Does anyone know any gunsmiths who do case color or color case hardening (whichever it is...) on bolt actions?
I always thought it looked great. Also, how much it would cost?

I saw a Cooper in .204 Ruger with a case colored action and loved it.
I was thinking about it for a CZ550, but I've heard it depends on the steel type, etc.
Any help is appreciated.

I approached two people (names escape me) at the ACGG Show last January about this very subject. Both said they no longer would case-color bolt action receivers. However, Martini & Hagn had a bolt action rifle on their table of which the receiver, bolt, and virtually everything but the barrel was case-colored. So somebody still does it. Try them.

My understanding is that Doug Turnbull is the best in the business...I don't know if he does bolt actions or not, but he is worth the try. I don't have his web address but I do know he has one.

Doug won't do a bolt action receiver anymore. You could try J&S Heat Treat (John Hackley) at 816-229-2149 or Scott Green at 208-785-7722, www.idahorifleman.com.

I figured Doug wouldn't do it, otherwise he would have it listed on his site. Fla, thanks for the link. I'll see what they say.
I can't imagine why it's not very popular. I love the looks of it, and I think a colored quarter rib, barrel band and crossbolts would look perfect.

I've read it can mess up the heat treating on your action.

Case hardning is a surface treatment to prevent wear. It is very thin, and the steel under the surface is soft. It will destroy your heat treat on the receiver.

I just got a new issue of Single Shot Rifle Journal and here's another outfit that advertises "presentation grade" bone and charcoal color case hardening, bluing, browning, carbona blue as well as other services: Classic Guns, P.O. Box 367, 606 Gould Street, Beecher, Illinois 60401. $2.00 for a color brochure and price list, deductible from first order.

fla3006,
Unfortunately, John Hackley passed away a few years ago. He was the only person who was on a par with Doug Turnbull and a wonderful person.

I took a case color course under John Hackley a few years back at Tishamingo, OK. I agree with Chic, John was very talented.

John would case color pre war 98 Mausers since the carbon content on most of them was very low. That is the criteria, the action or parts must be very low in carbon content. Still you run the risk of warping or breaking the tang on these actions. It still looks very high class to do the rings, bases, quarter rib, grip cap, etc. etc.

We tested the hardness on a rockwell hardness tester of some of the 98 Mausers done by students and they averaged 45 on the c scale. We tempered them in an oven for several hours down to around 35 I believe. Just about right.

We case colored a long list of stuff, looked really good. One of my projects was a pre 64 model 94 Winchester, you should see it, really turned out good. One guy did a tomahawk, absolutely beautiful.

Maybe Craftsman answered this question, or maybe I am just having a MAJOR brain fart!. If you are worried about making the action too brittle or weakening it by color case hardening a bolt action, then why is that any different than a Winchester lo-wall, high wall, 1886, 1892, 71, Sharps,Ruger #1 etc? They all have bolt lugs that bear directly against the receiver/frame, just like a bolt action. Like I said, I may just be real dense in this regard but it doesn't make sense to me...anyone explain it to me in VERY simple (obviously I need it) language? Thanks in advance!

The color case process used on the modern Winchesters is an acid/cyanide type process and there isnt any heat treat involved. They are strictly cosmetic.

On the origional 1885's etc.., they were loaded for very low pressure rounds. Even the new Sharps and such are still loaded for black powder cartrigdges. They dont have any pressure issues to deal with (relatively speaking of course)

I am having a custom 1909 in 375 done and I would like nothing better than to have it color cased. If I go that route I may have to use the acid process since nobody seems to be doing bolt guns.

Classic that was mentioned by fla3006 does real presentation grade work. Great folks to do business with. They do color case hardening the old fashioned way.

Why not give them a call and at least ask the question?

My suggestion is to color case harden the safety, trigger, grip cap, rings and bases, bolt release, even perhaps the swivel, front sight etc. then Nieder blue the screws, extractor, trigger and whatever with a good slow rust blue by Doug Turnbull...Gets you a nice contrasting piece of metal work, without taking any risks, and it looks even nicer to my eye....

I have problems with a color cased bolt rifle, it just bothers me that heat was put on the action that way..where there is smoke there is fire I suppose..I have seen some nice custom rifles done so however.

I agree. They are really classy looking when done right:

CongoMike

Maybe I wasn't clear. You can use the old fashion bone charcoal color case hardening method on anything with low carbon content. Most firearms receivers made before WWII (Springfield 03 excepted) fit this requirement, also furniture like grip caps, scope rings, buttplates, etc. When you color case harden them they absorb carbon from the charcoal into the surface and when quenched have a glass hard skin but still have a soft and ductile core which will not fracture or break.

If you use the same process on steel with a significant amount of carbon, when quenched in water from the initial 1450 degrees it will be too hard all the way through to the core. There are cyanide bath processes for getting the same look with out embrittlement described above but it is expensive equipment to set up due to the danger of dealing with cyanide.

MRLEXMA

An impressive piece of work. It just oozes with class. Please give some details on this piece of art and on who built it.

Here is the contact info for a guy who does excellent work with the cyanide method.

Tom Ivanoff
Tom's Gun Repair
76-6 Rt South Fork
Cody, WY 82414
(307)587-6949