Cold Blue Experimenting

I like Brownells Oxpho Creme for cold bluing.
It just takes multiple.....slooooow application after application.
Have a SG flat bolt than came on a recent buy. It was parked, but someone tried some cold blue on just the flat top. Looked horrible when I pulled it.
Stripped the old blue and park with Muratic acid....rinsed/de-greased with Lacquer Thinner and blew it dry. Poured some Oxpho Creme in a zip lock and left it over night.
Just pulled it and lightly buffed with a piece of oily #4 steel wool.
Came out very nice. Lazy way worked for once.

Charlie-painter777

Hi Charlie-painter777,

gives the Brownells a complete equal surface without stains ?

Regards

Gunner

Hint: charlie, you always post the most beautiful pic's!

The Wife and Daughter took the camera tonight to some horsey thing out at my stables.
I wanted to take pics of a batch of stocks I just finished, especially my Hi-wood I cut RMC........

Their laughing about it !

Charlie

BHP -

I can remember a time that doesn't seem long ago when Chariie was a carbine newbie like I was, didn't take very good pictures (OK, terrible photos), and needed help to post photos on forums. :)

Now he's one of the best in every aspect, including helping new people through personal emails and helps others every chance he has!

He's a very fast learner and knows everything better than I do now.

Great work Charlie! Keep it up OK?

Harlan,
It's not that I hadn't owned carbines.....they had been here mixed in with mine and my Fathers gun collections for years.
I have many of the Winchester Commemorative rifles, that my Father and I collected over the years.
I was 5 years old when I got my first set of Winchester Buffalo Bill consecutive serial numbered set. They were bought 2nd hand, but unfired still in the box. Pretty cool Christmas present..........but tough when told you can never shoot these. We kept the levers tied with twine to keep anyone from wanting to rack it when showing them. All kept in the packing grease.
At last count I think we have over 80 rifles. Most are presentation rifles and consecutive serial numbered match sets. 90% still in the box and unfired.
He had and I now care for an extensive collection of Civil war relics, swords, uniforms and rifles. Springfield model 1861's, 1853 Enfield, Burnside Carbine (sp ? ) ....etc. Some collector grade others wall hangers. Along with his beloved pocket Colt collection.
Plus hundreds of pocket watches, knives and his coin collections.

After he started getting over come with that Damn Alzheimers.....I just happened to start looking into his time spent in WWII. He was in the Engineers and served 2 tours in the PTO. I dug out his carbine he brought home with the help of a Australians duffel bag. He had noticed the GI's were being searched unloading from the transport and the allies with them passed straight thru. I remember it took every dime he had to try to fill the guy up with beer to get his carbine back. It broke him, so he hitched from San Fran to Nashville. This was the same guy my Father won that 1 of 10,000 Colt made for Argentina model of 1927 1911A1 .45 playing cards.
With the help of the .45 guys I found out this is all original and matching except for the frt sight.
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...DSC03034-1.jpg
Here's a link to more pics of that one.........
Colt-Argentine model of 1927 pictures by Painter8439 - Photobucket

So I started asking questions about a WWII Winchester 5,573,898 M1 carbine. That's about all I knew about it at the time. Have met some great people along the way......and a few to stay away from. Dug out another one later called a Underwood and the fever begain !

Don't know what I'll do after he passes one day. Figuring out the rest looks like it will take another life time.

The CULPRIT.........
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...DSC00721-1.jpg

Cheers
Charlie-painter777

Charlie,

I'm still surprised your wife lets you use the table without a pad. Scratches and oil?

Jim

Rec room table in the basement.

Charlie

Ohhhhh! So that's how she deals with you so well.

(She keeps you locked in the basement!) ;)

Charlie, thats some story and a bunch of rich memories to grow up with. My Dad only brought wounds back from WWII and I never did get the full story of how he got them. Like so many other veterans, he wasn't lucky enough to bring back great souvenirs... But back to your guns...

In removing the old park, I would have never had the guts to use muratic acid. Did the metal show any negative signs or damage when you rinsed it off?

Muratic Acid works great, just be careful of the fumes.
I use it full strength on gun parts.
We work with it quite a bit at work and in our shop.
Stripping old lead paints and varnishes off of milled, stainless or cast steel hardware from antique pieces being built in to new builds.
NOT FOR BRASS OR COPPER.....unless your painting over it again.
Before a Acid dip.......
I like to de-grease/ de-oil a part first, then dip into the acid. After it's stripped the old finish....I rinse it in water and blow dry ASAP. Final clean with Alcohol, M.E.K. or Lacquer Thinner then blue or park.
Had a Stainless Steel tank made at the local farm repair for $45.00.
Big enough for a barreled receiver. Smaller parts I use a smaller SS tank.
I like the Radocy Zinc Park. Use a 2 cycle oil with some green tint added for the after park oil bath.

Charlie-painter777

Charlie; I also like to play with cold blue but have yet to try Oxpho in any form. A guy showed a great old 1911 with some pitting on a forum the other day that had practically no blue remaining. I wanted to suggest he take it to somebody that knew how to cold blue and get it blackened without any surface prep other than a good cleaning and wire brushing. This way he would be doing no damage and the gun would look better until he made up his mind about a possible restoration. I don't use Muriatic acid - I just haven't tried it. I use one of several brands or liquid rust remover containing Phosphoric acid which is not really dangerous to work with. It will remove any blue, cold or factory, so you have to realize that. I didn't make that recommendation because those guys would have flipped over the idea of cold-bluing a M1911, regardless of the fact that it can be instantly removed for a real restoration. If you see a table at a big gun show where the guy is demonstrating 'Van's Instant Gun Blue', check it out. 'Van's' is great, but those vendors give you a whole tutorial on cold bluing and do perfect touch-ups right in front of your eyes. Simply using the right blue the right way really can have good results. Also, it's not usually necessary to remove any old factory blue first - the right methods will equalize the color. So, I really don't use the acid unless I want to completely strip a part. One of my secrets is to not use any petroleum products or solvents at all during prep. Hot water and dish detergent does the trick along with heavy brushing. If I plan to 'card' with steel wool, I'll also wash it first to remove any factory oils that prevent rust in the packaging. You can blue a large piece like a slide or frame using boiling water in a glass dish with some cold blue added. It blackens almost instantly, particularly when there are a few drops of dish detergent in the water - this stuff is really the secret - it breaks surface tension and gets the chemical to the steel. With this method you have to card off the black sludge that forms pretty much like 'rust blue'. You definitely have to wear Nitrile mechanics' gloves because the black sludge is hard to get off your hands. Finally, cold blue done right actually is blue - it doesn't always have to be black, although that is the easier color to get.

Thanks Inland44,
that's some good info.
Someone else sent me a E-mail about Van's. I'd like to look into it.
I appreciate your help.

Regards
Charlie