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Hi All! I've recently joined the forum, I thought I'd share with you all my Barrel re-blacking project. I bought my AYA yeoman last year from a local dealer in Somerset, I picked it up for a bargain price. As you're all aware Yeomans are great workhorses, they're an ideal introductory gun into the world of SxS's or the ideal companion for a days rough shooting. My Yeoman was manufactured in 1978, it's choked 1/4 & 1/2 and features 28" barrels, the original case hardening was still present and in very good condition. The only defect present on my Yeoman when I bought it was a very slight blemish towards the tips of the barrels. There was no depth/missing material, it was purely a case of someone had bodged a Blue'ing touch up sometime during the guns life, mostly likely a cabinet scratch or something like that! There are some very skilled gunsmiths out there that'll professionally 'hot blue' your barrels for around £100. But as my yeoman cost around that to buy, it was an un-economical option. Below is a list of items that I used for the re-bluing process: Birchwood Casey Blue and Rust remover Birchwood Casey Super Blue 000 Wire Wool Green scotch-brite Some of the wifey's cotton wool pads Degreaser (I used dish soap & hot water) Acetone (pre-bluing prep) Soldering Torch (you could use an electric heat gun). A very brief overview of my method is: I Removed the Barrels & Barrel ejector. I De-greased the barrels with dish soap and hot water to remove any oil/grease. I applied Birchwood Casey blue and rust remover. (This stuff stinks, use it outdoors) for the intricate areas I used a very small paintbrush to get in and agitate the finish. Once the blue rust remover had been allowed to dwell for a little while, using green scotch write and hot soapy water I scrubbed the barrels to remove the old Blue. (the above step was repeated several times) Once the blue was removed, I polished the barrels with 000 wire wool. My barrels were in great condition, if deep scratches/defects are present, this is the time to blend them out. Using a heat gun/propane torch, I heated the barrels evenly to remove any oil from the pours of the steel. The oil will come to the surface of the steel and leave a golden brown speckled hue. If you have a big enough oven, you could use an oven on a gentle heat (120 degrees) to achieve the same thing. I Degreased the barrels with acetone and repeated this and the above step until the barrels are surgically clean. (AYA barrel ribs are silver soldered, so with gentle heat and common sense there is no risk of damaging the barrels). Once the barrels were ultra clean, I applied Birchwood Casey Super Blue using cotton pads or a small sponge. I Let this dwell for no more than a minute, I Rinsed the finish in cold water and very gently buffed the finish with 000 wire wool. I repeated this bluing process about 5 times, belt and braces. I was left with a uniform deep black finish. I used approximately 2/3's of the bottle which left some blue for future touch ups. Over the course of the week I applied a liberal coat of gun oil to the barrels on a daily basis. This sealed the finish and prevented rust forming. Take a look at my results. Thanks for Viewing! Happy to answer any questions that you may have. I'd highly recommend Birchwood Casey 'Super Blue' over their 'Perma blue' It's a double strength formula and left a really nice deep finish. The finish initially looked Jet black as you can see from the photo's, however over the course of the week, with oiling and rubbing the finish became more subtle and ended up settling at a traditional dark blue/grey colour. In direct sunlight, the barrels have a bluish hue which is quite attractive.

Does anyone know what size of pin punches are needed to completely strip a Browning Buckmark please? Any recommendations on where to buy some decent ones from Please?