Stainless blueing?

Standard blueing will not work on stainless steel, AFAIK. There are, I believe, processess to create an oxidized coating much the same as blueing on SS.

here's an option:

http://www.louderthanwords.us/forum/viewtopic.php?t=744

Robar has a method for blueing stainless. Don't know what it costs though.

Indeed, Stainless cannot be 'blued'.

But.... it can be 'blackened'. Or, you can have a black colored coating put on it, such as 'RoGaurd'. There are also many other options, such as do-it-yourself oven bake sprays, available from Brownell's. Also, some companies will give your firearm a camoflage design, or a choice of colors.

Robar seems to have an excellent reputation for thier coatings, but is also well known for being pricey, and having a long wait period. Good Luck!

http://www.robarguns.com/DesktopDefault.aspx

I don't know if it's an old wive's tale or gunshop lore but I was told that many of the earlier Kimbers that were blued (esp the ones that look slightly reddish or purplish) were stainless steel underneath the blue. I've never heard from a 100% reliable source of a stainless gun being successfully blued but with all the varieties of stainless steels available (check out a knife forum sometime) why one of them couldn't be blued.

what is the finish that sig sauers use?

It's some sort of blackened stainless...

Stainless can be blued. The barrel on this Colt Trooper is a stainless Douglas.



The barrel had to be "pickled" before a regular hot blue was applied. Pickleing is basically an acid bath. The amount of blue that will "take" is dependent on the grade of stainless an the length of time in the acid bath. The percentage of acid can also be varied. This barrel needed a 100% solution.

Good Luck...

Joe

I've seen so-called "blackened" stainless steel that looked like death warmed over.

Real stainless cannot be blued. Blueing is an oxidizing process just like rusting. The acid bath method probably destroys the surface cromium and cromium oxide (which makes stainless stainless) from the surface of the barrel so that you can actually blue the darn thing.

Its kind of stupid to do though. If you destroy the stainless qualities of the exterior of a piece of stainless steel you have basically destroyed its non-corrosive properties too. Stainless is non-corrosive because of the oxide layer that naturally forms on the exterior. If you destroy that layer, it will rust like anything else. It also won't form a new oxide layer unless it is exposed to air, so if the blued surface rusts through it will rust right through the stainless section of the part too.

This is why you should never use the same tools to cut carbon and stainless by the way. Flecks of carbon steel will adhere to the stainless and compromise the oxide layer. This will create places that the rust can go right through into the stainless with nothing to stop it.

If you have to have a dark stainless gun, I suggest one of the non-metallic spray on coatings. They won't give rust a place to get in, but they will cut down glare and make the gun look more business like.

That said, I've heard that Ruger's "blue" revolvers are actually stainless with some sort of surface finish to make them look blued. Thats just a rumor I've heard though and I don't have anything to back it up.

Gun-Kote is now available in a "blued" color and can get pretty glossy but not anything like a really nice polish and blue on carbon steel. You won't be seeing your reflection in it but you will at least have a facsimile and it won't harm the stainless properites of the metal.

Here's the color chart: http://www.kgcoatings.com/chart.html

You can always try DiamondKote from M&R Arms.

APW-Cogan can 'black chrome' a stainless gun. It's a similar process and a little less durable than hard-chrome, but more durable than conventional blued steel, according to thier website. This isn't paint, or teflon. The process changes the color of the stainless, as I understand it. Not cheap.