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I'm replacing the barrel on a nice 1970's 110, and the barrel I bought is in the white. My plan is to rust blue the new barrel, as I have no plans of setting up a full hot blue rig, and I've always wanted to try it. How close is rust bluing going to come to the factory bluing? As an alternative, I could refinish the whole rifle, but if the rust blue will come out close to what the factory was doing, I'd cheerfully skip that step of the project.
Thanks!
Kevin
If your 1970's 110 has been well cared for, chances are the action will look much better than any cold blue job you could do. In 2008, I had an ER Shaw barrel made "in the white" and cold blued it myself. It matched the Stevens 200 action I installed it on almost perfectly. But, of course, they are not known for a "beautiful" finish. But the cold blue has served me well since then, and has needed no touchup.
A beautiful blue job, rather hot dipped or cold, is dependent on the degree of polishing done to the metal before the blueing process. If a barrel has machining or sand marks in it, they will be there after the blueing process, whichever method is used.
I have seen where many have said they got the best cold blue results with Brownell's Osfoblue.
I've used Oxphoblue as my preferred cold blue for a while - not bad results, for touch up and matte work. Rust bluing, while a 'cold' process, isn't at all similar to the current crop of cold blues. It probably predates the production line friendly hot bluing as well. Slow and labor intensive - but no tanks of hot chemicals besides water. I suppose what I'm asking is how does the color of rust bluing compare to the 1970's hot blue process.
I'm thinking that rust bluing tends to lean toward a black color, but I may be wrong.
Rust bluing is not the same as cold bluing. Hot caustic bluing, or black oxide has been the norm since the 60's.Hot bluing is more of a black color, rust blue is blue. Rust bluing is also a hot process.
Sounds like if I want color consistency, I should do the whole rifle and not just the barrel. I was afraid that might be the answer. :-)
I just refinished an old model 11 using rust bluing. Turned out fantastic! I polished the receiver to 600 grit before hand and then applied rust bluing solution. I put a stainless bbl on the rifle so I can't speak as to how that would have turned out.(probably more difficult to maintain nice straight lines) I used LMF solution. The trick using LMF is to not overlap as you apply solution but apply in long straight strokes. Also the cotton ball should only be very slightly damp. After solution is applied to cotton squeeze out every last drop until it is almost dry. Then make your passes. I cleaned and degreased beforehand although instructions say it is not necessary.
Another tip is to build a good rusting box. Cardboard, aluminum foil, and cheap shop light can be used to build a disposable and cheap box.
The coloring is more matte like than a hot blue, but a very deep black color.
This method is also slow, so set aside a couple days at least that you can tend to things.
Water for boiling is also important, as is a stainless pan/pot. I actually had failure with my first choice of cheap distilled water. Ended up buying a premium distilled water which turned the rust black almost instantly. I also just used old denim for carding.
Hope this helps!
Good to hear it works well - I will need to make a box, humidity isn't a sure thing here. I got another brand of solution, and their instructions said to go to 320 grit. Do you think 600 made a difference? I suppose I should keep going through the grits until the polish on the barrel matches the old polish job on the receiver.
It occurs to me that my shop light is now LED, and probably doesn't throw enough heat. I'm sure I have an old incandescent somewhere, but I sure don't miss breaking bulbs while under the truck.
320 grit is about right. The finer you polish, the more difficult it becomes to get an even, consistent finish with rust blue. Over-polishing is definitely a mistake. Generally, rust bluing properly done will provide a velvety matte finish that is closer to black than blue. The exact color will depend on the formulation of the steel and the amount of work you put in to the job -- usually, the more times you repeat the rust-boil-card process the deeper, more even and more durable the final result.
Actually I don't think that the polish to 600 was probably really necessary. Although it took to rusting just fine. Depending on how long you let it rust, determines more about the finish than the level of polish. I think I did 7 total passes of rusting/bluing.