I will be getting rust blueing on my custom gun which wont be finished for a while (too long). Ive heard that rust blueing is best. I,m not sure if Ive seen any rust blued rifles yet. How does it look compared to standard hot blueing? What is its durability like as my rifle is to be used ,not locked up in a safe all its life. Also Ive heard that sometimes it is hard to get a good even finish on all the fiddly bits on a barrel and action so they dip it into a blueing tank after the rust blueing is completed. Can any of you blueing gurus shed a bit of info on the benifits/drawbacks of rust blueing?

Actually there have been some posts here saying that in real testing rust bluing was not better than hot bluing. However, the general consensus is that rust blue does stand up the best. Chances are you have seen rust bluing on some high grade rifles and just didn't know that was what it was.

If a person properly does the rust blue they will not hot tank it afterwards. There have been some good explanation in the past of the whole process. Chic Worthing (Customstox) offers rust bluing as one of his services and could probably explain to you exactly what is involved. His price last I checked was good for rust bluing too, which is usually more than a hot blue.

Red

I�m by no means a guru on rust bluing, I�ve never blued so much as a nail. I have watched David Christman rust bluing in his shop for hours though.

As far as a finished look goes it depends on how long the parts are left to rust and how they are carded off. In other words I don�t think any two guys blue jobs will be exactly alike. Every one does those things a little differently. As far as nailing down how it looks, I would say it looks deeper that caustic blue but I have never seen rust blue as glossy as caustic can be. As far as the finish on your rifle you should discuss this with your smith. I�m sure that he can vary the degree of matte vs. luster to a certain point. Another thing is rust blue is really blue not black and when you see it you will understand what I�m saying. As far as how well it wears people who use it say it is the toughest. It becomes part of the metal instead of something on top of the metal. About the worst thing I have heard or read was from D�Arcy Echols I think. Who ever it was said that under their tests (I don�t really recall the method) it didn�t stay on the metal any longer than their caustic blue. He is the first person I have ever heard say this and I�m not doubting him I just wonder how much rust protection is left even after the rust blue is rubbed off vs. caustic blue rubbed off. This is something that should be considered

Shawn

P.S. Did I say blue job?

I have seen some rifles that have been hot blued that the finish has lasted a very long time and held up well. Personally, I don't think it can hold up as well as a "quality" rust blue. There is ,however, some debate on the issue.

Rust blue also has a look to it that is hard to replicate. It is very classic and classy.

There are some drawbacks to using rust blue in combination with engraving. It works very well with scroll work, but it is detrimental to engraved game scenes/animals or gold inlayed animals. With game scenes or animals it etches the cuts made by the engraver and gives the engraving a rough or blurred appearance. The wire brushing between coats (whether using a wire wheel, hand brush or steel wool) abrades the engraving on the animal. A high relief gold animal would survive if the bluer was very careful, but bulino or fine line animals come out looking faded and a bit tattered.

That's been my experience.

Roger,

How do you compensate for that when doing your work then? Do you have to do the bluing yourself to make sure it comes out right? I am sure that on the high grades you do the guys often want rust blue.

Red

One thing I've learned from a couple of top gunmakers is that rust bluing gets better and tougher over the course of time. Proper application is of course very, very important, but TIME also seems to be very important.

AD

Red:

With gold animals, I can wait to engrave them until after the bluing. Normally, custom rifles are bolt guns, which means the game scene would be on the floorplate. If the customer insists on having the rifle rust blued he will have to compromise on the floorplate. I usually engrave the scroll, then give the floorplate a light sand blast with fine grit, pass it under my carding wheel then engrave the scene. That part will then be hot blued. I have had pretty good luck with that proceedure and it's pretty hard to tell the part hasn't been rust blued.

Not to get off the subject here; but I have a question.

I had just tried my first bluing job on an old krag sporter. I used the birchwood casey stuff. Now I cleaned cleaned and cleaned this thing making sure I didn't contaminate the metal. The finish sucked. The receiver looks like it was case hardened, and the barrel looks like some kinda black grey cammo pattern. Followed the directions to the letter, so I hope it wasn't all my fault.

Now for the question.

Is there a better process for the "novice jerk who thinks he can do it himself".

thanks.
turfman

Does Gabe do the blueing himself, or do you know who he uses? If you saw a finished rifle in his shop I'm sure you saw rust blueing.

Mine was done by Rolf Bl...? in Melbourne. It was organised through Kudu Services. This photo really isn't going to show you much, but I'll post it anyway.



Also JohnT posted some pics recently in the African Hunting forum of his new rifle. Think the thread was something like "Aussie Custom Roo Rifle" or similar. His blueing was done by the same guy.

Gabe doesnt do the blueing himself ,he sends it down to someone in Melbourne I think it was. He has said he has seen some rust blueing jobs which werent as good as he would have liked so he is pretty fussy as to who he sends it to. I would have seen rust blueing after looking at a fair few high end rifles ,but wasnt completely sure of which ones were rust blued. I suppose they were the ones with a matt finish ,not glossy.
I was thinking of heavier scroll work on the action and some parts of the barrel such as the top of the integral quarter rib and front sights. Some mentioned about game scenes not always coming out very well with rust blueing. I was thinking of game scenes on the floor plate but was thinking of this being colour case hardened. Not sure yet.
So the consensus seems to be that it might be more durable?

Turfman, American Krags had casehardened actions, the receivers were not originally blued at the Armory but had a sort of mottled grey black finish. So you may have lucked out !!! However, when rifles came back for refurbishing the actions were in fact rust blued the second time around, so either way would be correct.

I cant say about the durability of rust vs caustic and dont care to even if I were qualified, but I will say this. When considering its upside, a good caustic blue is mighty hard to beat. It is durable, beautifull, and can be done in different variations at a generally lower cost than rust blue. Personally I like a quality caustic gloss blue on certian rifles.

Having said that, rust blue has its place. Ive tried it several times still to no avail, come close last time though. My hat is off to those who've mastered this old art.

Good luck trying to get Gabe to turn out a job with rust blueing unless he has recently found someone who does absolutely immaculate, impeccable work.



GG

Rust blueing was one thing which Gabe suggested but he is still faily adament that it doesnt get done by some people who have done bad jobs before which is fair enough. I think there is only one person he recommends and even then he said he found faults in their work.
I was wondering ,if a barreled action got rust blued but had some blemishes ,is it possible to give it a quick dip in a hot tank to smooth things over. I remember reading somewhere about rifles being rust blued and then dipped in some sort of hot rust blue tank to smoothen over the whole finish ,does this seem right? How does it turn out?
I know bugger all about any sort of blueing process ,so excuse my naivety.