gun bluing

[bigl22]

ok all of you knowledgeable gun owners out t here -- I want to reblue-- or at least remove some surface rust and touch up some guns I inherited fairly recently-- I had them all in a nice oak and glass gun display case [ made by my late father ]; BUt I got so paranoid about them being stolen and dad;s gun display case being ruined , that I bought modest sized gun safe -- to house most of them-- - at any rate - what system have any of you folks used? birchwood caseys? brownells creme bluing? brownells dicropan? hot dip complete bluing - these are mostly shotguns and a few rifles - a list of them are as follows -- remington 870 wingmasters [ 12. 16. 20 gauge] browning A5 12 ga. ; mossberg 410 pump-- ;3 spanish dbles.[ 10, 20, 28 gauge] ; rem woodmaster 742 - 30-06; springfield 1903-a3 winchester model 1890 .22 , marlin mod. 20, .22; afew odds and ends also -- some nice older perecussion rifles and one completely hand made percussion rifle, hand made and in 75 caliber -- a stevens / savage 322 in .22 hornet - I would really like to protect the shotguns and the Hornet . what have you all used and how did it work? I really don't want to spend 500$ to 2k$ for a large hot dip system - bigl22

[chipmaker]

HOt blue and done by someone with experience is the only way to go with a gun you want to keep. None of the cold blues match original hot blue finishes, but a lot depends on the original makers color, but on any that I have played with it was always noticeable. However it will provide better protection than bare metal.

I have seen a lot of horrible results folks got using the home kits for blueing......It can not compare to even a mediocre worn finish of a factory hot blue. I would clean up the rust and apply some cold blue paste to tone it done, and use CLP or some other protective coating, and unless I could have a gun smith that does hot blueing do my blue job, I would be satisfied with a touch up with cold blues for the time being.

I use a lot of blueing and blackenings in my metal working projects, and not much other than color change is offered by most (that I have tried anyhow) cold coloring processes, in the way of looks and durability.

[bontai Joe]

I agree 100% with Chipmaker on this. I have seen guns ruined appearance-wise by an amature cold bluing. You would be better off removing the rust and coating the guns for long storage with a non-evaporating rust preventative such as a good quality gun oil (definitely NOT WD-40).

[Fusion1970]

I too agree with Chip. I tried the stuff in a bottle once on an old 22 rifle. It looked better than it did before, but was still nothing like a "factory finish". I might not have took the time needed to prep it good first, so that might have had a little to do with it.

Greg