COLD BLUING A ITHACA MODEL 49 S 22 RIFLE

[KID GLOVES]

I was just about to do cold bluing on my disassembled Ithaca Model 49S - 22LR Rifle. I was planning on using Birchwood Casey Cold Bluing. The instruction stated that the bluing chemical will not take to metal that isn't 100% steel. So I took a magnet to the barrel and it stuck, but when I tried the main body it did not. Looking closer it looks like it has been cast out of aluminium, is that possible?

Can anyone tell me how I can apply bluing to this particular gun/body housing? Has anyone tried home bluing of the same rifle?

Thanks.

Kid Gloves

 

[entropy]

The 'receiver' (actually it is a receiver cover) is aluminum; you will be better off having it Cerakoted. Unless it is really bad, I'd leave it be.

 

[BBBBill]

Can anyone tell me how I can apply bluing to this particular gun/body housing?

If it is not steel, you cannot. Bluing is a controlled rusting process and aluminum doesn't rust. Cerakote, Gun Kote, or one of the other high tech paints would give the most protection for the least money.

 

[NIGHTLORD40K]

Aluminum can be anodized in any color ya want, but you'd have to take it to a plating facility and it would be a little pricier.

And welcome to the forum!

 

[351 WINCHESTER]

Some of the 49's were actually steel, but most, like yours is alum. You could always paint it & see how it turns out. Good luck getting her back together.

 

[Mauser lover]

Hey, just my humble two cents but... DON'T COLD BLUE IT!

I'm all for rust bluing. Not a bunch of expenses, and the product is actually good. Cold bluing, like the Birchwood Casey stuff, is merely a fluid that uses some sort of copper to artificially blacken steel. Real bluing (whether it is hot bluing, Nitre bluing, slow rust bluing, accelerated rust bluing, and probably one or two methods I forgot) is a way of getting the iron on the surface of the part to oxidize. When something rusts, it is oxidizing. If you boil rusted steel, the rust turns black. If you get an even layer of rust, you can convert it to blue. There some threads here on THR about it. Here is a site from someone who is probably better at it than me.

http://www.rustblue.com/

Now that you got my dissertation that everyone who mentions cold blue gets...

I have used this:
https://www.brownells.com/search/index.htm?k=aluma+hyde&ksubmit=y
with good success on aluminum .22 receivers.