Gentlemen, I am by no means a gunsmith, so please excuse the trivial nature of this question. I have Remington Model 700 17 Rem that was built in the early 70's. I am preparing to have a Douglas barrel put on it, but the action has some large areas where the blueing has worn off. Since the stock is in such great shape and I will be putting a new barrel on it, I would hate for it to be an eye sore because of the action. That said, is it worth using any of the blueing kits (i.e. Birchwood Casey) that you can buy at Bass Pro or any other local gun shops? Do they do a good job? Is it more a pain in the ass than it's worth? If you don't recommend it, what should I expect to pay to have this done by a competent gunsmith?

Unless the barrel is stainless, you will be getting it blued after installation. Get the action done along with it. Cold blue kits are next to worthless as is the end result.

[ 03-17-2003, 22:27: Message edited by: Customstox ]

Blueing a barreled action will cost you $75 - $100.

Along similar lines to Jethro's question, I too have a basic finishing question. I have a Pre-64 Winchester 94 that I am rebarreling. The finish on the receiver is gone on one side so I want to rust blue the barrel and action using Brownells rust bluing salts. I want to try this myself. Two questions:
1> Should I rust blue after the barrel is fitted or before? How do you protect the inside of the barrel in either case?
2> Does the remaining old blue finish have to be removed from the rest of the receiver and the new barrel before I start the rust bluing priocess? If so, how do I remove the old finish?

I know, I know, this was more than two questions. But I appreciate your help.

JohnK007--

Please do a search on rust blue and metal finishes on this forum. There's thousands of real fine words begging to be read again.

I notice you're a novice, I'd suggest some research first....M-94 receivers don't rust blue well. They're usually either hot dipped or charcoal blued. Neither one last very long on old 94s. Neither works on a lot of the new ones. They have to be plated.

It depends on the condition of your gun as to how much polishing it needs. Email me some pictures and I'll make suggestions.