Anyone used the Blue Wonder gun blue products? Seems too good to be true. I have had bad experiences with the Birchwood Casey products. Is it worth it or should I just invest in a good hot blue job? Thanks for any input.

Wyo

I have used it but on a limited bases, but what I have used of it I think it works. I do not think is a good as barnes, but they should make a good copper cleaner based on the barrel fouling bullets they make which I shoot a lot of. As far as a non rigorous cleaner blue wonder seens to be pretty good, its easy to use, not messey and appears to be easy on the gun.

He is asking about the bluing, and not the cleaner.

I tried it on a grip cap to experiment. I think it's pretty good for touch ups but I'd never do a whole gun. It took me awhile getting the heat right, more is better it seems.

I've tried every cold blue known to man. They all work about the same way. POORLY! Then I tried Blue Wonder. FANTASTIC! I had a Ruger Single six that someone left in a holster for a year or two. Light surface rust resulted. I steel wooled the gun, heated it with a heat gun (hair dryer doesn't get hot enough and a propane tourch gets too hot). I left the existing blueing in place. Didn't want to do the whole gun at this time. Using a scotch bright pad, I rubbed on ten coats of Blue Wonder, with very fine (0000) steel wool carding in between and reheating everytime.
The gun came out fantastic! The boys at the club couldn't believe it. You have to look very hard in the sunlight to see the difference between the factory blue and the Blue Wonder. And although the revolver is holstered and carried in this fashion, it hasn't worn off in over 8 months.
I recently received a barrel for my Win M70 in 6.5-55. The previous owner had a heck of a time getting it off his rifle and dinged it up a bit. I put the barrel in the lather and sanded it down to remove the scratches. Although at some point I'll have the entire gun hot blued, for now I whipped out the Blue Wonder. Ten coats later the barrel looks absolutly like a hot blue job. No streaks, no light spots.....
Here's some hints.......
The metal must be absolutly clean. I use simple green followed by acetone. I wear rubber gloves and never touch the area I'm going to blue.
Heat the metal to 120 degrees. First three or four coats can be applied with a rag. The next 6-7 coats needs to be applied with something a bit rougher. A brown paper bag or a piece of burlap works great or a scotch brite pad that you buy at Home Depot for removing grout during a tiling job works great. These pads are not as rough as the ones you might use to clean pans.
You really need to rub the stuff on. Keep rubbing for at least 30-45 seconds. Let it sit for 5 minutes and card off the "rust" with steel wool (0000) or a piece of rough burlap using an extremely light touch. If you rub too hard with the steel wool, you will remove the finish at this point.
After at least ten coats (you can apply as many as you like, but after about ten coats, the metal will not take any more blueing and the solution will simply bead up and run off) very, very gently card off the rust and apply the "developer" that comes with the blue wonder using a soft rag. Put it on thick and put the gun away for two or three days. The color will get darker during this period.
After the two or three days, whipe off any excess developer and use a good quality gun oil to oil the gun. Be sure to oil the gun at least once a week for the next month as some surface rust might develop if you are in a high humidity area.
DO NOT USE WD-40 on cold blueing. IT WILL REMOVE IT!!!! In fact, you should never use WD-40 on a firearm....period. WD-40 is a great rust remover and blueing is nothing more than controlled rust....Yea, yea, yea....I know....we all own a thousand guns that have had gallons of wd-40 poured on them when we didn't know any better. And when the gun turns purple or the solvent evaporates and leaves behind the residual sludge that is inherent in reclaimed oils, we never blame it on the WD....Spend the money on Rem Oil or Break Free and stop being such a cheap bastard! Your guns cost too much to be slobbering reclaimed oil all over them...:-)

Thanks, Roy.

I appreciate you taking the time to fill me in. I really wanted to hear at least one success story before I wasted my money on another cold blue kit that doesn't work worth a damn.

Wyo

I have gone through about 5-6 bottles of this wonderful stuff & I think it is great!! My experience has been to carefully clean & heat metal, apply blue & then developer. Let set for 24 hours & repeat as many times as needed. I have found that repeat coats take much better if you wait 24 hrs. Have done several guns that I sold & traded & everyone that they had the factory finish on them. Regards Mike

I've tried it exactly once. I pulled the barrel off my Win 94 Big Bore... sanded it down smooth, degreased the heck out of it with methanol, acetone, and the Blue Wonder stuff as well. Heated it gently with a propane torch and degreased it while almost too hot to touch (as the guy at Blue Wonder suggested)... then tried the bluing process....
I didn't have great success.... parts of the barrel looked great... others looked, well, just kinda weird. Took it all back off, went thru the degreasing process again, and tried bluing again.... same results.... used up the whole little bottle of solution, and couldn't get any consistency..... even after the developer sat on it over night.... just not all that great.
I had really high hopes, too..... I'm glad others have gotten it to work for them, but I'm thinking about the Brownell's stuff for my 35 Whelen.... Dicropan IM, I believe it is....

If Blue Wonder is this much work why not just rust blue? It's really not that much more work that what has been described above.