God help me! I just ruined my new Uberti 1851 Navy

Status
Not open for further replies.
I used Longshot Logan’s instructions to refinish some rifle stocks (remove old finish with Citrustrip, re-stain with walnut stain, finish with hand rubbed tung oil). I like the result. It should work on wood revolver grips too.

Link to his instructions:

http://www.theopenrange.net/articles/ll_uberti_refinishing.pdf

I learned that Citrustrip works faster if you lightly scratch or score the factory finish; not necessarily down to the wood, but it seems to help get the old varnish off more easily.
 
Last edited:
If this is going to be a shooter, then go the cheap route, use cold blue, can be put on in layers till the desired finish is achieved, buff with 4-0 steel wool between coats, I've done at least 3 kit rifle barrels with cold blue years ago and they still look fine, dabbing it on the frame in spots will give a faux case hardening that's fairly durable, as said I've done this on kit rifles and they still look as good as when 1st done. My 1st kit gun came with a small bottle of cold blue for the barrel, been using it for spot repair ever since. Barrels and locks done with cold blue in the 90's(rifles only)
DSCN1619.JPG
 
Sounds like you are satisfied with what is now going on with your 1851 cleaning disaster. Here is a pic ( I hope) of the conversion I did more than twenty years ago. I was wrong about the finish; it was Bownell's Dicropan IM. Looking the gun over today I see the bluing on the cylinder and ejector housing is somewhat splotchy as well. I think it looked better when first done. This bluing is a hot water blue, not a rust blue ( browning). Could be rust bluing that I've used on other guns would have been more even looking and more durable.

If the pic is not attached, I'll have to do more reading.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_0131.JPG
    IMG_0131.JPG
    92.2 KB · Views: 70
This bluing is a hot water blue, not a rust blue ( browning). Could be rust bluing that I've used on other guns would have been more even looking and more durable..

Rust bluing is not browning. Completely different procedure. Back in the day (1969) my Dad and I blued a Winchester Model 12 frame and barrel using Herter's "rust" bluing. We heated a sufficiently sized pan he had made up for the barrel and the frame on a Coleman stove. When the temp was right we swabbed the parts prodigiously with the bluing solution, let it dry while warm, scrubbed off all of the "rust" with #0000 steel wool, and repeated the procedure at least 8 times. The last time we coated it in oil and let it set for a full day. An all day procedure and I really enjoyed doing it. One of the deepest, richest blues I have ever seen. He had a Reinhart Fajen birdseye maple stock and fore end ready for it when it was completed.

Bluing this way is just rust in a very slow form.

Jim
 
I mistakenly thought a combination of dish soap, murphy's oil soap, and windex vineager I saw on the internet. It was supposed to be just plain windex. Major brain fart. I wanted a change up than just moose milk......

There is no secret ingredient in Windex contrary to what many think. Windex is mostly...water...which is all you need.
 
expat_alaska,

Browning and rust bluing are indeed related. Bluing or blackening just turns the surface rust black by boiling. Take a look at Angier's _Firearms Blueing and Browning_. I have used two different rust blue solutions on at least four complete guns I can easily think of. I did use it on investment cast Ruger steel grip frame once and it turned reddish / purple, because of the type of steel. Fixed that by sand-blasting and redoing the rust blue process and it unfortunately gave a dull flat finish, of course. So........not sure if it would work well on Uberti cast parts. That's mostly why the above mentioned conversion still has the splotchy finish.
 
Polishing a gun requires the proper tools and a good amount of experience. Mothers is an obvious sign of someone that has neither.
 
Rust bluing is not browning. Completely different procedure. Back in the day (1969) my Dad and I blued a Winchester Model 12 frame and barrel using Herter's "rust" bluing. We heated a sufficiently sized pan he had made up for the barrel and the frame on a Coleman stove. When the temp was right we swabbed the parts prodigiously with the bluing solution, let it dry while warm, scrubbed off all of the "rust" with #0000 steel wool, and repeated the procedure at least 8 times. The last time we coated it in oil and let it set for a full day. An all day procedure and I really enjoyed doing it. One of the deepest, richest blues I have ever seen. He had a Reinhart Fajen birdseye maple stock and fore end ready for it when it was completed.

Bluing this way is just rust in a very slow form.

Jim

Actually the only difference between browning and rust blue is boiling it in in water. What you describe is not rust blue. A rust blue finish is not a full day thing. It takes weeks.
 
So I didn't like the red color or the thick poly coating on the grips. So I stripped it down to bare wood. I realize now why they hid the wood. It's garbage looking. I applied three coats of stain and maybe a fourth tomorrow. I will be using boiled linseed oil as the final finish. Oh well. This gun is going to look so sharp and I only worked a day on it.
 
Oh man! I am so heart broken....Got my brand new Uberti 1851 Navy from the thread money burning a hole in my pocket and took it out to shoot today. It shot fantastic. The beauty of it was so gorgeous.

I took it home to clean it. I used boiling water, dish soap, a splash of murphys oil soap and a splash of vinegar. The finish is now gone.....The bluing is toast and so is the case hardened. I'm sick to my stomach. I don't even want the thing anymore its so ugly. I don't know what to do. I am so mad and upset I even went out to get a pack of smokes and want to hit the bottle...

Maybe I should just brown it? Try to reblue it?

I want to quit shooting for the rest of the year as punishment.
What were you thinking?:scrutiny:
 
Major brain fart. Now it will be bright white and I like the looks of it better. It looks chrome. Just going to stick with hot water, dish soap and gun oil to clean it.
 
Some guys like to antique their guns while others like the mirror polish.
Ruger offered a limited number of stainless ROA's with a factory "high polish" finish.
One member here would use Mother's Mag polish on all of his ROA's that didn't have the factory high polish finish.
He bought one ROA that had a high polish finish and told me how he called Ruger to verify whether it had left the factory that way or not, which they told him that it did.
I've seen both the factory high polish his Mother's Mag mirror polished cylinders and quite frankly, they virtually look the same.
 
Last edited:
Ok guy's, any form of blueing is a rusting process whether its hot salts, rust blueing or even cold blue. I have used all the above methods and by far the most durable is rust blueing in my opinion. Hot salts make me feel like ants are crawling all over me so I don't use it. Plus it's somewhat dangerous with the caustic chemicals at high temperatures. Rust blueing takes a little time, about a week up to 2 depending on the rusting solution, I used to use a brand called Pilkingtons. I have also used a chemical from a wrought iron supply place with exactly the same results. It's like anything else, you get back what you put in it in effort. Pistols can be done easily on a stovetop or a hot plate, the whole key is to properly degrease and not get any finger prints on the pieces during the entire process. That's my nickel s worth.
 
You are correct about a parked finish being a very good rust preventative, and it holds oil very well. There are different color variations for parking steel, and they vary from greenish, to light grey, to nearly black, depending upon the chemicals used. I just don't know if I would want a parked 1851 Navy.

I have a 1911 .22 with a parked light grey frame and MSH and this is only for comparison sake, not to hijack the thread:

View attachment 847676

I think I would go with browning the revolver or experimenting with a cold blue like Birchwood Casey PermaBlue.

Jim


Is that a safari frame?
 
Is that a safari frame?

No, it is an Olympic Arms Matchmaster frame that I bought at gun show in 2013. Oly did buy out Safari Arms many years ago, so that is why it looks like a Safari.

If you wish to talk about it with me I have additional info, PM me.

I do not want to hijack this thread.

Jim
 
Last edited:
Go to Brownells web site, look for and purchase their Belgian blue, it a semi hot blue you can do on your stove top.
Clean a degrease get a large pot of water boing,after degreasing boil parts a few minutes, remove from pot and evenly coat with solution return to boil for a few more mins. remove a lightly card with 0000 steel wool, do not touch with bare hand after first degreasing. Repeat these steps till you get desired darkness. This formula was supposedly developed for the fine old European doubles, who's barrel soldiering can't take the high heat of traditional hot bluing. I use this exclusively now on all my DYI projects it's a very attractive and durable blue black color, especially well suited for the Italian revolvers with their mismatched steels. The cylinders usually get where I want them first, then just keep doing the barrel till it matches.
 
I've calmed down now. LOL. I'm doing what Scrat has done to his 1851. I have just finished removing the rest of the bluing on my 1851 and it will be polished tomorrow. Even my wife said it looks good grey and its only a $300.00 dollar gun and not a $1,000 dollar one.
I have to also figure out whats going on with the timing. This gun might end up being my pimp gun. lol

Darn, I had a simple solution to your problem. You could have just sent it to me and never had to look at it again. :D

Sorry you had to learn about vinegar the hard way.
 
Major brain fart. Now it will be bright white and I like the looks of it better. It looks chrome. Just going to stick with hot water, dish soap and gun oil to clean it.
Hoping that you will post pics of the finished product, once you are (again) happy with it! :thumbup:
 
just rub some cold bluing on it and rub it off with some fine steel wool which leaves some bluing in the areas where one normally doesn't get finish wear. This will leave a worn look and before long the finish will patina and have some neat character. Clean only with water in the future and some Ballistol.
 
Windex is water, ammonia, and blue die.

Vinegar is weak acetic acid. Not the same, at all. . . also quite effective at reducing an iron-oxide finish, like Fe3O4 aka bluing.
 
Major Update!

Bought the polishing compound and cotton t shirts and went to work...I LOVE IT! The barrel is now a mirror finish. The cylinder is now bright and I'm working on the small parts.

Reminds me of a pimp gun. I love it.

The grips that came from Uberti are way too red. I would like to redo them to a yellow/light brown. If you have refinished grips before could you post some pics?
Not sure about now but a few years ago, those grips were walnut and had nice grain under the red varnish finish. Did you resolve your cylinder /bolt spring issue? That is a drop-in replacement.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top