Mungler Posted December 17, 2006 Report Share Posted December 17, 2006 Okay old Beretta 686 with what appears to be a painted barrel and a lacquer finish - apparently in the 80's they came out the factory like this. I can't get it re-blued unless the barrel is stripped back to metal. The alternative is a rub down and spray up which I am not that keen on. Has anyone got a barrel to bare metal before - is this a nitromors thing or a light sandblast... All suggestions welcome including the daft ones. Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Geordie Posted December 17, 2006 Report Share Posted December 17, 2006 I use a Dremmel with a VERY fine bronze brush but be warned you will need more than a few brushes as the bristles come out like no ones buisness. I find it leaves a lovely flat finish (no marks in the barrel) i have done a few like that with little trouble "other than getting into ALL the nooks and crannies". They ALSO make a smashing job of cleaning the Chambers out LG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dead-Eyed Duck Posted December 18, 2006 Report Share Posted December 18, 2006 I used to polish barrels for a gunsmith prior to bluing. For normal barrels you will need a mirror finish, and the only practical way that this can be done is by using a large buffing wheel. In fact several buffing wheels, each using a different grade of 'paste' - it all depends on the condition of the barrel to start off with. Frankly if you want to try this and then get the bluing done, then I think that you are wasting your time as a professional will achieve the desired finish in 10% of the time. Sorry to be pessimistic, but any slight flaw in the polishing process will stand out when the bluing is finished. If you want a matt finish then I have seen sandblasted barrels to achieve this, and you can get a good result. I would suggest that you get a quote for the bluing and then you will know what you are up against. Don't even think of cold bluing barrels as the finish wears off very quickly, and you will get a very uneven finish. Cold bluing is only for small items that are not subject to any handling. Don Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Geordie Posted December 18, 2006 Report Share Posted December 18, 2006 There is a Guy on the BBS does blueing (professional) for about £60 i beleive i got a quote last year and was pleasantly suprised. Can't remember his name off hand but if you list a post for blueing no doubt he will chirp up. LG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mungler Posted December 18, 2006 Author Report Share Posted December 18, 2006 Cheers fellas. I am still weighing this one up. I don't want to start something I can't finish or will cock up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caplock Posted December 18, 2006 Report Share Posted December 18, 2006 Did a few barrels quite a while ago using a good old fashioned acid blue process. It's quite labour intensive, requiring coating, rusting, boiling, removing the rust and repeating but does give a very rewarding traditional deep blue. Formula was 4 Fl/Oz Nitric acid 3 Fl/Oz Hydrochloric acid 7 Oz's cleaned degreased iron nails/ pins 1.5 pints distilled water Basically the acids are mixed and the nails added. When they are dissolved the distilled water is added slowly and the mixture agitated. Needless to say this all occurs outdoors with eye and face protection in a suitable glass or earthen ware container. This mixture will give off substantial heat. This mixture can then be stored in glass bottles until needed and will last indefinately. Next the barrel asy is wired brushed (power or hand!) to remove the bulk of the existing blue and then finished / polished with very fine wet and dry. The barrels are then degreased by boiling in sugar soap solution and rinsed with boiling water thouroughly. The hot barrels will dry quite quickly. The warm, clean and polished barrel asy is now evenly coated with the acid soluton previously made using cotton wool swabs. The barrels are handled with degreased chem proof gloves. The coated asy now goes into the sweat box over night. Next day the now alarmingly rusty looking barrels go back into the boiling tank for 15 minutes to kill the chemical reaction and create/ fix the oxide blue/ black layer in the metal. When dry, again quite quick due to the heat of the asy the rusty scale is gently brushed off with a stiff nylon or soft brass brush. This whole process from the coating with acid point is repeated usually another three times maybe more for certain steel types untill a nice deep and even blue or black is achieved depending on taste After the final brush down the barrels are buffed and polished with a coarse weave oil soaked cotton cloth to reveal a blue that is very traditional and catches the light very well and looks very classy compared to some of the modern hot dip caustic 'black' that a lot of the newer guns are finshed with today. Sure it's time consuming and a bit of practice is needed to get it right but the most imprtant thing in all of this is the degreasing and handling of the metal between stages. I'll try and post some pics of the equipment when I next go into the loft. Apart from that you could always pay someone to do it, but hey where's the fun in that!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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