Got a big unwelcome surprise....Started to rust blue and the damn barrel is stainless! Of course, the rear sight, band and front sight are "normal" steel.

Not too receptive to some paint coating on a high dollar custom....(with some gold inlaid bands)

Alternatives?

Will stainless accept salt bath nitriding?

Winchester used to copper plate SS barrels and then blue that, or there is a formula for SS. Not sure if it will come out the same color as CM; but there are blueing companies that do it.

TiN coatings can be applied to stainless. I have seen some that come real close to a rust blued appearance in color. Search for TiN or VPD companies for firearms.

Nitride is the solution, but it has to be done properly.


There are a couple of considerations-

The polish/finish must be fully done prior to nitride and you can adjust the luster of the final product by how you polish prior to nitride.

Nitride will lock in any imperfections. Dave Tooley spoke on it when he was nitriding competition barrels. He said that it was critical to polish the throat a bit and remove any machining marks or burrs from chambering on the throat. If you didn’t, the barrel would copper up badly. He said you could either assemble it and break in the barrel with shoot/clean…or gently polish the chamber and throat.

Last, there are many versions of nitride…be very specific with your goals for hardness and surface finish. If you want the bolt head at X and the lug abutments at Y, you have to discuss how you will do this with the company. Their working temp may cause heat treat issues or melt solder if that’s used to attach anything.


It works. Mauser nitrides their barreled actions…the same ones used in $$$Rigby rifles. It looks good and is rust proof.

There used to be a shop in New Mexico that blued stainless. They did the slides for S&W on their two tone autos. I don't know what process they used but it did look good. You might check around and see if they are still in business or if anyone knows how they did it?
C.G.B.

Convince the client that it is the latest fashion.

In high end customs.

That he can carry it with pride.

As he has the only one on the block.

Semi /S/

quote:

Originally posted by p dog shooter:
Convince the client that it is the latest fashion.

In high end customs.

That he can carry it with pride.

As he has the only one on the block.

Semi /S/

HA....only one in the world maybe.

Lots of ideas to check out ..I'll let you know what I find

Nitride. Done right it looks very close to a good rust blue.

John

If I was the client, someone would be buying a new barrel.

Yes, that.

I agree, and how about the labor expended on it so far?

Client was made aware and is satisfied with the arrangements...

On the good news side: Dave Thomas out of ID will do the bluing and not disturb the gold. Sounds like he uses a two step process, and has done it before.

All of this is why I don't take customer provided barrels. I procure them and that way I know exactly what we have. If someone sends me a barrel, I just send it back.

Was the barrel stamped with SS or CM on the breech end for you to verify before work commenced?

Couldn't you have tested it with cold bluing before you started?

It is easy to be wise after the event.

quote:

Originally posted by DavidReed:
Was the barrel stamped with SS or CM on the breech end for you to verify before work commenced?

NO!

quote:

Originally posted by larry miller:
Couldn't you have tested it with cold bluing before you started?

Coulda, shoulda, woulda

quote:

Originally posted by Jim Kobe:
I agree, and how about the labor expended on it so far?

Who's mistake.

Your mistake you eat all the extra costs.

100% of All the barrels I use, have this on the breech end:

isn't that minimum caliber for you

quote:

Originally posted by dpcd:
100% of All the barrels I use, have this on the breech end:

Ha, yes for me, but sometimes guys want pest gun calibers, like 30s and such.

At the time I used Robar/Wright Armory to finish a SS barrel on a Blued reciever, It was a compromise because the alternative was ss barrel and blued action that I did not want, the finish was a very attractive black satin that I think they called Chrome Sulfide at the time.
BB

When I put a barrel on for some one I always cut the end off with the saw about .125 long & include it with the barrel. That way customer knows what barrel he has. The boys think it's a nice touch.

quote:

Originally posted by dpcd:
Ha, yes for me, but sometimes guys want pest gun calibers, like 30s and such.

Likely more moose have been taken by a 30-06 in AK than any other.

quote:

Originally posted by larry miller:
When I put a barrel on for some one I always cut the end off with the saw about .125 long & include it with the barrel. That way customer knows what barrel he has. The boys think it's a nice touch.

That is what my smith does.

quote:

Originally posted by p dog shooter:

That is what my smith does.

Gosh! What an outstandng comment!!!

Mr Copper; you need to read more Elmer; then you would get the reference.
As for chopping off the ends of barrels and sending them to customers, now that we have cameras on phones, I just take a picture of it. Lot less work.

Lothar Walther does not mark their barrels CM or Stainless. I have several Krieger barrels in stock. Most are marked CM...two of team are un marked...but they are CM.

On two recent job's, I needed a 1.5" dia barrel. Krieger was out 7 months. Douglas is at the most 1.3 (in the rough) Lothar's delivery was three weeks...no brainier!

Now I have a true story..goes back about 18 yrs. Received a barrel marked CM from a well know and respected maker.

Don't remember what causes me to be suspicious but sure a heck it was stainless.

And besides this latest..that was the only incident since I discovered I couldn't hold down a real job.

I have a feeling that it will all work out. That Oxynate 84 seems to work well on stainless and meet the Duane Wiebe standard.

WEll.....so much for barrel stampings... Just received a Douglas 30 cal blank. It's stamped :

"30 CAL " and "10" No other markings ??????

And: Thanks Haverluck,! I was researching all the alternatives I could find. Dave Thomas is the man.

The only thing I remember about Keith was Ackley saying he was full of hot air but he sure could shoot.

Another small bore barrel in my rack; there is no need for them to mark the CM ones, because they only make two kinds of steel barrels; all Stainless are marked. CM, aren't.
As for LW barrels, I will not own or use one so I don't know how they are marked.

You should be able to test the barrel with a magnet. High quality stainless does not attract a magnet much if any amount.

True but the 400 series of stainless they use for rifles, is magnetic.