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870 ExpressMag
08-02-2011, 03:56 PM
i want to get my rifle i am building blued, trouble is i am not sure weather to have parts blued individually before assembly (risk marring something on assembly) or have it blued as an assembly after headspacing and putting together. the reason i ask is because the barrel, action and nut are all chrome moly and to be blued, the recoil lug is SS and not sure what it would look like coming out of a blue tank if it were all assembled. thoughts?
jonsrm125k5
08-02-2011, 04:05 PM
I have never blued, but I have done the old shool browning gor an ak47 that was beat up. It was a pain in the butt, but we disassembled it to remove all the parkerizing beforehand. I wouldnt see a problem with it as an assy, but whenever you take it apart it it may not have blued the whole lug, etc. Hope it helps
870 ExpressMag
08-02-2011, 04:08 PM
well i don't want the recoil lug blued...i want everything blued except the lug...want to keep it SS and have it be a silver stripe after assembly. wondering what it would look like if it were assembled and dunked...would it come out looking bad?
jonsrm125k5
08-02-2011, 04:15 PM
never blued anything as an assembly so I dont know. I will siggest that if you dont want your lug blued then remove it. Other than that, I honestly don't know.
sharpshooter
08-02-2011, 08:11 PM
Stainless steel does not blue in regular black oxide bluing salts.
Eric in NC
08-02-2011, 08:38 PM
Stainless steel does not blue in regular black oxide bluing salts.


Does it remain unchanged or does it get dull/blotchy/ugly? Would you blue together or as individual pieces?
sharpshooter
08-02-2011, 11:37 PM
It may become slightly dulled due to the heat, but you can shine back up with steel wool.
870 ExpressMag
08-03-2011, 09:59 AM
well how easily would this be done myself? right now i have no equipment to do blueing, but am willing to try if it's not to bad. the guy that was supposed to do it apparently lost interest... i don't really want to do cold blue, i want it to have a nice durable blued finish
Eric in NC
08-03-2011, 10:19 AM
Pretty big investment to do it yourself (as far as hot blue). You can do a rust blue on your own with minimal investment but lots of labor and it takes a good bit of skill to get a good result. Parkerization is much easier to do "at home" if that interests you (just need a stainless tank as big as your biggest part and a way to heat it).
870 ExpressMag
08-03-2011, 02:07 PM
i will start a new thread asking what most people do as far as finishes on their builds