A New Model Old Model Blackhawk

Sharps40 · May 5, 2015

Time to knock the old square nose back a bit. About 10 minutes work and a good buffing to remove the file marks and soften where the undercut roles over the top of the strap. Simple 10 minute job with a rattail file and some buffing work.

Pretty much all in now but the cylinder chamfer, final tweaks and getting ready for rust brown (I hope) frame and barrel and rust blackening of all the other parts.

Sharps40 · May 13, 2015

We'll see how this goes. Two tone, black and plumb brown. Barrel and action are browning quickly in the damp box with Laurel Mountain Forge Barrel Brown. The spare 9mm cylinder and some of the small parts are being rust blued at the same time. Couple days and it should be finished and ready for range and carry.

Sharps40 · May 13, 2015

Brown is coming along well. Been a long long time since I browned a gun barrel. Carding this (no boiling) with scalding water and a rough terry rag. I have one spot on the top strap that won't rust. Scrubbed it back with 0000 steel wool and trying again to get the rust started there. But over the rest of the frame and barrel a fine coat of rust is developing and its going to be a deep brown when done. I've rusted its twice this evening. For the overnighter, not in the 90% humidity damp box.....I carded and recoated with Laurel Mountain Forge brown and hung it out in the cooler and less humid garage. I'll see how it looks in the morning.

Sharps40 · May 14, 2015

Coming right along. An overnight sit in the garage and hitting the topstrap with both of Laurel Mountain Forge and Pilkingtons has the bare spot rusting fine. A few more cycles today and tomorrow and I think it'll be time to warm up the metal and dunk it in either Motor oil or wax.

Sharps40 · May 14, 2015

After the fourth rust and carding with terry and scalding water a hot water rinse and rubdown with baking soda. (Laurel Mountain Forge is more aggressive than Pilkington's. Squeeze some of both on the wooden table top and the acids in the Laurel sizzle on the wood......stings yer fingers while using it too....Pilkington's does neither.)

Once dried, off to the oven to warm up for the final oiling....any old motor oil will do. Clean motor oil though, not dirty.

In the oil and then dripping off the excess while the metal cools from about 150 F back to room temperature.

Sharps40 · May 14, 2015

Probably time to call it done. If I brown another, I'll probably try 5 or 6 cycles and carding with steel wool (a deviation from the instructions) but this finish suits me. Deep plumb brown. Fairly even. It should age nicely. Not as smooth or fine grained as a rust blue but it goes with the spotted brown Amboyna Burl grip panels. Based on my experience with muzzleloaders, probably not as durable as rust blue but its sure to age nicely and retouch is a snap.....let it rust. As a two tone, I like it lots better than black and stainless. And, I sure won't have to worry about rust!

Time to name it too. I decided to call this 9mm/38 Special/357 Magnum "Rusty".

But for now.....for those that can't accept that rust browning and bluing, done correctly is not injurious to the bore, I submit a single cleaning patch.....all that was needed to prep the bore after pouring oil on the heated steel.

Sharps40 · May 14, 2015

A tour of the completed Convertible. In this case, the conversion involving no lathe shortening of the cylinder body and front bushing of an OM Blackhawk 9mm Cylinder to the 50th frame. Easy Peasy.