I bought a used scratched-up Marlin 44mag and want to refinish both the wood and metal. Does anyone know of a source for the hot bluing stuff so I can make my own bath? I've tried using Birchwood Casey Super Blue in liquid and paste on shotguns but it just doesn't look good.

I was going to stain the stock with dark walnut from the hardware store then coat it with automotive quality clear coat. But my recently purchased Marlin 450 has a much nicer dull finish with a very uniform color. Anyone familiar with this finish? Any clues to duplicate it?

SURE, you can get a complete set up from Brownells for around $1200. Then after you install some good fans in your garage and learn what to do you will be set to go. Or you can send it off and have it done for $125 to $150. Your choice. Rust bluing is much easier to get set up for, figure $400 but the learning curve is much greater, but the process is a lot safer. You can get a rust blue job for $200 +/-.

Chic Worthing

Thanks for the info, but there's no way I'm spendin $125+ for bluing. Plus I have some other guns in need as well.

I've always been a do-it yourself guy so I thought maybe I could just buy the chemical, heat it up in a little foil lined box and soak the barrel in it.
If I can't buy the good stuff whatever it is, I may try that idea with the Birchwood Casey Super Blue.

Unfortunately, it's not quite that simple.

Hot-tank bluing is fairly straightforward. It is also very exacting. It puts you in direct and close proximity with poisonous and corrosive chemicals, and their by products. The bluing bath can be neutralized; the agent used for this is hydrochloric acid.

Still, it can be done. You must have some black-iron tanks. Anything else, and you run the risk of killing the bluing. You must use either electric elements or gas elements capable of holding a saturate solution to 325 degrees for a prolonged period of time.

You must have the bath vented to the outside, and must wear protective clothing when using the bath.

If you do it inside, the fumes will attack any metal in your shop.

Now, can you see why it costs at least $100.00?

Incidentally, most of the cost does NOT come from use of the bluing solution, but by the metal polish and prep that must be applied before bluing. If you know how to polish metal you will be ahead of the game, believe me.

As for the wood, there is also an art to the preparation. I highly recommend researching some of the work of the stockmakers. A little bit of reading will save a lot of frustration later on.

For what it's worth, I put a really nice satin finish on a Swedish Mauser that my son bought for me recently. It was done with an old bottle of Birchwood Casey Tru-Oil, two fingers, and about three weeks worth of rubbing.

Good luck with your project.

chevota--

Just to let you know some of the basics of hot-dip bluing so you will know.

Caustic salts bluing is a very strong mixture of several caustic agents that must be boiled at 285 degrees F to stain steel.
Aluminum causes a very violent reaction and the aluminum is dissolved in seconds. (So much for the foil-lined box).
There's also degreasing to be done in a seperate tank that also has to be heated......and a cold water rinse tank.
If you don't have forced air ventilation everything exposed will likely be ruined.
There are very serious safety concerns with hot bluing. The caustic salts can....and do, cause blindness, and disfiguring heat and chemical burns.

More firearms have been ruined by poor polish and re-bluing than anything short of warfare and house fires.

I'd suggest FIRST learning to polish a firearm, then to slow rust blue.
"Firearms Blueing and Browning" by R.H. Angiers is the text book. Brownell's has everything you need but patience....... Be sure to have a generous portion of that available at all times. You'll need it.
It'll cost you about $300 to set up to rust blue and you can make that back on the first job you do.....if you figure three dollars an hour for your labor.

Thanks guys, it's dissapointing but at least I know now. I'll check out that book and play with the stock finish. One good thing is that I can't make it worse than it is!

chevota: First of all, I agree with all the advice posted previously.

However, as an amusing anecdote....I had a gunsmith friend who performed fantastic hot bluing on the "cheap". His "tank" was nothing more than one of those blue/black turkey roasting pans you get in the supermarket, heated by an old hot plate on the floor, which miraculously managed to get the witches brew to boil at around 325 degrees.

His "brew" was distilled water mixed with the brownells salts. The mix was entirely trial and error and, very fussy. Ultimately, the guy would end up with something that looked like a disgusting pea soup, that actually got better the more it was used. Ventilation? hell, no...this guy didnt need no stinking ventilation! Messy? You bet...lots of spills and splatters.

Lastly......I dont know where you can ever dump this stuff w/out contaminating your entire states water supply!

Would I do this at home? No way.