I tried my hand at rust bluing my custom Oberndorf Mauser with quite pleasing results.



For the project I am now wanting to complete I am looking for a slightly different result.

Last year I restocked my late Father's 30/40 Krag sporter.



My son & I both Christened it this year by taking a couple of Northern New York State bucks with it.



Now it's time to finish it with a rust blue job, but I want a little bit of patina so the metal finish matches the stock finish which has a few characteristics that make it look aged.


I was thinking of going through several rust/boil/card cycles until I get a nice dark gray/blue, then doing a couple of cycles W/O the boiling to give it a slight brownish cast. Make it look like old yet well cared for metal that has seen a lot of exposure.

If I don't like the results I thought I could just resume the rust/boil/card cycles to bring it back to gray/blue if needed.

Has anyone done anything like this? If so some PIX would be great.

I really like that rifle. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I shot my first deer with a Krag carbine.

Watching with interest because I have an original Sharps that was hot blued to a glossy finish that I've contemplated "restoring" to a more age appropriate look...

I've did an antique brown on my 1st block built muzzle-loader. It came out well with some scaling in spots. It looks hundred of years old. This time I'm looking for something a little less "distressed". Like maybe it got a little neglected at some time or other & got a light coating of rust that "turned" the bluing a little.

My main concern is if it can be boiled to return to rust blue if the results aren't what I want. I would hate to have to start over from square one.

A slightly distressed look would eliminate the need to polish all the nooks & crannies inside the magazine & action. With a Krag there are lots of those.

Quite frankly that's why I haven't gone after it with emery cloth yet.

quote:

Originally posted by 458Win:
I really like that rifle. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I shot my first deer with a Krag carbine.

How long ago was that?

BTW: It shoot pretty good with Hornady 30395 .308 160gr FTX bullets.





I think that at 2500 fps I'm pushing them beyond their envelope. Even @ 120 yards the bullet fragmented on heavy bone. To be fair though it did take out about 4 vertebrae.





No neck roasts out of this one.






I'm going to try the Hornady 30396 .308 Marlin FTX bullets. They are designed W/a heavier jacket for up to 2700 fps Mv. They are a little pointier & I hope I can get them to function with the bullet seated "just off the lands like the 30395.

quote:

Originally posted by montea6b:
Watching with interest because I have an original Sharps that was hot blued to a glossy finish that I've contemplated "restoring" to a more age appropriate look...

I'll be getting after it sometime soon, probably right after Christmas. Too much going on right now.

try plum brown and then boil ... it goes blue when boiled.. try a test piece

quote:

Originally posted by jeffeosso:
try plum brown and then boil ... it goes blue when boiled.. try a test piece

I want to go the other way. I want to turn blue to a slight tinge of brown. Plum brown is too brown for what I'm trying to do. I've used Plum Brown before.

I already have Brownells "Classic Rust Blue" solution.

If you got scaling with rust brown, then you left it on too long between cardings. That should never happen. Get the rust blue solution from Bobster, here on AR; his stuff is the best, and is idiot proof.
Use the steam method; much quicker, easier, and better, for me, than boiling water. Well, you are still boiling water, just not as much.

quote:

Originally posted by dpcd:
If you got scaling with rust brown, then you left it on too long between cardings. That should never happen. Get the rust blue solution from Bobster, here on AR; his stuff is the best, and is idiot proof.
Use the steam method; much quicker, easier, and better, for me, than boiling water. Well, you are still boiling water, just not as much.

The scaling was on a muzzle loader and it was "antique" browning, not rust bluing. The scaling was a desired effect.

Please look at my 1st picture for my last (quite satisfactory I think) rust bluing results on my VZ500 98 Mauser action. I see no need to change that part of the process as it worked quite well & apart from the physical labor, was quite easy.

I'm not looking for instructions or tips on rust bluing (or browning) per-see, but some way to "distress" the results and add some slight brown "patina" to the end product.

What you are trying to accomplish is reproducing the aging of a rust blued surface. That is essentially rusting and carding of a previously blued surface. That is what happens naturally even with a well cared for firearm. Try laying down a couple of passes of Rustblue American Formula with steam/boiling conversion. Then apply Frontier Brown 2 coats and carding in between with no conversion. Scald to neutralize. Finally, rub gently with rottenstone and oil to give the final patina. Seal with BLO if you like more plum.

Bob
www.rustblue.com

quote:

Originally posted by Bobster:
What you are trying to accomplish is reproducing the aging of a rust blued surface. That is essentially rusting and carding of a previously blued surface. That is what happens naturally even with a well cared for firearm. Try laying down a couple of passes of Rustblue American Formula with steam/boiling conversion. Then apply Frontier Brown 2 coats and carding in between with no conversion. Scald to neutralize. Finally, rub gently with rottenstone and oil to give the final patina. Seal with BLO if you like more plum.

Bob
www.rustblue.com

That is exactly the type of procedural input I was looking for, thanks.