I am preparing a Japan built Weatherby Mark V for caustic bluing and the bottom metal frame/trigger guard is not steel and appears to be some alloy casting. It will be sent off to get blued. Can this part be blued???
Okay spell check. Is it bluing, blueing???? I know it isnt blewing, or bloooooing. Why do I see these after I enter the post.
Ten years ago I was working in a large gunsmithing concern when a co-worker had a Weatherby MKV made in Japan to blue. The trigger guard/floor plate polished out properly and it was very heavy so the guy assumed it was steel...................when he lowered it into the bath of hot bluing salts there was vigerous boiling and spewing and fumes. He quickly raised it out of the solution and there was a shell of what had been there. Kinda looked like the shell of a dead locust or dead craw fish! We were paid and considered as contract labor and we had to pay for anything we damaged. Needless to say that guy's profit for that week was pretty low.
Dont blue it in hot bluing salts!
Posts: 1551 | Location: North Texas | Registered: 11 February 2001
I am sure the floor plate is steel. cold blue changes its colors fast. The trigger guard and bottome metal framwork are something else. Non ferrous. the bluing is not that bad so I am not going to touch it.
Posts: 4917 | Location: Wenatchee, WA, USA | Registered: 17 December 2001
Chic, yes, I have seen a mix of metals on the Mark V bottom "stuff" (can't really call it bottom metal): Carbon or SS floorplate and some alloy, Aluminum or otherwise, for the guard. Shame, Shame, for Weatherby cost one would expect real metals.
Caustic loves Aluminum and Magnesium. Way back in my smarter years I work in auto repair, we had a big vat of caustic ("Lye") for stripping engine blocks and heads. Heated to about 200 degrees. One of the guys dropped in a set of VW engine crankcase halves one night, the next morning all that was left were the studs!!
Posts: 1055 | Location: Real Sasquatch Country!!! I Seen 'Em! | Registered: 16 January 2001
I'd rather ask Weatherby to make airplanes if they want to make lightweight parts.
Of course they would still have to change to a stronger alloy, so I reckon it makes no difference. The junk alloys the gun companies use is better used in Tiawanese toys and trinkets.
Well...my Savage came with a plastic trigger guard! I replaced it with a metal one from Brownell's. To replace the plastic was like $2.95, to replace the metal was like $8.00. I for one would gladly have paid the extra $5 in the first place to have a metal guard. Not sure the logic sometimes companies use to save a dime.
I'd rather ask Weatherby to make airplanes if they want to make lightweight parts.
Of course they would still have to change to a stronger alloy, so I reckon it makes no difference. The junk alloys the gun companies use is better used in Tiawanese toys and trinkets.
Are we using the floorplates on rifles as hammers now?
Never mind. Everyone has a set idea of what a rifle should be like. We just happen to disagree.
Customstox, On those Japanese MKVs the floorplate is steel but the trigger guard is made of recycled Bridgestone motorcycle parts. They use some sort of plating on it. When I was in Kamloops Klaus Hiptmayer called up one time in a bit of a panic. Turned out that Hiedi had engraved a Weatherby floorplate and when he put it in the bluing (or is that blueing?)only the floorplate came out. The triggerguard was gone except for some plating fragments. I use baking laquer on the aluminum crap. It's not great but you can't make chicken soup from chicken droppings. Regards, Bill.
Ksduckhunter, I just want something that you can refinish if it gets marred. They didn't use this material because it is best suited for the job as in the case of airplane parts. They used it because it is cheap. If cheap is what you want then you will be happy with it.
Posts: 4917 | Location: Wenatchee, WA, USA | Registered: 17 December 2001
The bottom metal is aluminum with a Black Chrome plating done by a firm in Chicago. Ring me at the shop on Wednesday and I can put you in touch with the guy who struggled through an infinite maze to find this solution.
Mark Vs have steel floor plates. For a period of time after they were made in the US they also had all steel 2 piece setups, similar to M70s. Personally, I prefer two piece setups like M70s and some of those US made Mark Vs. I realise that I am in an extremely small minority
One of things I find interesting about guns is the Weatherby and Remington approach to dealing with Jack Belks metal from a Chinese junk yard.
Weatherby try and make it look and feel like blued steel. Remington (and they are good at this) try to make it look and feel like plastic. Remington is more successful than Weatherby
Mike
Posts: 7206 | Location: Sydney, Australia | Registered: 22 May 2002
quote:Originally posted by Customstox: Ksduckhunter, I just want something that you can refinish if it gets marred. They didn't use this material because it is best suited for the job as in the case of airplane parts. They used it because it is cheap. If cheap is what you want then you will be happy with it.
Not to belabor the point, but aluminum can be anodized, and anodizing can be touched up.
Also, just what is it that a rifle's floorplate has to do that makes aluminum alloys unsuitable materials?
Sure, steel will do fine. What you'll have a hard time convincing me of is that aluminum will not.
And what's with this fabled Model 70 two-piece floorplate? More parts, more cost, more complexity, more tolerance stack up. All things to be avoided. A one piece is a far more elegant solution.
Maybe because I come from an aircraft manufacturing background I can look at all this rifle stuff without being blinded by tradition.
Posts: 2206 | Location: USA | Registered: 31 August 2002
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