I have an old Marlin single shot 22 that I fixed the stock up on, but the barrel didn't take cold bluing well. It's not hardly worth the money to get it blued professionally, so I'm thinking about painting the barrel. I've always like a different colored barrel, and lots of painted barrels I've seen looked really nice. What color barrel would look nice on a reddish Walnut (I think) stock?

Why not try one a those bake on paint finishs like Kalguard/Gun Kote or Duracoat.

Looks like you can get a clear finish from duracoat too. So just polish away and coat.

Rich

What color would look "cool"?

I have had excellent results with Brownell's baking lacquer:

http://www.brownells.com/aspx/NS/store/ProductDetail.as...ROSOL+BAKING+LACQUER

It self-levels, fills little pits, etc, also.

I'd use gloss or matte black, but there are several other options.

Did you try Oxpho blue?....I've seen some very good jobs done with it and it's not beastly expensive!

Nope, I tried the Birchwood Casey stuff. On larger surfaces it worked well, like on the actual barrel, but on smaller stuff like sights it discolored for some reason. On screws it wore off FAST.

rust blue would be easy and a good quality finish you could do at home.
Steve