Cold Bluing

[AK Gun Man 88]

I thought I would post my experience with Cold bluing in case anyone is going that route.

I had great results with the following steps.

1. Strip bluing by letting parts sit in white vinegar for about 5 hours. Let rinse with water and 0000 steel wool.

2. Remove major pitting and begin polish process by starting with 220 sandpaper followed by 400 then 600.

3. Polish to mirror finish using Mother's metal polish and 0000 steel wool.

4. Remove all polish with a clean rag.

5. Degrease parts with a sponge and full strength Simple Green. Rinse.

6. Rinse again with boiling water. (My revolver I put in a pan of boiling water...my muzzleloader barrel I used a tea kettle and poured the boiling water on it.)

7. Right after the part has been rinsed with boiling water, apply Birchwood Casey Super Black using Q-tips. (Make sure the part is hot but do NOT touch the metal after is has been rinsed)

8. Allow the blue to rust for about a minute. Then either boil the part or pour boiling water on it. The blue should start to turn grey/white.

9. Lightly card off rust with 0000 steel wool (make sure the steel wool has been degreased as well...I just used a simple green bath)

10. Rinse with boiling water or boil part again.

11. Repeat 7-10 for about 5 coats total.

12. After step 11, now it is time to replace Birchwood Casey Super Black with BC Perma Blue paste. Repeat 7-10 with the paste for about 2-3 coats.

13. Final rinse with boiling water. (The water should bead up instead of run off...that's when she is done) Then wipe dry with clean paper towel.

14. Apply gun oil (from bottle not spray can) and generously coat. Let sit for 24 hours.

15. About every month I apply a light coat of oil to the parts that were blued and store in my safe with closet dehumidifier right next to it.

This process worked well for me. Grease is the biggest enemy to this process.

 

[AK Gun Man 88]

I'm about to order K-phos cold phosphating and try the same process with it.

 

[Farb]

How do you do a barrel?

 

[AK Gun Man 88]

Use the same steps...with my muzzleloader barrel I had to break it up into two sections...so I could hold onto it. Check out step 6.

 

[Jim K]

The description is of rust bluing. I have no experience with the product mentioned, but if it is intended for rust bluing the result may be good. If it is simple cold blue, the rusting is not deep enough and eventually the finish will wear off if subjected to any real use.

Jim

 

[langenc]

I use Oxpho paste bluing and the 'shoe polishing' method. No need for all that hot water.

 

[AK Gun Man 88]

Where I live...they wont ship anything that is really good...ie Oxpho....so I have to use the Birchwood Casey stuff. Also I realize that it will wear off...it's cold bluing.

 

[Farb]

Looks like I'm going to have to place an order for some of these chemicals and give it a try.

 

[AK Gun Man 88]

Here is my 22 SA, Herbert Schmidt HS21 before I reblued. The second is the finished product. 3 months and still going great.

 

[Lucifer_Sam]

Yeah, this is rust bluing thats being described, except the parts are rusting faster than normal. Real rust bluing is arguably the prettiest and most durable type of bluing. I'm not sure how this would compare, either, but I'd bet that its better than a normal cold blue. You might try a rust bluing solution next time to compare, the only difference between it and what you did is you have to wait a few hours between each cycle for the part to rust.

 

[AK Gun Man 88]

I wanted to try it, but getting the chemicals shipped to Kodiak requires an act of God.