Next projects are on deck for

[Sharps40]

Temps up. Humidity is up. I'm home for a week or so...so back to this job - its rust blueing season in the South! Finally!

Stampings on the frame and barrel are very light...too light for strikeing and polish...the markings would mostly disappear...so, derusting in preparation for a nice rust blue.

CLR, Full strength in a bucket.....let the steel soak...It works about like Brownells rust and blue remover...pretty much the same stuff...you can run full strength or dilute it for even slower action.

After a 10 minute soak and a light rubdown with 0000 steel wool, much of the "Patina" comes off. The surface is very finely pitted, it'll look just fine once the rust is out and the steel is reoxidized black.

Gently, gently, its old. It won't be shiney new but we knew that up front. It will have all its original markings and it will be a fine shooter for potting squirrlies and wabbits from time to time, and even for a bit of plinking in the back yard.

 

[Sharps40]

About an hour in the sauce and several rub downs with clean hunks of 0000 steel wool.

Most of the pitting is clear, 100 years of rust gone. About 30 more minutes and a good rinse and then
the first coat of rust bluing solution to begin building the new finish.

 

[Sharps40]

Finished soaking in CLR and buffing with 0000 steel wool. Pits and lettering are all cleaned out and the steel looks nice in a dull grey. Ready for final rinse.

Hot water, hot as you can stand it, inside and out and get all the gunk and crud off the inside and outside. Ya could boil it too but use a pot separate from the one you'd blue in...no sense contaminating the bluing pot.

As with all rust bluing and bare metal, dry it fast to minimize unwanted coarse grained rust...see, this old iron is rusting right out of the tap...it should blue nice and easy. A hot air gun makes quick work of water in the action ways and screw pockets that could later spot the finish.

Clean 0000 steel wool to knock back this unwanted coarse grain rust from the rinse...I only want the fine grained rust that is, the ferroferric iron oxide (Black) that comes up on the steel whether you rust blue with water and acid or with caustic salts in a modern hot blue tank. This red rust, is ferric oxide and won't be pretty or durable or fine. Its gone.

A lil Pilkingtons, wiped on very wet for the first treatment and that good Southern Heat and Humidity converting my garage into the Rust Bluer's Damp Box.

First wet coat on and the steel tarnishes and starts to oxidize almost immediately....about an hour I'll come back, put on the second very thin and dry coat and a boil tonight to see if I have the start of a very fine battleship grey coming up on the steel.

 

[Sharps40]

Coming along quickly and somewhat evenly. Nicer than I expected for such an old piece. What you can't see is inside the action ways and tang recesses where the bluing actually brings out the original case colors. Oh I wish the action was in a bit better cosmetic shape, it would be lovely to rust blue this frame very lightly and have those long faded case colors come back to life where they would be visible...but I think the "Patina" took them away on the exterior long ago.

 

[loadnplenty]

Looking good so far!!

 

[Sharps40]

I think I'll let this first bite work overnight, perhaps into tomorrow evening before the first boil. The rust is coming on strong though I have a bit of a light spot in the center if the right action panel...could be a hard spot, it looks like an outline of very fine pitting. I'll see if I can't get it to even up some with aggressive rusting.

 

[loadnplenty]

The familiar sight of a second wipe down lol

 

[Sharps40]

Yep, it always looks spotty and awful at this point don't it?

 

[Buckeye76]

This is very informative and interesting. Thanks for walking us through the process.

 

[Hayata]

Enjoying as always, Sharps!