not.

Get on it! You have $150 in it. A reblue by a gunsmith will cost that or more again.

Do you have a lathe? Even a wood lathe would do, for sanding the barrel and action. Esp. if you re not after a super glossy bluing job, the parts can be blued right after sanding and de-greasing. The hardest part of the job, is keeping from rounding off the corners, and getting at all the details that are in the corners and otherwise a PITA to reach and keep the sanding marks in line.

Have you considered just starting with oil and some fine steel wool? Go over the whole thing and see what it looks like to you after the rust has been removed. Should be a vast improvement. May be all it takes to make you happy with it.

Cheers
Trev
 
What you have there isn't collectable so don't worry about reblueing it.

Instead of sanding the metal go and get yourself some Bar Keeper's Friend scouring powder. It has oxalic acid in it that as you clean the blue with a scouring pad will remove the old blueing and rust while lightly cleaning the metal. But it won't remove any of the nice crisp edges the same way that sandpaper would do. From there go for multiple applications of whichever cold blue you're using with hot water rinses in between. And do at least one of the bluing coats with the metal still wet and warm. Once you start blueing do not use the scouring pad or BKF any more. Only old rags or wash cloths to rinse away the spent blueing solution. After the last blueing application (I suggest three in total) dry the metal well and use a hair dryer on it for a couple of minutes and then oil it and wipe it down. It should look pretty dark and even at that point.

I also recomend that you wear disposable latex, nitrile or vinyl gloves or even regular dish washing gloves for all of this work so your skin oils don't get onto the metal. Otherwise you can end up with splotchy blueing.

The stock doesn't look bad in the pictures. Are you planning on refinishing it as well? You may only want to do a light scuff sanding with very fine sandpaper to roughen up the finish and then wipe on a top coat of varnish to freshen it up instead of a full refinish. I've had good luck doing this by using oil based Flecto Varathane thinned with a little bit of low odor paint thinner (AKA mineral spirits) applied with a ball of steel wool to rub the varnish into the finish and then wiping away the excess with paper toweling. It's a slow way to build the finish but it produces a really nice "hand rubbed oil" look. Especially if you use the satin type.
 
I just finished re oiling everything.

I cant get the barrel off the receiver, the pin is jammed in and it seems like the past owners tried bangign it out and mushroomed the tip. I think I might have to drill it out or toruch it or something (ill let my dad take care of that)

I washed the bore, shining now. I cleaned the metal with exylene, took off some of the rust and I applied a slight bit of oil to the barrel, shining now but not like new.

I think im going to pack it up shove it under the tree. Then when my dad knows I have it he can help.

What do you mean by the rough edges and detil? Everything is round and smooth.

I have a lathe, but I have no clue how to use it and this gun wont be my first lathe project.

The wood im going to take to my woodshop teacher hell tell me exactly what to do.

Im going to reblue the whole thing, make it as black as possible, I liek the steel wool idea, might take a while but will be worth it.
 
Not even on a bet. Sandblasting removes hellish amounts of metal and leaves a terrible surface finish for a firearm. It's worse than sanding it. And other media that will remove the blueing is almost as bad.

To keep it looking as close to stock as possible the idea is to use the least invasive method possible and only work up to more aggresive options when the lesser one fails.

Also leave the barrel in the gun. There is no need to remove it for what you want to do. And yes, much of the surfaces are rounded. But there's the dovetails and the ends of the rounded areas and the edges around the ejection port. Using sandpaper will round these over and take away from the look of the surfaces. Like I said, you want to use the least aggresive method that works, not the fastest and most abrasive.
 
Bead blasting will work if you're satisfied with a matte finish. It isn't as aggressive as sandblasting. Otherwise, a really good glossy blue requires that the metal be polished to a mirror finish. Keep in mind that the commercial cold blues are best suited to touch ups and aren't really durable enough for refinishing whole guns. Even if you do your own metal prep work, I would have a gunsmith with bluing tanks blue the metal parts.

If you have an air compressor, you could do Arma-Coat or another similar spray-on type coating.

I don't think that you really need to separate the barrel from the receiver.

Why are you changing the stock? The original one could easily be refinished and the other one you have appears to be for a tube fed model. It would be a lot of work to inlet.
 
In my opinion, you should also consider something along the lines of a satin finish Tremclad black on VERY well cleaned/de-greased metal and some cleaning and re finishing of the stock. Whichever way you go, there is nothing that you are considering that you can't do on your own. There have been many threads complete with pics on here showing what can be done with a little time and effort.
Cheers!!
 
Yea I want the tube fed model.

I do have an air compresser. How much would a gunsmith charge to reblue the barrel and receiver?

A guy from CGN PM me yesterday telling me he had that same gun for parts and he was willing to give it to me if I pay shipping, so I think I might have two guns now. He also said the buleing is much better than what I do have, im pretty excited to see what it is.

I think im going to go with the steel wool, I think Ill be rubbing for an hour untill I get the shiney metal out?

What if I buy a very expensive blue will that be as good as a gunsmiths? Or do they have a tank where it applies the blue underpressure.

tjhaile said:
Bead blasting will work if you're satisfied with a matte finish. It isn't as aggressive as sandblasting. Otherwise, a really good glossy blue requires that the metal be polished to a mirror finish. Keep in mind that the commercial cold blues are best suited to touch ups and aren't really durable enough for refinishing whole guns. Even if you do your own metal prep work, I would have a gunsmith with bluing tanks blue the metal parts.

If you have an air compressor, you could do Arma-Coat or another similar spray-on type coating.

I don't think that you really need to separate the barrel from the receiver.

Why are you changing the stock? The original one could easily be refinished and the other one you have appears to be for a tube fed model. It would be a lot of work to inlet.
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Read up on rust bluing.

You need a box big enough to put the largest piece in. You need some rust bluing solution. I have read that Birchwood Casey Plum Brown works OK, but have not tried it yet.
You need a pot to boil water in, big enough to hold the largest piece.

You'll need steel wool, Oil, some solvent like acetone, that does not leave residue. You will need time.

You clean, sand, polish a bit, and generally get your metalwork in order.
You apply solution to the clean, degreased parts to be blued, and place them in your box with a damp rag, or with the inside wetted down with a spray bottle. The parts rust.

Once rusted, with a light coat, you boil the parts , then card them, (steel wool, to remove the rust). Repeat until satisfied! Lots of work, nice results.

Really, though, I'd suggest at this point, your best bet is to get the rust stopped, and to get the mechanicals fixed up and running smoothly, while you research the options on the reblue job.

I have done whole .22's with the cold bluing that was available at the time. I wouldn't say it turned out badly, but I'd do it differently now.

Cheers
Trev
 
If you value the rifle, and it seems you do and you plan to keep it for the long haul, then turn the metal over to a gunsmith and let him refinish it for you. It won't be all that expensive, and the results will almost certainly be satisfying.

Bead blasting creates a surface on which bluing should be much more durable for the long haul. But it can be overdone, and leave a relatively rough surface. If you go this route, specify to avoid this.

The smith will have the metal for a while, as they do bluing in batches due to costs.

I seriously doubt that any home cold bluing could come close to approximating a professional reblue...and certainly won't last anywhere near as long.

I inherited my Dad's Ithaca Model 37, which didn't fit me at all, and thus spent years unused in my safe. The metal was in great shape, but the factory bluing was worn off. The stock was way too short to do anything with. So I hunted up a replacement stock on the net, and gave the gun to Martini Gun Makers to refinish and put back together.

Yeah, I could have bought a new shotgun for the roughly $650 I spent...$400 of it on the stock...but it would have looked nothing like this one, nor had the personal value.

They do a bead blast for a nice matte finish...

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Not suggesting you spend that kind of dough, but only that what you end up with is relative to what you put into it...and what you put into it should be relative to its personal value to you.
 
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