Proud new owner of an M-48!

It has a few areas (edges of receiver ring, edges of trigger guard) where the blue is worn off. These areas are kind of "worn polished" and would be more or less invisible if I could get them blued.

I don't know how these were originally finished -- anyone know how it would turn out if I had the local shop dunk the metal in the bluing tank, without doing anything other than degreasing?

This will be a shooter, kept in it's original military trim. I'll probably degrease the stock as much as I can, and maybe put a taller front sight on it -- anything to make it function/shoot better without altering the external appearance. Can't wait to get out there and try it out; it may even go deer hunting this year.

Best to all & thanks for any tips,
Todd

BTW anyone know for sure what those stocks are made from? It has the typical coarse grain that you see in M-48 pictures.

Todd,

Brownells Oxpho Blue is a good cold blue for a working firearm. Clean it in hot soapy water and apply over the old finish. I think you will like the result! Work it in several times with 0000 steel wool to get get a deeper color.

Wash again in soapy water and oil it immediately when finished applying the blue.

Don

Thanks Don, I have Oxpho Blue and will probably give that a try.

On closer inspection, and after de-gunking, it looks like the wood might be walnut. I wasn't aware that these were stocked in walnut.

Todd

I believe the wood is Teak.