How To Fix A Gun

Download Article

Download Article

Bluing is a thin protective crush of black atomic number 26 oxide (Iron₃O₄) intended to provide nominal protection against rusting for gun metal. Over time, however, this shell can article of clothing away and need to be renewed to restore the gun's appearance. Depending on the gun's historic period, monetary value, and sentimental value, you tin either take the gun re-blued professionally or restore the bluing yourself.

1. 1

   Consider how much of the old bluing has worn away. If most of the original bluing is still in place, you may be able to bear upon up the bluing yourself with a cold bluing kit. If most of the original bluing has worn abroad, y'all may want to consider removing the rest of the old bluing and hot bluing the gun metallic.

2. 2

   Consider the historic period of the gun. Vintage guns dating back to the 19th century were blued using either the rust bluing or fume bluing process. These processes are non used commercially today because of the amount of time involved. In that location are products commercially available that will let yous perform the rust bluing process yourself^[one] , or you can find someone who will perform this process for you.

   • Vintage guns that feature argent soldering or brazing cannot be hot-blued, considering the caustic salts used in this process will swallow the silver. Double-barreled shotguns commonly used this kind of soldering or brazing to continue the barrels aligned properly.^[ii]

   Ad

3. 3

   Consider the value of the gun. Hot bluing costs significantly more cold bluing does, so you need to consider the cost of the re-bluing process you plan to utilize confronting what y'all spent to acquire the gun in the first place and its resale value if you were to sell it.

   • You should also consider the intrinsic value of the gun, or what it ways to you, too as its actual monetary value. If the gun is a family heirloom, yous may want to consider spending more coin on re-bluing the gun, even if its monetary value is the same that of a gun purchased at a sporting goods store.^[iii]

4. 4

   Consider the potential cost of the bluing process. In addition to the budgetary and intrinsic value of the gun that needs re-bluing, you should besides take into account the costs of the bluing procedure you are considering using.

   • Common cold bluing, described in Function Two of this article, is the simplest of the processes, and therefore the cheapest, but it is besides the least durable. If y'all program to handle the gun a lot after cold bluing it, you can look the cold bluing to wear off fairly apace.
   • Hot bluing, described in Part Three of this article, is more than durable than cold bluing and lasts longer than either common cold bluing or rust bluing, but it requires more work and more equipment to perform. If you feel the gun deserves to exist hot blued, merely yous discover the work involved too daunting to practice yourself, you may desire to rent it done.
   • Rust bluing, described in Office Four of this article, is somewhat less materials-intensive than hot bluing, but more than materials-intensive than common cold bluing. Information technology is also the nigh time-intensive of the bluing processes, equally you take to let the gun metallic rest for a time to attain the level of coloring you lot want. Again, you may want to hire someone to rust-blue your gun if you detect the process too daunting to practice yourself.

Advertizement

1. 1

   Remove the old bluing, if desired. Depending on how worn the original bluing is, you may wish to remove information technology entirely earlier re-bluing the gun. You tin can use one of the following chemicals to do then:

   • A phosphoric acid-based automotive rust remover, such as Naval Jelly.
   • White vinegar, which contains acetic acid.

2. ii

   Polish the gun metal. Polishing removes surface rust and any scratches or pitting that the gun may accept suffered over the years. Yous tin can apply either 000 steel wool or 600 to 1200-grit sandpaper for this purpose.

3. 3

   Clean the gun metal. How you lot choose to clean the metal depends on whether you plan to blue the entire gun or bear on up existing bluing.

   • If you plan to blue the entire gun, you may desire to immerse the metal in a cleaning solution. Cleaning solutions you can use for this purpose include sodium triphosphate (a commercial detergent), denatured booze, or naphtha.^{[4] [v]} (If you choose to use naphtha, you should launder information technology off with a mild dishwashing detergent and and then rinse with hot h2o.)^[6]
   • If you plan to immerse the gun parts to clean them, you lot can use a wire handbasket to concord the small parts and thread thin wire through the barrel to lower it into the cleaning solution and raise information technology again.
   • If you plan to just bear on up existing bluing, yous tin utilize a cleaning oil to the places where you want to remove the old bluing, so apply acetone on cotton fiber balls to remove the cleaning oil. (One such cleaning oil, a mixture of vegetable and mineral oils, booze, benzyl acetate, and alkaline salts, is sold commercially nether the proper name Ballistol.)^[7] As you clean off the sometime bluing, you may find some scarring that will require sanding or polishing out.

4. 4

   Heat the metal gently. Although this process is chosen common cold bluing, gently heating the gun metal before applying the bluing tin can aid information technology blot the bluing amend and create a meliorate end. Estrus the metallic by leaving it out in the dominicus for several hours, with a heat gun or blow dryer, or in a conventional oven set up to its lowest setting.^[8]

5. 5

   Apply the bluing solution. Slowly apply the solution to the surface area to be blued as evenly as possible, using a clean applicator. Utilize the solution in a unmarried laissez passer to cover small areas, or in sections no larger than ii to 3 inches (5 to vii.5 cm) when roofing large areas, then smooth information technology out using steel wool. This will foreclose the bluing from appearing mottled. ^[9]

   • For applying the bluing to large areas, old all-cotton T-shirts or new toothbrushes are recommended. For smaller areas, use a cotton ball, cotton swab, or apartment toothpick no larger than the area to be covered.
   • You can soak pocket-size parts like screws or difficult to embrace areas in the bluing solution. If yous don't accept enough bluing solution to soak a recessed area, put it in a clean spray bottle and spray it liberally on the function over a glass pan or plastic tray. Subsequently the role is completely covered, you can pour the solution that landed on the pan or tray instead of the gun metal back into the bottle and reuse it.

6. 6

   Apply the solution several more times until yous take the level of bluing you want. Apply each layer with a fresh applicator, and employ a fresh piece of steel wool to smooth out each new layer.

   • The more layers you apply the darker the bluing will be; nonetheless, each new layer is progressively less effective than the layer earlier it. 7 layers should be plenty, in most cases, to accomplish a night blue-blackness finish. ^[ten]
   • If you have spots that won't darken, starting time the process over past sanding the spots with 320 to 400-dust sandpaper earlier applying the solution once again. Try to sand no more than the stubborn spots themselves.

7. vii

   Flavor the finish with gun oil once you have the level of bluing you want. Utilise a layer of gun oil every few hours, using a cotton brawl to remove the previous layer before applying a new layer. (In essence, y'all're washing off the bluing solution with the gun oil instead of with water.)

   • Exercise not use the cleaning oil for this process, as it will have off the bluing you worked so hard to put on.^[xi]

Advertisement

1. 1

   Smooth the gun parts to be blued. Again, you lot tin use either 000 steel wool or 600 to 1200-dust sandpaper to polish the metallic.^[12]

2. 2

   Ready the parts to be dipped in the cleaning and bluing solutions. While the cleaning solution you use may not require it, the chemicals used in the hot bluing process proper, normally potassium nitrate and sodium hydroxide, are highly caustic. You'll find information technology easier to dip the gun barrel if you thread soft wire through it and easier to dip the smaller parts if you put them in a wire basket.

   • Rigging the parts now before the cleaning footstep volition make it easier to transfer from the cleaning to the bluing tank, and will likewise clean the support wire and basket to forestall either from contaminating the gun parts in the bluing tank.

3. 3

   Dip the gun parts in a cleaning solution bath. Parts should exist immersed in the bath for 10 to 15 minutes and scrubbed while existence immersed to remove any oil, dirt, or grease that could get in the way of the bluing process. Y'all can employ any of the chemical cleaners listed in the cleaning pace for common cold bluing, provided you read and follow all directions for the cleaner'southward utilize, handling, and disposal.

4. 4

   Rinse off the cleaning solution in cold water. Rinsing should take no more than two to three minutes.

   • If you've used dishwashing detergent to remove the cleaning chemical, you may instead need to utilize hot water to rinse.^[13]

5. 5

   Dip the gun parts in the bluing solution. The hot bluing solution, known as "Traditional Caustic Black."^[14] , must be heated to a temperature of from 275 to 311 degrees F (135 to 155 degrees C).

   • Before heating the bluing solution, stir information technology thoroughly to break up any common salt clumps that may occur on the surface or at the bottom of the tank holding the solution.
   • When dipping gun barrels in bluing solution, dip them at an bending to allow any air bubbles that may form to escape. Be sure to immerse the barrel completely.
   • Swirl the metal basket containing smaller gun parts around in the solution to ensure the parts are completely coated with the bluing solution.
   • Exit the gun parts in the bluing solution from 15 to thirty minutes. Check to see when the metal has reached the desired shade of bluing and remove it from the solution at that time.
   • If your gun has stainless steel parts, those parts are immersed in a dissimilar chemical solution, a mixture of nitrates and chromates. It is heated to similar temperatures as the nitrate-hydroxide mixture.^[15]

6. half dozen

   Rinse off the bluing solution in cold h2o. Swirl the parts through the cold h2o to help launder away the bluing salts.

7. seven

   Immerse the gun parts in boiling water. This will boil off any remaining bluing solution residue. Elementary parts need to exist immersed for v to 10 minutes, while complex or ornate parts may need to exist immersed for up to 30 minutes.

   • If the gun has any soldered parts, you can apply a chemical to these parts that will colour the soldering to match the rest of the metal. Utilise a cotton wool swab for this.

8. 8

   Immerse the treated parts in a bath of water-displacing oil. This will protect the end from rust, sweat, and body oil. Exit the parts in the oil bath for 45 to 60 minutes, until they accept cooled.^[16]

Advertisement

1. 1

   Polish the parts to be blued. Again, steel wool or 600 to 1200-grit sandpaper will work to remove any loose rust, scarring, or pitting from the gun metal.

2. 2

   Make clean away any clay, oil, or grease that remains chemically. Yous can use any of the cleaners listed in the cleaning step under the cold bluing process, unless the manufacturer of the rust bluing solution y'all're using says differently. After you've used the cleaning solution, rinse it off.

3. 3

   Coat the gun metal parts with the rust bluing solution. The rust bluing solution is typically a mixture of hydrochloric and nitric acrid. This solution actually encourages the metallic to rust, but to practice and then in a uniform manner.

   • Instead of coating the parts with the acid solution, you tin instead identify an opened container of the acid solution with the gun parts in a chiffonier and seal it for a period of 12 hours. The acrid evaporates from its container and condenses around the gun metal. This method is called fume bluing.
   • Another variation is to coat the gun metal parts with the rust bluing solution and so put them into a fume chiffonier (or, in this case, a damp cabinet) for the same 12 hours. Often, a first layer is applied equally a primer before blanket the parts a second fourth dimension and and so placing them in the damp cabinet.^[17]

4. iv

   Immerse the gun metal parts in boiling distilled h2o. This stops the rusting process by removing the acid solution.

5. 5

   Scrub away the reddish oxide rust that has formed, leaving the blackness oxide terminate underneath. The surface rust is normally removed with a carding castor or wheel, which features very soft and thin wire beard.

6. vi

   Repeat the acid treatment, boiling, and scrubbing until you have achieved the desired level of bluing. In some cases, the metallic may develop as deep a coloring as it tin, making further bluing attempts counterproductive.

7. seven

   Coat the gun parts with oil. The oil inhibits the formation of rust and protects the metallic finish from dirt, sweat, body oil, and wear. Once you've applied the oil, permit the parts stand overnight before assembling.^[xviii]

Advert

Ask a Question

200 characters left

Include your email address to get a message when this question is answered.

Submit

Advertising

Cheers for submitting a tip for review!

• Earlier using any of the bluing processes described higher up, make certain the gun is unloaded! Besides remove the gun handle or stock.^[19]

• With all bluing processes, work in a well-ventilated area. The caustic salts used for hot bluing are especially noxious.

• Do non attempt the hot bluing process on aluminum. It will trigger a tearing reaction with the caustic salts bath, which may pb to severe chemic burns.^[20]

Advertisement

Things You'll Need

For all processes:

• Steel wool
• Sandpaper
• Latex/rubber gloves
• Safe spectacles
• Chemical cleaning agent (meet primary article for examples)
• Lubricating/protecting gun oil
• Applicators (cotton T-shirts, balls, or swabs; toothbrushes; toothpicks)

For common cold bluing:

• Cold bluing solution (unremarkably selenium dioxide)^[21]
• Mode to heat gun metallic before applying bluing solution (dominicus, oven, rut gun, blow dryer)

For hot bluing:

• Caustic salts (typically potassium nitrate and sodium hydroxide)
• Basins, tubs, or tanks (for cleaning, bluing, and boiling steps)
• Water (for rinsing and boiling steps)
• Oestrus source

For rust/fume bluing:

• Hydrochloric/nitric acid mixture
• Applicator for mixture (for rust bluing)
• Sealable cabinet large plenty to hold gun parts and mixture container (for fume bluing)
• Basins, tubs, or tanks (for cleaning and boiling steps)
• Water
• Carding brush or wheel

Most This Article

Article Summary X

Bluing is a sparse protective beat of black iron oxide that protects gunmetal from rusting. If well-nigh of the vanquish has worn abroad, you'll want to get it reblued past a professional person, since the process is fairly complex. However, if information technology just needs a bear on-up, you tin can reblue your gun at abode. Before you reblue your gun, y'all'll need to smoothen the metal to remove surface rust and scratches. Yous'll so demand to oestrus the metal gently, either by leaving information technology the dominicus for a few hours or with a blow dryer or heat gun on a low setting. This will help the end set properly. Then, you'll need to employ a bluing solution in thin layers with a cotton ball or cotton swab. Proceed applying layers until yous accept the darkness you want. Smooth out the cease with a fresh piece of steel wool before painting on each new layer. To larn how to reblue a gun that has totally worn away, read on!

Did this summary help you?

Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read 188,053 times.

Did this article help yous?

How To Fix A Gun,

Source: https://www.wikihow.com/Reblue-a-Gun

Posted by: mattinglyhouggettere.blogspot.com

Share this post