Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Gunsmithing Bead blasting and engraving

I’m planning to bead blast my first stainless barreled action. I plan to use 170-325 glass beads. My receiver has some engraving as well as the caliber engraving on the barrel. The receiver engraving is fairly deep however the caliber engraving is pretty shallow and light. Does anyone have advice on how to protect the engraving or isn’t it an issue with glass beads?

Also I am looking for a slightly darker grey finish sort of like the ruger Hawkeye stainless finish. From what I read the finer the beads the darker or flatter the finish. This seems opposite of what I would have expected. Anyone with experience on this as well or suggestions to achieve this finish please weigh in.
Thanks

I believe aluminum oxide is what you want for a dull gray finish.

The larger the media the darker and coarser the finish IME. Garnet medium grit media will give a dark coarse finish. Ultra fine or super fine white glass beads give a very smooth silvery white finish, like the old “velvet hone” that was popular in the 80’s and 90’s.

Insofar as engraving, if it’s bulino it’ll ruin it. Caliber roll marks or Remington factory “engraving” that was rolled onto the receiver will not be effected.

From what I have read al oxide actually roughs or etches the surface whereas beads peen the finish leaving it smoother. Maybe the finish I am after isn’t attainable with beads. In that case what grit al ox would you recommend?

Kid

Would I be better served with a 100-170 or even 70-100 grit as opposed to the 170-325??

The finer the bead the shiny the finish, you won't get the Ruger gray with beads

I don't know the grit size, but ive had several barrels blasted with aluminum oxide, and they're dull gray.

alright, you guys convinced my to go with al ox. after blasting is complete, how do you clean the stainless to ensure all the media and powder is removed. i have heard some soak in citric acid ?? others soak in degreaser in prep for cerakote. since i wont be applying any finishes or coatings, do i need to do anything? just blow out with compressed air and maybe degreaser/ carb cleaner in some areas?

You can hit it with ao and then with beads to texture. Wash with dawn dish soap when you're done.

I use a wet dust collector (vac pulls into a 5gal bucket with water in it. Vac a bone water line, inlet from cabinet below) which keeps most of the dust out.

I would just blow it off. Since you're not coating, it won't hurt to wash off. I agree with high_country, I use dawn on a lot of things. I've done that on numerous SS weapons that people wanted 'dulled out'. I use garnet sand in my cabinet for weapons and like the darker/grayer finish.

Side Note:
If your Cerakote Applicator is soaking after blasting..... uhm.... they have it backwards. Should go through an acetone bath prior to blasting. After blasting, blow off and coat. I use garnet sand in mine cabinet for weapons and like the darker/grayer finish.

After you are done cleaning it up, heat it fairly warm to the touch and give it repeated coats of Eezox or Corrosion X. Yeah, I know, it's "stainless", but even stainless can use the protection.

It may or may not change the coloration slightly. It generally darkens blued or parkerized.

My experience is the alum oxide leaves a darker flat grey finish on SS. A very flat matte finish and is more subject to fingerprints and dirt stains. The finish is very fine but grittier if that makes sense. You will be surprised at how much alum oxide media embeds itself in the metal. If the part is small I soak it in a bath of acetone. One can also flush the alum oxide off using a paint gun loaded with acetone. The blasted surface should receive some Corrosion X or other protection since the pores of the metal are quite open.

I prefer the glass beaded look like so many factory SS rifles are offered in. I use a mixture of mostly glass beads (forget which size) with a small amount of crushed walnuts added to the media. I took this picture of the glass/walnut blasted finish compared to the polished finish on a custom SS barrel I blasted long ago. I apologize the pic is not clearer:


Plug the muzzle with a wood dowel and never point the nozzle at the muzzle unless you want to blast the crown. My crowns are polished on SS barrels and prefer to keep them way. You can plug the chamber with a empty cartridge case, then tape a cut to fit piece of plumbers tape to the case head. Then stuff cotton in there.

I wash parts in a acetone bath before and after blasting with alum oxide. In this way all contaminates are removed before blasting and all embedded alum oxide media is removed afterwards from the blasted surface, this helps ensure maximum adhesion of the coating. Alum oxide particles are very sharp and tend to bury themselves into the metal.

Haven't had any issues in years I've been coating, but that makes sense. As long as the post soak is pure. I'd be concerned of anything stripped earlier in soak getting back on it. But it does make sense. I've just been blowing mine off immediately at about 90psi.

The issues can come from contaminated media and oil in your air. I'm a wash post blast guy myself.

I have water filters on my air lines including my blow nozzle. Another good reason to wash with pure acetone after blasting.