What is the "right" finish for traditional rust bluing on barrels and Mauser actions?

Will start with some drop material from barrel production to test, but it would be helpful to have some idea of where to start. Have lots of abrasives, so can do pretty much anything from 120 to 600 or higher.

Starting to put the stuff together to try it.

Thanks!

A good clean 320 at tops 400 grit polish is all that is needed as a matter of fact anything over that will not finish up well at all. Good luck and whose formula are you using?

Michael J

I bought some Brownell's Classic Rust Blue some time ago and thought I'd try it on some test material.

The Ottmar rifle was done with Gun Goddess and I REALLY like the color! If I don't get something similar from the Brownell's stuff, I'll get some of it.

The brownells works well I now use the GunGoddess and lke it alot.
Good Luck
Michael J

I've also been goin' down to 400 max. I've been using Gun Goddes and Laurel Mtn. Forge solutions and have had very good results with both. I will say Laurel Mtn's brew seems to be a bit more user friendly.

Many many moons ago, one time when I visited Mark Lee in his shop while he was still in the Gun Trade, I watched him do some carding on a mauser (both barrel and action) in which he had first polished to 400 grit and then used a very very fine glass bead blast finish. I will never forget how classy that looked. Everything was absolutely the same finish, and it was a very soft but very black finish. It really looked nice.

Dear Mstarling:

My only experience is with Mark Lee rust blue.

I have experimented with 180 to 600 grit finishes. As mentioned above, I agree with everyone's advice. My best finishes occurred when using 320 and 400 grit wet sandpaper and spray oil.

I use degreased 0000 very fine steel wool to card.

Sincerely,

Chris Bemis

Thanks Guys!

I got very similar advise from Chic Worthing (Customstox) and will certainly give it a try.

Need to build a rusting cab and a tube burner.

Do you guys the cleaning/degreasing chemical mixed with water as sold by Brownell's? Do you use a separate tank for that (not wanting to contaminate the boiling water tank)?

Dear Mike:

I degrease with non-chlorinated brake cleaner with an old toothbrush, and use latex gloves when handling the clean steel parts.

Sincerely,

Chris Bemis

I have 2 stainless steel tanks, but have gotten by with one. Just clean/degrease it well if you're gonna use it for both cleaning and boiling. For a degeaser I've used Simple Green or a solution of TSP. Some guys recommend Dawn dishwash soap. I do the degeasing twice, there's no such thing as too clean.

I agree with Craigster. It's all about clean.

I generally give the metal a light blast with 320 grit silicon carbide. It gives the solution something to bite into and gives a very uniform blue finish.