Whats the BEST Cold Blue?

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dingus

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Just wondering whats the most Impressive Cold Blueing Solution.
I have Birchwood casys Supper Blue.
But thats all my Local Gun stores have.
whats the best.
I want a nice Dark almost black colour ?

Something that Dont rub off on your Hands would be good.
 
Cold-blue

I've used Hoppe's and Birchwood Casey's. I use only on very small areas ie:screw heads. Trouble is it stinks and doesnt seem to cover evenly no matter how hard you prep/degrease the area, plus it quickly wears off. A buddy swears by Brownell's Oxo-blue. Saw a shotgun he did which looked great, but still had that smell.
Not bad to touch up a non-collectable firearm, but a valuable gun should be left as-is in my opinion. Talk to your local gunsmith, usually quite inexpensive to get a proper blue job.
Geoff
 
The darkest blue I have seen from a cold blue solution comes from "Blue Wonder". Google it. It is a little different in that you apply a "developer" after the blue itself.

Sharptail
 
I've tried 3 different types of blue and Casey's worked about the best of the three. That said, I'll never do my own bluing again as it produces spotty, light results. I'm sure I'm just not doing it well, as some people have produced nice results, but it ain't easy.
 
If you follow the directions to the letter, you can get some great results. Many many coats helps as well.

BUT the finish does wear off.

I have also found that guns that don't need a complete re-finish can look quite nice if blued over the original finish, that way when it wears it will not wear as fast where teh original finish is still on the gun.
 
Military no-name stuff

The military buys their gun blue in bulk; and that stuff is incredible.
You have to heat all components before you use it, but it gives an incredible dark mirror finish. It looks amazing after a couple of coats with a light touch of 000 steel wool in between.

I'll have to research who makes it.

Edit: Looks to be Brownells that supplies us.
 
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Off topic, but the best way to blue at home is to learn how to rust blue. Its labour intensive but superior to even caustic hot blue.
 
MauserMike said:
Off topic, but the best way to blue at home is to learn how to rust blue. Its labour intensive but superior to even caustic hot blue.
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Thanks for all the Tips.
As to Rust Blueing heres what i do.

What i have Found is the Best is to Polish the Steel remove all oil then get it Hot so Hot a wet Cue tipo Hisses.
In and electric frying pan works gets the heat Even.
Then apply Birchwoods Casys Plum brown.
it looks like Carp all Rusty and the fumes oh man dont breath in them fumes.:rolleyes:
Anyway once the piece is all rusty Brown and scally lookin.
Put it in Boiling water for 3 minutes.
The Steel goes coal black.
then let it dry and cool then brush off with fine Steell wool.
Repeat process or if its Black enough Oil it your Done!
It wont wear off.
Dont Stink and wont Rust.
But thats Alot of Dicking Around.
Applying a Little supper blue gives it a blue black Hue.
But the cold blueing comes off eventully!
Im not impressed with any blueing stuff i have tryed yet!

the plumb brown blacking method works ex but its alot of work.

I was hopeing there was some Magic Blueing stuff by now. Id love to try that Oxo blue but cant find it locally.
 
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even the cold blue you gotta work at it. Oxpho as mentioned is as good as it gets. You still gotta buff(fine steel wool) the crap out of the metal before and when your getting it on there. Metal warm seems to help some.
Anyway even factory blue wears easy enough if not carful. All good:D
 
I've tried almost every "cold" blue available over the past 40 years; sometimes one brand has worked well, then another.
I put different results down to two variables - the different alloys of steel encountered in different gun parts and chemical changes in the cold bluing solution over its shelf life.

Bob
 
Sharptail said:
The darkest blue I have seen from a cold blue solution comes from "Blue Wonder". Google it. It is a little different in that you apply a "developer" after the blue itself.

Sharptail
Click to expand...



x2

Blue Wonder is so much better than any cold blue I have ever used. I dont know why anyone would buy anything else really.
 
Weapontech said:
The military buys their gun blue in bulk; and that stuff is incredible.
You have to heat all components before you use it, but it gives an incredible dark mirror finish. It looks amazing after a couple of coats with a light touch of 000 steel wool in between.

I'll have to research who makes it.

Edit: Looks to be Brownells that supplies us.
Click to expand...

It is probably Oxpho-Blue if it came from Brownells.
 
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MapleSugar said:
X2, I like it better than the liquid and it has given me the best results.

It is best for touch-ups and small repairs.

None of the cold blues beat a good hot bluing.
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:agree:

For touch ups I use Oxpho-Blue liquid but now that I know the Oxpho creme exists I'll try that. For hot blue jobs I have two tanks and use Dicropam-IM.
It is labour intensive but its a more durable finish. And I don't mind the smell.:cheers:
 
ive got a well used hunting shotgun, looking to reblue the reciever mainly and the barrel if it turns out right. These coating prodcuts, do they turn out respectable or do they look homeade?
 
Only if your standards are pretty charitable chev. They all put down some sort of coating, usually a very thin wash of copper or selenium. They are really more black than blue, particularly the more common copper solutions.
 
Tex Critter said:
:agree:

For touch ups I use Oxpho-Blue liquid but now that I know the Oxpho creme exists I'll try that. For hot blue jobs I have two tanks and use Dicropam-IM.
It is labour intensive but its a more durable finish. And I don't mind the smell.:cheers:
Click to expand...

The creme is nice because you have way more time to work with it, rather than watching it evaporate away or run off.

A little goes a long way!:)

I envy your bluing tanks!
 
These are my results on my $95.00 Lee Enfield using Outer's cold blue: $3.99 at C/Tire. This is my first time bluing ever. Before
before.jpg
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le.jpg
[/IMG]After
after.jpg
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I use Brownells oxpho blue and T4. Barrel does not have to be perfectly clean of oil to use oxpho blue but must be hot to get a good blue. For a darker blue use T4 after the oxpho blue. Just remember that diffrent steels blue to diffrent colors.
 
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