Blueing an old .22 rifle

[LV_Tom]

I have an old Ward Westernfield .22 caliber pump rifle that belonged to my father when he was a youth (late 1920's).

It has lost its finish and rusted over many years of non-use. I bought a Birchwood/Casey gun blueing kit at Bass Pro and plan to make it look reasonably good again.

Is this rifle worth anything before I do an amateur blueing job and potentially screw it's value up?? and has anybody had any experience with the Birchwood/Casey product?

 

[rcmodel]

Western Fields are not collectible, so have at it.
It won't hurt the value.

It's not that they are bad guns, it's just that nobody collects them, so collector value is low or non-existent.
It's value is strictly as a shooter.

As for cold blue products?
Cold blue is best used for touch-up work on small areas.
It is not durable at all, and no matter how good it looks when you get done, it won't stay looking that good very long.

rc

 

[clamman]

I cold blued a Rem 550-1 a couple years ago and it looks beautiful

 

[aminyard]

If you want it to look good and last have it professionaly hot blued (~$60-100).

Cold bluing an entire gun is not a good idea, but if you insist, go to Brownells.com and order their Oxpho-blu (cream formula) and follow the instructions exactly!!


Al Minyard

 

[Maj Dad]

+1 on the Oxpho-Blue. It's the best available for 'cold' bluing: you have to heat the metal (heat gun works really well) but the results are outstanding. It's exactly what you need for the old soldier. Only drawback is the HAZMAT charge on top of shipping; it's still worth it.

 

[LV_Tom]

Thanks all for the info.

Maj Dad, I do have a heat gun.

I've been concentrating on getting all of my weapons in top condition. Now that I'm retired the wife and I RV quite a bit and I think there's a possibility of chaos developing with our country's financial problems.

The "Takers" may become upset when the "Makers" can no longer support them in the free ride they've become accustomed to..... ala Greece.

 

[gunplumber]

I would like to know where you can get a hot blue for 60-100.00? Thanks.

 

[triggerman770]

bluing

"If you want it to look good and last have it professionaly hot blued (~$60-100)"


"gunplumber I would like to know where you can get a hot blue for 60-100.00? Thanks."

you can get it done for thart price in my shop,IIIFFFF you do all the dissassembly/reassembly, ALLL the polishing.
then for the 60-100 I will degrease and hot blue. you pay shipping both ways.
otherwise plan on 250 or so

 

[doc540]

No love for Van's?

 

[Red Cent]

Triggerman, I used to come your way once a year for a number of years. The Holiday Inn a couple exits past Conyers toward Atlanta was our haunt.

You probably know the gun range. Has a bigggg buffalo statue on the road where you turn in. Kinda north west of Conyers. One of the worst intersections with no traffic light I ever did see.

SouthEast Regional of SASS. Man, a lot of Dickle and Jack was consumed in those trips. Piles prime rib and coconut shrimp.

Before that, we stayed at the town where Mule Camp Springs originated. Can't remember the name of the town.

Hijack over. Y'all can go free.

 

[crossrhodes]

It may help

You may not have access to a sand blaster but. I do a lot of dura and gun coat so one day I decided to blast an old shot gun and use a cheap air brush kit to apply the bluing. Here's what I did. Blasted with 120 grit aluminum oxide, blew off the barrel with air, sprayed the barrel with oxpho blue from Brownells, rinsed with water and then oiled the barrel with break free. I didn't card it because I wanted the mat finish. Came out great. I've found that if you can apply the cold bluing by air you get a better and more even finish. This was just an experiment and nothing I would offer as a service.