G'day guys. I'm kinda new to this shooting/hunting scene and i could do with a bit of advice from the more experienced/wiser shooters amongst us.

I've recently purchased a .22 sportco (tube mag) and a stevens side by side 12g. Their both showing their age and I've started sprucing up the stevens a tad. The blueing has all but worn off both of the guns and i was looking to polish and seal ( with a high temp clear coat enamel) the breach and barrels of both guns.

So far i've polished the reciever on the side by side with some wet n dry (120grit 300grit 800grit and 1200grit) and it looks great. Next i was planning on giving the barrels the same treatment but was wondering if someone could tell me if the blueing on the firearms serves any other purpose other than protecting the steel against corrosion.

I've painted the stock with a matt black. The wood was too old and ratty to merely re stain and varnish so i gave it a good sand n a spray. It looks great with the matt stock and polished reciever but the barrels are letting me down. I dont want to stuff a perfectly good gun and was hoping someone could give me some insight into the purpose of blueing.

Thanks guys

The blue finish is mostly decorative. It doesn't provide much protection against corrosion, if any.

Cruiser,

Welcome to the forums here!

The finish depends a lot on what you wish to use the gun for. If you want something durable for a working gun that spends a lot of time in a vehicle, plain spray paint will work great. A step above regarding finish with good durability is to use a spray lacquer and then bake the barrel in the oven at 300 F (sorry don't know what that is in Centigrade) I've had good luck simply putting the painted barrel in the pre heated oven and then turning it off and letting it set overnight. If you take it out while the barrel is hot the finish will be soft, so don't just grab it with a hot pad.

Now if you want to use a cold blue, clean and really degrease the barrel, then what I like to use is a liquid blue that I put in a little dish and scrub into the barrel with a toothbrush. Someone here posted they like to use a piece of scotchbrite glued to a stick, I think either works well and I already have an old toothbrush. It helps if you warm up the barrel uncomfortably hot with a heat gun, hair dryer or torch if you are careful, you don't want it hot enough to make everything sizzle. Then just keep scrubbing the blue in with your toothbrush until you are happy with how it looks. Every once in a while give everything a rub down with extra fine steel wool. You can either degrease the steel wool (it has a trace of oil on it) or simply with down the barrel after the wool treatment with alcohol or other solvent.

When you are done with the barrel, which means that you either really like the finish or you are too disgusted to go on any more, heat it again and rub some oil into it and don't wipe it off, leave it stay on the barrel overnight then remove the next day. Even though cold blues aren't the best choice they work which is why they are still around.

You can also do a search here on "rust bluing" but you might want to save that one for your second project <G>.

Good luck from another former colony,

Mark

I have an old Stevens side by side too. It has been polished bare metal for 20 years now, and as long as I wipe all fingerprints off with an oily rag, it never rusts. I kind of like the bare metal look....

Beware heat treating dbl. bbl. guns. The solder that holds the barrels together can be melted at suprisingly low temperatures. This is why it is difficult to reblue them, as the conventional treatment gets too hot.

Several places over here offer painting in camo colors for your favorite shotgun. You might try to finding a place near you to do the same, even if it is just a plain black or other solid color.

Cruise, sad to say, both guns are totally beyond repair and are of absolutely no use to anyone!! To save you the hassle of having to dispose of them , email me and I will help you out of your misery by actually paying for the freight to get them to me in Sydney.

Seriously, i had been brought up with the idea that bluing etched the surface in such a way that it retained a certian amount of oil on the surface, thus helping to reduce corrosion. i can only say that some of my guns have had the bluing won away, and they don't rust any more than my stainless guns!! However, what I have noticed, is that a bare metal rifle (ie, stainless, or unblued) stands aout like dog's balls when you're in the bush!! I use camo tape to hide my stainless, but you'd be amazed how visible a non blued gun is in the field. I've got to that stage now that I use camo tape on all my guns - if I can see it, I'll bet a deer can see it! And I've had enough deer being spooked by the reflection off a 'beautiful gun' to know they can see shine! (blued or otherwise). Just remember, you can relieve yourself of those old clankers of guns by calling your old mate, Pete!

For the same cost as blueing, you can have your guns parkerized (+/- $75). Rust resistant and dull, this is the finish used on US military small arms.

Mark, thanks for your info mate. It was most informative. I'm currently using VHT engine enamel for the project. They do recommend for the best finish to bake the painted item but i was a bit concerned about heating the barrels as i'm unsure of the effects. I dont know how much heat it would actually require to warp or destort the barrels but that was a concern. CDH also had me thinking with his point about heating old double barreled shotguns:

Quote:

---

Beware heat treating dbl. bbl. guns. The solder that holds the barrels together can be melted at suprisingly low temperatures. This is why it is difficult to reblue them, as the conventional treatment gets too hot.

---

I'm going to buy a bench grinder and fit it with a buffing wheel as i think that would make life much easier. Besides i've polished about all i can with the wet and dry. It looks great so far but will look much better once its buffed. Will have to post some pics once im done.
Thanks mate

Nathan

Pete What a great offer mate! Well as surprised as you may be i'm going to have to knock you back i'm afraid.

I'm not too fussed about spooking game with these guns as i only really use them while spotlighting at the moment. The .22 will only ever be a bunny gun and the sxs might get a few trips out in the field while pig shooting for a 'last resort' back up weapon (lets hope it doesn't come to that!) lol. Apart from its usual bunny culling duties. I'll leave the bigger game to my .223 and the good old .303. They will stay as is at this stage!

Thanks for your input buddy,

Nathan