Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Custom Rifles & Wildcats Nitriding question...

Just got a barreled action back from HM nitriding. It's gorgeous. The only issue is there is a little bit of white salt (I presume) creeping out from where the barrel screws into the receiver in one sport Is this any sort of an issue I should be concerned with? I don't want to unscrew the barrel from the action if I can avoid it, but I'm concerned about long-term corrosion. I know nothing about "salt bath nitriding" except they use some sort of salt. Thoughts?

Its probably the oil that was on the threads from the machining ive seen the same thing around soldered bolt handles. No worries.

It ain't oil, just salt. I've had several done but not screwed together. I always put mine in a tub of water for 3 or 4 days. I would highly recommend taking it apart.

At the very least it should be boiled out in a tank of water. If you don’t get the salts out it will never stop blooming.

H&M recommends hot water to remove any remaining salts. It can be a PITA to get out of some hard-to-reach screw holes, etc.

contact HM nitriding and see what they say.

Yes. I just talked to them. They say either disassemble and clean or soak the barreled action in boiling water. Anyone have a pot long enough to boil a barreled action!

Might have to buy a blueing tank.

Another idea is to contact your local trade school. You could likely get a student to weld you up a tank of suitable size for just the cost of materials. That's how I got a tank big enough to boil muzzleloader barrels and barreled actions for rust bluing.

Might be cheaper to use a length of PVC capped on one end and pour boiling water in repeatedly.

Found a local guy with a blueing tank who can boil it and oil it.

If that doesn’t work out, borrow a Turkey fryer. Should be plenty big to submerge the action and a good bit of barrel.

Good suggestion. Thx.

The salts used in the salt bath nitriding process are sodium cyanide and potassium cyanide, so you definitely want to get rid of any remaining residue. It's always best to fully disassemble all parts to be nitrided. Unscrew barrels from actions.