Gunsmithing: DIY Bluing

[zoglog]

I do not know if we are still trying to get a gunsmithing area or not, so that's why I titled it like that!

I have never used any bluing product before but figured I would blue the bolt carrier on my future bubba sks project. I picked up Birchwood Casey Super Blue at Dicks. I was hoping Meijer or WalMart would have it, but they did not. I also picked up 0000 steel wool and rubber gloves. I used Hoppes lube, cotton balls, and the wife's old hair dryer.



I wanted to remove the stripper clip lips off the bolt since I am using a magazine adapter with AK like mags.

After some quick work with the Dremel I was ready to blue. I used my gloves (to keep hand oils off) the 0000 wool and some water to prep the bolt carrier.

I do not have a heat gun, so I used the wife's old hair dryer. After I was sure that bolt carrier was dry, I heated it up to make sure the bluing would stick. I soaked a cotton ball in the Super Blue and applied it with the machining groves. I was amazed at how quickly the carrier changed colors and rusted. I then placed the carrier in water to neutralize the blue. Next, I followed up with the 0000 steel wool.

I dried it, reheated it and did the process again. After coat number three I was becoming disappointed. It was not very dark. So I decided to do five coats. Again, I was amazed at the corrosion I was seeing as I coated the bolt with the blue. After the fifth coat, it was darker than when I started, but it was not as dark as I wanted.

I soaked it in water one less time, dried it, and applied the oil. Within a minute it became VERY dark. I was amazed. I made sure to liberally apply the oil. The end result:

A sneak peak of the bolt carrier in the sks.

I was amazed how easy the project was. It will be interesting to see how this stands up over time. But since it was so easy, I will not mind touching it up.

There are some great YouTube videos too, especially the one from Larry Potterfield.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrdESVrBA_Y

 

[roadrunner681]

ya i did this before its kinda of frustrating then tada after you use that oil. it certainly looks nice, good job.

 

[Nayls47]

Nice job looks great. I re blued a muzzle loader barrel with quite a bit of frustration until I figured out the steel wool was oiled to keep it from rusting. After I cleaned the steel wool in acetone the job became much easier.

 

[PGRChaplain]

Looks Good! Patience is a Plus.

 

[jfootman02]

Looks great. Thx for the heads up. I've got an old Pre-war Savage 4c given by my father-in-law that needs re-bluing I was considering tackling. I'm worried I don't have the patience however!

 

[gotojuston]

Inspired me! Rep inbound and I'm headed to the store on Saturday!

 

[You'll shoot your eye out]

While I support your effort and enthusiasm, I believe it to be short lived. I have used EVERY cold blue product on the market to finish a certain Saturday-night-special. It takes a rich beautiful blue........ Only to come flying off at the slightest provocation. Stand up to a holster? Forget it! Handle it with bare hands? Denied! Let Hoppes no. 9 be in the same room, let alone touch the barrel? Ridiculous!

The various cold blue formulas all look great, but leave a softer finish than Rust-Oleum paint. I hope that you will be satisfied with the performance of your new hard won finish, but sadly I know that now you must never consider trying to actually FIRE that gun, let alone clean or lube it if you want to preserve it's nice new look.

I hope I am wrong........

 

[HoughMade]

When I was in college almost 25 years ago, I did a cold blue with Super Blue on an old shotgun (J.C. Higgins model 10). I did the whole job in my dorm room. It turned out pretty well and still looks very good. Granted, this gun does not get heavy use, but it does get some use and 20+ years later, not bad.

 

[zoglog]

While I support your effort and enthusiasm, I believe it to be short lived. I have used EVERY cold blue product on the market to finish a certain Saturday-night-special. It takes a rich beautiful blue........ Only to come flying off at the slightest provocation. Stand up to a holster? Forget it! Handle it with bare hands? Denied! Let Hoppes no. 9 be in the same room, let alone touch the barrel? Ridiculous!

The various cold blue formulas all look great, but leave a softer finish than Rust-Oleum paint. I hope that you will be satisfied with the performance of your new hard won finish, but sadly I know that now you must never consider trying to actually FIRE that gun, let alone clean or lube it if you want to preserve it's nice new look.

I hope I am wrong........

Ahh. I hope that doesn't happen! I know that the bolt carrier will see use with every round fired, so I guess a range trip will tell the tale. I will make sure to take pictures.

It is going to have some time to cure though, since this was just part of the total bubba the sks is going to get. And before anyone gets scared, all of my other sks are still numbers matching in their original form. I saved this sks from a real bubba and will be doing a subtle bubba to it.

 

[arbitrary]

Rust bluing is more durable but takes a long time.

 

[chevyguy]

Is professional bluing something that most gunsmiths can do in house?

 

[jcwit]

Been playing around with guns since the 1950's. Good luck on the cold blue lasting or wearing well.

With said the best cold blue IMO is Brownells Oxpho blue, and following their directions parts do not need to be degreased.

 

[medicr224]

Just wondering what the total cost? I have a old muzzle loader that needs some TLC. Even with using the triple seven powder it has issues or maybe it was just because it was a lower cost rifle.

 

[Jarhead77]

Nice job. I really like the Birchwood products. I had some corrosion on an old SIG P6 that you will never find thanks to their products!! Followed their directions and it came out great if I must say so myself!

 

[You'll shoot your eye out]

Rust bluing is more durable but takes a long time.

I used to have an old Stevens 16 gauge shotgun that was done completely in oiled-rust brown. It was beautiful, and so thick and durable that nothing could damage it. Even if it did scratch, rust is cheap and always available.

The same old man that "browned" that shotgun also "choked" it with a ball-peen hammer. It looked very abused and horrible all around the muzzle, but inside it was smooth and perfect. That shotgun would throw no.6 shot like it was a slug, with not a flyer in the bunch. The geezer had been winning every still-board shoot that he attended with that gun.

That old timer had skills that most people don't even know are possible. If I knew how, I would "Choke" my Mossberg pump gun just the same way. I wonder how many barrels you ruin before you become an expert choke-man like that?

 

[zoglog]

Just wondering what the total cost? I have a old muzzle loader that needs some TLC. Even with using the triple seven powder it has issues or maybe it was just because it was a lower cost rifle.

The blue is about $10. Even if you had to buy steel wool, gloves, gun oil, cotton balls, and the blue you are looking at about $25.