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Saving A Blued Finish

556 Views 9 Replies 8 Participants Last post by  tac45, 
OneEyedTanker
This is a gunsmithing question, but not limited to the 1911, so I put it here. I have a relatively old Marlin 336, JM stamped, straight grip, no cross-bolt safety, built around the 1976-78 timeframe. Someone left it sitting out in a barn for several years, so the outside of the gun has/had extensive surface rust, especially on the barrel and receiver. Most of it is just surface, with not a lot of pitting. I want to get the finish back to as good of a blued surface as I can, but without re-bluing it. Does anyone have any tips or tricks they have developed over the years? I have been using 0000-steel wool with lots of oil and a lot of elbow grease! Any help at all would be much appreciated! The rest of the gun is in good to excellent condition, and I plan on slicking up the action and working on the trigger. If I had the tanks et cetera, I would just strip it down and reblue. As it is, I am not quite there yet.
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wvfarrier
What about trying one of the higher end "cold blue" treatments?
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azguy1911
Getting the blueing back without blueing it o_O

I agree, cold blueing would be the only option
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OneEyedTanker
I’ve got some cold blue, and I am pretty good at getting nice results. My biggest concern is just avoiding taking it all the way down to bare steel. I know there will be places that’s unavoidable, and that’s where the cold blue comes into play. I keep telling myself how lucky I am that there’s no internal rust, and the bore looks brand new! The stock is probably the prettiest wood I’ve ever seen on a Marlin, and if everything works out well this rifle will be very desirable for collectors.


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huggytree
How is a cold blued gun desirable for collectors?

cold blue is barely a blue. It’s easily noticed. I tried it once thinking it would be good enough. The slightest moisture and it’s rusting. A humid day? It may start rusting

imo cold blue is worthless other than extremely light touch up on a junk part. I’d rather spray paint the gun vs use cold Blue.
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Uncle Bob
OneEyedTanker said:
This is a gunsmithing question, but not limited to the 1911, so I put it here. I have a relatively old Marlin 336, JM stamped, straight grip, no cross-bolt safety, built around the 1976-78 timeframe. Someone left it sitting out in a barn for several years, so the outside of the gun has/had extensive surface rust, especially on the barrel and receiver. Most of it is just surface, with not a lot of pitting. I want to get the finish back to as good of a blued surface as I can, but without re-bluing it. Does anyone have any tips or tricks they have developed over the years? I have been using 0000-steel wool with lots of oil and a lot of elbow grease! Any help at all would be much appreciated! The rest of the gun is in good to excellent condition, and I plan on slicking up the action and working on the trigger. If I had the tanks et cetera, I would just strip it down and reblue. As it is, I am not quite there yet.
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Wrote this for Brownells years ago. The Model 54 Winchester I used as a demonstrator is currently mine, I liked it it that much and it turned out the way it was meant to and if you do it right, no need for cold blue unless there's a lot of damage.

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El Perdido
Before you even consider a re-blue, watch this...

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M
Dont use steel wool. It will strip the blueing. Use bronze wool.
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OneEyedTanker
Thanks for all the info guys. This is the kinda stuff I’m looking for! I knew I could count on y’all!! Anything else anyone might think of, please let me know here~


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tac45
OneEyedTanker said:
This is a gunsmithing question, but not limited to the 1911, so I put it here. I have a relatively old Marlin 336, JM stamped, straight grip, no cross-bolt safety, built around the 1976-78 timeframe. Someone left it sitting out in a barn for several years, so the outside of the gun has/had extensive surface rust, especially on the barrel and receiver. Most of it is just surface, with not a lot of pitting. I want to get the finish back to as good of a blued surface as I can, but without re-bluing it. Does anyone have any tips or tricks they have developed over the years? I have been using 0000-steel wool with lots of oil and a lot of elbow grease! Any help at all would be much appreciated! The rest of the gun is in good to excellent condition, and I plan on slicking up the action and working on the trigger. If I had the tanks et cetera, I would just strip it down and reblue. As it is, I am not quite there yet.
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My dear friend, One Eye , as I remember you were studying Smithing skills, I’m surprised and a little disappointed that your corse didn’t refer you to the Gunsmiths first resource. The TTT catalog .
On page 6396185C you will find the TTT instant gun finish kit , damn fool !
Food Liquid Ingredient Fluid Natural foods

Send for an application to spend Cash only 😝
Send cash in small bills for kit !
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