Barrel refinishing

[sparkchaser]

I have a 54 cal. barrel that has a bad blueing job on it. What is the best way to remove the old finish? I would like to brown it if I  could. Should I draw file it or would steel wool do the jb? Thanks

[SCLoyalist]

I'd start with a chemical rather than mechanical approach.  There are bluing and browing removers available from several sources, including Track of the Wolf.   And, I just used Naval Jelly from Ace Hardware to remove a browning job.

SCL

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

Naval Jelly contains phosphoric acid, and it will remove the blue leaving a grey finish.  But you'll still need to draw file the barrel before browning.  So draw file it, then do it again with 180 grit abrasive cloth.  Degrease, and then brown.

[Acer Saccharum]

It depends on the final finish you want. If you want smooth and shiny, you can use wet/dry paper mounted on a board. Less shiny is drawfiling. Frosty finish with Naval Jelly.

If you are going to brown it, you won't want a real glossy finish, as the browning will not take to the metal easily.

[sparkchaser]

Do you need to neutralize the naval jelly after it has been removed?

[SCLoyalist]

The all around most controlled approach might be to buy a 3 oz bottle of blue and rust remover to take the old finish off, and a bottle of Plum Brown or Laurel Mtn Forge Browning.    Track of the Wolf has the directions for LMF's browning solution at link: http://www.trackofthewolf.com/pdfs/LMF-Brown-Instructions.pdf.   Since your barrel has already been blued once, you might be able to skip the first step about draw filing - or you might want to experiment on a bottom flat to see what barrel prep and finish gives you the most pleasing results.   Since browning isn't much more than a protective layer of rust, you can always remove the experimental finish again with rust remover and try something else.

Good luck,  SCL

[billd]

I did a TC barrel over by just using LMF over the old blue.  It came out good.
Bill

[Lucky R A]

    I have never found any need for chemicals in refinishing a barrel.  The simplest way is to get a couple sheets of 220 wet dry automotive sand paper, and a flat piece of wood about 6-8" long and 2-3 inches wide. cut a piece of sandpaper and wrap around the board and sand off the old bluing.  Be careful not to round over corners.  It works best to hold the barrel in a padded vice if you have one. I then use a piece of Scotch Brite scuff pad (maroon) you can get it at the automotive store as well.  polish down the barrel.  When you do the last scuffing with the Scotch brite wear gloves to protect the barrel from your hand oils.  Plug the end of the bore with a round dowel and put a round tooth pick in the vent hole.  Bend a piece of wire coat hanger into a double hook to hang your barrel up with after applying the browning solution.  The hook is inserted into the tang hole.  Use Davis or Mike Lea's gun brown and follow the directions on the bottle.  The two mentioned browning agents are much easier to use than Laure Mt. Forge browning, which can cause many pitfalls.  The Plum brown is a hot brown and is prone to streaking, and has less wear resistance than a cold brown.   If you decide to use any type of degreasing agent before browning, be sure to completely rinse off all traces of the agent or it could cause problems in the final result.   It is a pretty simple process to brown a barrel, and looks a lot simpler after you have done a barrel or couple hundred.   Oh, when you are finished wipe your barrel down with lye, or ammonia to neutralize the acid in the browning solution.  This will stop the browning, which is sometimes as big a problem as getting it started.   Oil, wax or finish with linseed oil whatever trips your trigger.
Good Luck,

Ron

[Long John]

Remember one important thing - when you use an abrasive means to remove the finish you will make the barrel smaller!  Even draw filing the finish off the side flats of the barrel will take a thousandth or so off the barrel flats and you will NOT have as tight  a fit in the stock when the whole job is done.  It WILL be noticable!  So keep this in mind as you consider your options.  What do you expect to have when you are done?

Best Regards,

JMC

[Don Getz]

I just finished browning a barrel, probably the best one I have ever done.    This was done despite the low humidity we
are now getting at this time of the year.  I used Homer Dangler's browning solution.   Here is how I prepared it before
browning.   I use fantastic, a piece of scotch brite, and a tea kettle of real hot water.  I do this on a small table, outside
my garden shed.   Spray the barrel with fantastic, then scrub the be-jesus out of it with that scotch brite pad.   I then rinse it with real hot water, which evaporates immediately.  I then lay the barrel on two of those plastic coated hangers
that I have screwed into the wall of my shed, the type that has a straight section about 4-5" long.   Since the barrel is now very warm, when I applied the first coat of browning, it turns brown immediately.   I would re-apply a coat of browning about every 6 hours, except overnight when it worked longer.   It took me about three days to get it done, and
I only carded it off one time during that period.   I merely scrubbed the barrel off, using hot water and a piece of terry cloth towel.    When it reached the point of where I thought it looked good, I scrubbed it off with a piece of terry cloth
using, once again that fantastic and lava sop.   I don't know if these "soap" items tend to neutralize any acid in the browning solution, but it seems to work well.   I did go one step farther on this barrel.  I took it down into my work room
in the house and lightly scrubbed it with ballistol and 0000 steel wool, then oiled it real well.  Something I failed to mention is the fact that I wear those cheap rubber gloves thorughout all the operations to keep any body oils off the metal.................Don

[Michigan Flinter]

Wear clean cotten gloves ,beadblast it,wipe it off with a clean dry cloth  then use Homer Danglers barrel brown . No fuss no mess hang it up like Don does.

[Larry Pletcher]

I like the idea of suspending the barrel so you can keep from touching it.  I clamped a dowel rod in my vize  angling slightly upward.  I slipped the barrel over if and applied Dangler's browning.  I turned it by the bottom of the breech plug.

Regards,
Pletch

[Jimmy82]

I have heard a few times where guys will put one finishing solution on top of another (brown over blue), and actually preferred the outcome to only using one type.  LMF is what I have used.  Did a rust bluing on my wife's gun and two others that were rust browned.  LMF was extremely easy to use seeing as how it was the first time I have ever browned or blued barrels, it just takes some time.  The rust bluing took a few days, one barrel only took 2 days and another three or four.  I think the reason one took longer then the other is because I used steel wool after using 400 grit sand paper.  It wasn't mirror shinny but it took longer for the rust to take.  Also the first browned barrel was a Colerain and the other was a Rice match grade, I'm not sure but they may have been different grades of steel.