Grey longevity

[hortonstn]

I removed a rust brown finish on a barrel with Birchwood Casey blueing and rust remover it left a beautiful grey finish which I liked question is will this finish be durable?

[Not English]

Hortonstn, I'm not familiar the initials Bc blueing and rust remover. I've always used muriatic or hydrochloric acid. I think if you give the barrel a good coating of oil, you should be OK. I would make a point of keeping the barrel oily for awhile so some of the oil will be absorbed. It really shouldn't be any different than what I did to antique a barrel in the white for a fusil.

[Waksupi]

I have a rifle I built around ten years ago, and French Greyed the barrel. It has been building a beautiful  patina over the years, leaning towards brown. Love the look!

[TommyG]

I have done several barrels with LMF rust brown, rubbed back after 4-5 coats, then applied Oxpho-Blue rubbed back, then waxed.  This finish has held up very well for me.  After cleaning the gun, I wipe the barrel down with an oiled cloth.  One thing I did notice, before applying the blue, I would wipe down with denatured Alcohol and ended up with some surface rust after waxing.  I've since switched to Acetone for wiping and haven't had any surface rust since.

[hanshi]

A nice rifle I had sometime back had a grey metal finish I liked very much.  Over the years it did indeed acquire a patina that really looked sharp.  I like that type finish.

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

Rust removers like "Naval Jelly" contain phosphoric acid, as far as I know, and they leave a grey finish.  this finish is not good at preventing rust.

[Dennis Glazener]

Could have been Oxphos available from some paint stores by the gal. I got mine from a Sherwin William's store.

I have used it on bare shinny metal to get a grey finish. It is used to stop active Russian, where it will turn rust into a hard black finish that paint will adhere to.

I told the two rifles I used it on but one of them did show a few rust flecks through the grey after firing it a few times. They cleaned right off but may have formed a patina if allowed to continue.

Main ingredient is phosphoric acid.
Dennis

[alex e.]

All gun finishes are temporary, and subject to wear from use. Greys will turn brown,blues will turn brown. They age like we do.

[Eric Krewson]

I like the gray look but find it doesn't stand up to a lot hands on use, the metal turns shiny again if you touch a spot repeatdly like a buttplate.

[eggwelder]

I did a grey on my first one, i still like it, but the brown is slowly spreading down the neck of the cock, and on the barrel radiating out from the vent. I don`t try to scrub out off. Active rust when it appears, yes, but this stuff, no.

[Not English]

Eric, the shiny spots created by wear are patina in my books. It takes a lot of use to get them naturally.
Egg, I know exactly what you're talking about. I built a rifle 30 years ago that had a white barrel that was polished with 400 grit wet/dry sandpaper and then oiled. It was originally done as an experiment because I don't believe that many guns were browned originally in the mid 18th century. It has developed a very definite gray area around the breach/touch hole area and parts of the lock. I have carded it occasionally with 0000 steel wool just  enough to take bake any heavy oxidation/rust. I quite like the results so far. It has a really nice look of use. 

[Eric Krewson]

I do like the patina that grows over the years, this was a very gray barrel, it looks rusty but but that is a light rust patina that forms even under oil and Barricade. Of course it looks much more prominent in the bright sunlight, it is subdued under normal lighting.



Before it aged;



image hosting

[Daniel Coats]

I removed a rust brown finish on a barrel with Birchwood Casey blueing and rust remover it left a beautiful grey finish which I liked question is will this finish be durable?

I've done this on purpose a few times. Not sure I would call it a finish or durable but one has lasted 18 years so far.

[Not English]

Eric, your photos tend to reinforce my belief about white barrels. Quite a few of the old guns I was able to disassemble had barrels that resembled yours. When the barrels were removed the areas protected by the forestock were still a grayish white.

[hanshi]

I no longer have this rifle but it was built with gray finished metal.  It still acquired some patina and looked sharp!