Has anyone used rustblue to blue their barrels?

[One is the Left!]

The fine folks over at Lodgewood are providing me with a wonderful defarbed '53 Enfield. The issue is, I hope to use it for a school presentation in May, and they all come Bright. Lodgewood doesn't do any bluing, but very kindly suggested that I use rustblue for the most authentic bluing available. Has anyone used this process/product? I'm currently at school in PA, so my space is limited, but if there's someone in western PA offering this as a service, I'd be most interested. Thank you for your time, gentlemen.

And I'm afraid that yes, I've used the search bar with no success.

[Michael Comer]

Re: Has anyone used rustblue to blue their barrels?

I haven't used that particular product but I can vouch for Laurel Mountain Forge Barrel Brown. It will do a good job when used properly and eliminates the need for a complete degreasing of the metal prior to application. Have you tried it before?

[Tyler Underwood]

Re: Has anyone used rustblue to blue their barrels?

Hi Eugene, I have slow rust blued a Pennsylvania rifle barrel before and if done properly looks amazing!

1. Wipe down all metal parts that you intend to blue with acetone. There CANNOT be any oils on the metal whatsoever. Otherwise it will not turn out properly; even the oils from your skin can ruin all of your hard work so be sure to wear some powder-free latex gloves.

2. After all of the metal is clean and dry take a 50/50 mix of salt water and hydrogen peroxide and spray onto all the metal parts. This will cause the metal to rust before your eyes. Once you have a nice coat of surface rust you will need to boil the metal parts. (I did not have a container large enough to boil the barrel in so I used a section of PVC pipe that was capped on one end and put the boiling water into it and submerged the barrel.)

3. After about 4-5 minutes pull the barrel out and let it dry. The rust will have turned to carbon and will appear black. You will want to wipe the barrel down with a clean rag and repeat step 2 over again until or until you achieve the color you are wanting.

4. Once you have achieved the color you are looking for and the barrel is dry and still relatively warm from the boiling water apply a thin, even coat of boiled linseed oil. This will cause the rust process to stop and will seal the barrel. After you apply the linseed oil let it dry thoroughly before handling and re-assembling your rifle. (This may take a few days.)

During your entire process make sure that you have the muzzle and cone plugged to prevent anything from getting in the bore. I cannot over emphasize the importance of getting the barrel clean and not touching it with your bare hands.

This whole process is a modern method to doing some period gunsmiths did only MUCH faster. I did mine in an afternoon, and had it reassembled in a week.

As long as you take your time and keep it clean, I can assure you that you will be very happy with the results.

[PMFerringer]

Re: Has anyone used rustblue to blue their barrels?

I second Tyler's recommendation. I used the same method on a couple of shotgun barrels and it has held up better then any of the bluing compounds.

[Curt Schmidt]

Re: Has anyone used rustblue to blue their barrels?

Hallo!

A minor tweak to the excellent advice above...

Rust Blue is not carbon, it is "magnetite" or black iron oxide.

I am not a chemist but... rust blue is just a different of controlled 'rust.' The black is Fe3O4, the black oxide of iron. Kinda sorta a form of black oxide coatings.
On the other hand, "browning" is Fe2O3 the red oxide of iron. Basically changes at the atomic level. Blue or black will, over time, revert to brown which is why so many originals appear "brown"' or "browned."

As shared, the absolute key to a good rust-blue, is the degreased barrel steel. The chemical reaction is retarded or more or less absent anywhere oil protects the steel. Even the oil in finger prints, and sometimes the oils left in cheaper steel wools used for "carding" the barrel.

There are a ton is easy to use, with minimal equipment, browning solution out there. The are all essentially weak acids that cause the steel to rust. Then after each treatment, one scalds the barrel with boiling water (the key to shifting brown to black).
Some lads build a scalding trough out of PVC pipe sealed on one end or even rain spouts sealed on both ends. IMHO, not needed, but when one does a bunch, the white plumber's PVC tube is handy...
But, it is not needed, a pard did an excellent professional rust-blue in his bath tub.

Over the decades of browning and rust-bluing, I have come to favor Laurel Mountain Forge Brown over all others whether the low end stuff often sold to muzzle loaders lads or the higher stuff sold to gunsmiths.
The reason is that (up to a point) Laurel Mountain Forge self-degreases. I still do the degreasing ritual anyways, and the LMF Brown forgives any omissions or mistakes.

Liquid or paste "cold" bluing is NUG a selenium dioxide based compound that mildly tints a thin and fragile dark gray. It smears, it splotches, and it NUG is a very difficult product to apply evenly,

Curt

[Scott Sheets]

Re: Has anyone used rustblue to blue their barrels?

I have used the Laurel Mountain rust browning chemical at Mr. Comer recommended with the same PVC tube process that Mr. Underwood recommended. My results were great. One thing to keep in mind if you go the Laurel Mountain route is to wipe the chemical on gently and evenly, DO NOT RUB VIGOROUSLY. If you rub the chemical too hard it will turn a copper color.....I did this once and had to spend quite a bit of time brining the barrel back to an armory bright finish to restart the process.

[Pumpkinslinger]

Re: Has anyone used rustblue to blue their barrels?

Did a Mississippi rifle back during the Fall using Laurel Mountain and it turned out great.

[teddy99]

Re: Has anyone used rustblue to blue their barrels?

Tyler's posting is spot on. The key point is take your time you get what you put into it. I have rushed the process and the results were terrible I had to de-blue and start over.

[Pumpkinslinger]

Re: Has anyone used rustblue to blue their barrels?

Just did an 1850s Belgian fowler using Laurel Mountain Forge and scalding water in a PVC trough. Took a couple of changes of distilled water but I think it came out good.