AmericanLongRifles Forums
General discussion => Gun Building => Topic started by: Jakob on June 13, 2025, 04:35:15 AM
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I'm about to start blueing the barrel, using LMF, but just wanted to ask about people's favourite method of plugging the barrel. (including the vent hole).
Current plan is to make a plug from a dowel and then a toothpick for the vent.
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"Round pick" for the vent.
However, a soft wood tapered dowel might be better giving a longer "purchase" on the vent.
With a nice smoothly radiused crown a slightly larger diameter oiled pine or hemlock dowel is easy to drive into the muzzle to plug it and give you a handle as well.
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No need to plug the bbl when rust bluing
Leave the crown In-the-White. It'll get a little color during the process, but can be quickly brightened up again.
Leaving it in the white avoids wiping rusting soln on it and chance of getting it in the bore if you are concerned.
Not that it would bother anything unless you let the thing rust excessively.
Same with the flash hole, open.
Wipe the soln right over it and you shouldn't get any inside the bbl. The swab with the soln should be damp with it, not sloppy wet.
The boiling water or steam cycle? Won't do anything to the bore. The metal drys of it's own heat in a few seconds.
If you want to, run a DRY patch down it after the carding. Don't introduce any oil to the process.
If you really want to get excessive you can coat the bore with common shellac and that'll avoid any damage for sure.
I use that on bbls when Damascus finishing and they have to go thru an etching soln dunking. The bore(s) must be protected from that.
Stands up to repeated boiling cycles though I re-coat the bores at about cycle #9 when doing Damascus. It takes more
cycles to complete than a straight rust blue.
I've been rust bluing for over 50yrs,both Slow Rust and Express and have never plugged a bbl when doing so.
That includes everything from a MLdrs to Stevens to Purdeys
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I am with Kutter.
I used to plug the barrel, but it was never 100% water tight so I quit. Leave the crown in the white and boil away, no issues.
Fleener
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I also do the same as kutter, no plugs. Plugs alway gave me problems and leaked anyway.
Bob
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Well, that definitely makes it easier!
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Probably safer to not have the barrel plugged. If the plug pooped out while in boiling water you could be splashed. Something I’ve become much more cautious about after my accident last summer. Burns suck! BJH