Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Gunsmithing Reblueing Question

I'm thinking about have a rifle rifle reblued by the factory. It developed some lite surface rust and I'd like to have it restored to as new condition. Its a newer model and not an older antique / collectors grade rifle so I think having the factory return it to it's original condition wouldn't be a bad idea (i.e. wouldn't destroy its value like having an antique firearm reblued).

That said, I've read and heard that reblueing can degrade rollmarks (stamps) which I think would be a worse outcome than leaving it in its current condition. The factory said that wouldn't happen but I'd like to get some opinions from those that have experience with rebluing before I move forward with it. They said so long as the rust hadn't pitted or damaged areas around the rollmarks, which it hasn't, they'll be fine. The heavy polishing that could harm the rollmarks will only occur on the areas where there was rust.

I don't know... what do you guys think? The gun has a lot of personal value to me and I just want it to look brand spanking new.

As stated the rollmarks would only be affected by polishing them out. Highly unlikely if there is no corrosion around them.

Thanks! The only places that have lite (and I mean very lite rust marks) are on the floor place and a small spot on the barrel. No roll marks anywhere near these spots. The gun is only a few years old and other then these issue, the metal is perfectly smooth so I wouldn't think the whole thing needs to be polished. Its a high gloss finish (Winchester Super Grade) and I think blued using a hot blueing process (I may be wrong but I think that is the process for high gloss finishes).

With all this in mind, would they even need to polish the entire gun or would they just hit those specific spots? I'm also concerned about rounding out of edges. From what I've read, it sounds like the current blueing would be removed by dunking it in a chemical solution. After that, they'd polish out *only* the affected areas then dunk it in a series of other chemical tanks to get it to blue. If that is in fact the process, I can't imagine it would lose any of its edges or have dulling of roll marks.

I guess it comes down to whether or not the whole rifle has to be polished or just the affected areas. Anyone know that?

CK

My son is GS and he does a lot of rebluing/refinishing. Any rust at all will leave some pitting. If it is very light it can usually be polished off with 240 or 320 grit on a buffing wheel. If the person polishing is very careful the corners, edges, and surfaces will be sharp and smooth. 320 grit would make a finish slightly smoother than a factory 700. If there is rust or pitting around the lettering it can be carefully hand sanded and then covered with gorilla tape or something similar and the area surrounding it polished with the buffing wheel. If there is no rust or pits a quick pass with the 320 grit is all that's needed and it will not effect the lettering. If the gun is rusted and pitted it becomes a decision as to how much metal to remove to get the surface smooth w/o altering the appearance of the firearm. I have seen some guns that were badly pitted look really good but it took hours of delicate draw filing and hand sanding to get there.
Rust is a lot like icebergs...you only see a little bit on the surface and underneath is a big honking pit.

From what your describing your gun should polish up pretty good and a good hot blue would look great.

lefty C

you can soda blast the are of rust and it will show you what route you need to go

Markings , sharp edges, flats and hole edges can be preserved to the extent possible by hand sanding with hard-backed abrasive paper. This is tedious hand work and most general gunsmiths don't want to take the time to do the work properly. Consequently, they polish everything with buffing wheels and the gun ends up looking like crap. The professional restorers and refinishers rarely use buffing wheels.

RAN

So the parts and areas that don't have rust, if they're in nice smooth new condition.... would those too need to be polished? Or would they just remove the bluing with chemicals and then reblue them?

Just get some bluing stripper and remove the finish.
Order a black iron tank from Brownells and some Pilkington slow rust blue.
Steel wool the metal and get to bluing.
Nothing is more beautiful than slow rust blue. It's safe to do at home and anyone with a modicum of skill can do a decent job.
Slow rust was generally used on double rifles and shotguns as the caustic in regular bluing would destroy the solder on the barrels.
Do at least three coats.
You'll throw rocks at conventional bluing.

If yiu want to blue it yourself, I would be happy to sell you a 4 tank hot blue setup. I retired..

I did a revolver and a shotgun once.I used Formula 409 and fine steel wool to polish and degrease it.Then I used a propane torch to heat the steel just hot enough to barely make the Brownells 44/40 Insta Blue steam a little when it was applied.(Probably around 130 degrees)A good wipe down and an application of oil,they came out surprisingly great.I sold both those firearms at gun shows and not once was I questioned about the blueing.They looked like factory blue.

If the rust is just superficial as you say I would try a Frontier .45 Metal Cleaner pad. I removed surface rust from a S & W revolver that had been stored in a holster in an attic for 30 yrs.. The results were astounding, rust was gone and the bluing was unharmed.