Gun Bluing Cold with a Little Heat

Cold bluing is what most of us use to do touch ups on a Gun. For example a drop of perspiration on a receiver not cleaned off when the gun was cleaned will leave a rusty spot when the gun is taken out to use again. Or a gun in long term storage in a wet climate that was not regularly oiled will sometimes be covered in rust.  Rust is a cancer and if not removed will continue to eat at the gun. First attack the rusty spot with a brass shell casing and solvent or oil. Oil is ok for a general rust removal if you do not plan to do touch ups with a bluing product. But whichever you use the metal should be cleaned with acetate of lacquer thinner if you plan to blue the spot or part. Gun metals are of many types and the bluing you plan to match may be different as well. Some gun blues can be a beautiful plum shade or can go to a near black color. Even using the same bluing product you can end up with different results. A polished metal will give you a shiny glossy gleaming look and a sand blasted metal will show a flat finish. Screws, gun barrels, and receivers may all blue differently as they are all different types of carbon steel. In the factory each part would most likely have a different bluing process so when the gun was assembled it would look uniform. So do not expect uniform results out of a bottle.

Matching the finish by elbow grease only if the spot is large will you attempt to polish, sand blast, or use sand paper to endeavor to match the surrounding metal. It is better to use a touchup blue on a peculiar small mess than to try a file, scrape, or to sand the small spot and create a world of problems and make the situation worse than it was. Your best solution is to after cleaning just to touch up the spot with a Q Tip swab and your bluing solution if the spot is relatively small.

 For larger spots matching the surroundings may be your only choice. Remember if you polish the metal so it is too smooth the bluing will not be durable. Some gun metals show abrasive marks from a scratching before bluing stay in line with these marks. Your abrasive material will wear down and become finer and smother so when you find a an abrasive that matches the pattern use a new piece on the spot on the gun to match the original surface when the last finish is complete. You may be able to match a sand blasted spot that has worn smooth by using a yellow end clear plastic hammer and taping the sand paper with the clear yellow plastic end and then moving the sand paper to a new spot and striking again. Do not use too course of a sand paper, experiment on a piece of scrap metal to create a surface match before you try on the spot on the gun.

Application

After using a cleaning solvent on the prepared metal where you want to use the bluing it can help to add a little heat to the steel with a heat gun or blow drier before or during the process.

1) For small spots a Q Tip swab with the bluing product of choice. If doing too big of a spot the Q Tip can leave streaks.

2) For larger spots a clean cleaning patch will work as an applicator (wear rubber gloves)

3) Sometimes a small piece of “OOO” steel wool will work as an applicator (wear rubber gloves) this will allow for small unseen scratches to help in metal preparation and bluing

4) Repeat the process until color is as close as can be had using what product you have. You will not always get a perfect match but it will be many times better than it was.

5)  Wash off the spots you blued with water so the acid is removed as the bluing chemical can eat on the steel after you put the gun away. Use your blow dryer or heat gun or a little heat from the kitchen stove to drive out the moisture.

6) Apply a coat of oil before putting the gun in storage. 
Richard W. Norman to see my book click my name

Homemade Rifle Bolt Assembly Tool for 303 British and A2 308 Cal Ishapore

What is a nut driver? A not driver is a handle that looks like a screwdriver with a socket welded on the end from the factory. The shaft is hollow. Some nut drivers have a solid shaft so they will not work for this project. What is a striker tool (firing pin removal tool for a British or Indian rifle)? It is a hollow shaft with two pieces of metal equally spaced across from each other. How do I make one ? First do not grind up one of your nut drivers if you have a set unless you can buy a replacement cheap. Pawn shops and yard sales will yield one in time for almost nothing.

There is more than enough information on using this tool on the internet so here are some simple instructions on making the tool. This used nut driver from a pawn shop junk box was $1. The most important thing about the 303 British and the A2 308 Cal Ishapore is the fact that the nut driver shaft is small enough to go in the striker hole (firing pin hole) in the bolt after unscrewing the front part..

Before moving on let us put a few things into perspective. Many of us have some pretty nice tools. A drill, a grinder, files, and a hacksaw a hammer and some chisels are the basics. Some people have a little more a drill press, and a welder. And a very few more have a lathe of some sort whether wood or metal turning lathe. Our main problem today is the fact that people do not know how to use these tools. The other problem is that people do not know what they can do with the basic tools a hammer a chisel some files and a drill. You can literally make a gun. In a machinist course the instructor will generally spend no more than a few days on teaching a class how to use a file. This means that in a few days not weeks or months you can make a complicated product.

A bench grinder is perhaps the most brutal tool in your shop. It is made for rough metal removal so to do anything else requires a gentle touch. The motor on a bench grinder is sealed for good reason as metal filings would destroy a ventilated motor. When using a grinder for extended periods of time periodically check the grinder motor with a touch of your hand. When it feels uncomfortably warm turn it off and come back to your project when it is cool. Follow all manufactures suggestions for safety—grinder application and use. Make sure that all safety devices are installed and use eye protection.

I have a precision machining certificate so to me this is a simple creation. Practice grinding on a piece of round bar stock before you do it for real. The nut driver you chose could have any number of sizes of sockets with about the same sized shaft. I used a bench grinder to remove the socket end, and to shape the remaining end. The nut driver was rotated and pressed against the grinder wheel of the bench grinder and removed evenly. Touch gently and rotate, take your time--when you hand can no longer move withdraw reset your hands and start about where you had stopped and rotate. I left a little of the socket metal which was probably not necessary. The final step would best be done with a file. But some socket metals are heat treated and hard and may not yield to a file. At this point if the metal is not to hard and you can use a file use file. Mark the desired width of the metal you desire to leave sticking up across from each other.   

I put something in front of my grinder to steady my hands on and gently finished my metal removal. If you mess up grind the end flat back up a little re-mark and start again. If the shaft is not long enough you can remove some of the plastic handle by the exposed shaft. If the firing pin hits the plastic in the handle use a drill bit and go up the shaft. If the two dimples are not far enough apart heat them and spread them a little. This is a simple project so do not try to make it difficult.
   Richard W. Norman American Handbook on Guns Ammo and Freedom

Cleaning a Rusty Gun

 The need to be able to clean a rusty gun may be in your future if national disarmament ever occurred, if you bought a rusty relic, if by chance you live in a wet climate or found an old gun in a corner of an old home you bought.
 The main concern is deep pits and removing all the rust. Rust is a cancer on steal and continues to grow if it is not removed completely. Some collectors guns are left pretty much alone and the patina as it is called should be left undisturbed. Such old guns should have the local gun smith make the decision as to what should and should not be done to preserve the guns value.
 The purpose of this article is to take a gun with little value and turn it into something that will shoot. This gun was a neglected WWII Japanese  7.7 Arisaka. This gun was in a wet climate for 7 years without re-oiling or proper maintenance. The owner previously had it for a few years in a desert climate, before he moved it was oiled one or two times and it had no problems with rust. 
 To do this type of work you do not need a lot of fancy equipment or solvents though they can help. A product like PB, Nut Buster, Penetrating oil, etc. is excellent for stuck parts and screws. A rusty screw can twist off which would be a disaster and expensive to fix if that occurred and perhaps more cost to repair then the gun is worth. Things that will not come apart should be sprayed with PB about twice a week and the gun left to set for a couple of weeks while the oil penetrates. A revolver should never be taken completely apart the most that should be done is to remove the side plate and this only if the gun is nonfunctional and clean and oil the gun. Most military rifles can come apart mostly by hand action alone and some screws may need to be removed depending on the gun.
First this Arisaka was completely disassembled and rubbed with oil and an old brass shell casing then scrubbed with a brass brush and fresh gun oil-- no solvent was needed to take the gun apart-- no parts were stuck. A brass shell casing should be used vigorously, it is softer than the steel and will leave the remaining bluing and remove the rust. Never use a grinding wheel or electric power tool with a spinning wire brush.   

Yes this is the same gun in both pictures  


The cleaning time depends on how much rust is on your gun. This particular gun took me about 3 hours to clean. If you have a gun that you don't have time to take care of, rub it down with a thin layer of bearing grease before you store it. This will help to protect your it from rust in the future.


Let me know how your rust removal project went in the comments below!
  Richard W Norman  

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