Rust bluing boiling tank

[FALout]

I did like the others using a section of gutter, only I used my camp stove and propane torch.  Wife has never forgiven me for stinking up her kitchen (and oven) doing a spray and bake on a modern firearm.

[B.Habermehl]

I use 2” pvc pipe with a end cap with a couple of holes drilled in it 3/32 dia or so. With a 4 inch reducer wrung on to the top. No joints are glued. I bungee it to one of my porch posts and place the barrel inside. Fire up the turkey fryer with the pot filled with tap water. Once boiling I fill the pipe with boiling water. As the water leaks out by design I replenish. The reducer acts as a funnel. By the time I run out of boiling water I’m done. Simple enough for this mechanic. I’ve been doing scalded Browns for years this way. I don’t call them rust blues as I don’t scald after each carding. I scald the barrel when the brown is deep enough to suit me. The scalding turns the brown to blue black. BJH

[HighUintas]

Not sure what you are getting at, HighUintas, but the barrel has to be rusted/browned first, then the boiling water or steam turns the oxide to blue.
The higher/finer the finish on the barrel before browning, then carding between rust coats, the  better the end result, imho.

Yes I understand the barrel must be rusted and carded before turning the oxide blue. I was referring to Dave's method of pouring boiling water into a 2" PVC that holds the barrel being a much simpler setup for the boiling part than making myself a boiling trough or steaming cabinet/pipe like many do.

[davec2]

Old link from 2014 that might be of some help.....

https://americanlongrifles.org/forum/index.php?topic=30151.msg288710#msg288710

[mgbruch]

I cold rust blued the barrel of my Northwest Trade Gun (because most NW Trade Gun barrels were blued) following the instructions on Laurel Mtn Forge's website.  Their instructions for the use of their barrel brown and degreaser include instructions on how to cold rust blue.

I used the PVC pipe, and poured two big pots, a little over a gallon each, of DISTILLED water over the barrel after rusting it with the formula.  I finished the barrel pretty fine; and it took four applications of their product and boiled distilled water.  I ended up with a very nice, even, cold rust blue.

Pretty simple if you follow the instructions.

[Waksupi]

Old link from 2014 that might be of some help.....

https://americanlongrifles.org/forum/index.php?topic=30151.msg288710#msg288710

This shows a good example why just pouring boiling water doesn't work well. Look at the pictures, and you see there is a definite brown tint left to the metal.

[mgbruch]

In that case, the builder applied the solution to brown three times (And I assume he carded the parts each time), And then tried boiling water to get the blue.  I would expect less than satisfactory results.

And just plain boiled water will not work; it must be distilled water.

[davec2]

Sorry....the pictures in that old post showed the barrel after I did some additional browning after the blue / boiling trick.  It really worked too well and the barrel looked too modern.  Here are some additional pictures of a barrel that the fellow I was doing this for wanted to look really blue... except for some rub back at the edges......Again, this was just browned and the scalded with one application of boiled distilled water with the barrel in a PVC pipe.....So, I guess it would be your preference.  If you want a barrel to look like a modern hot blue, this may not be the method for you.  But if this barrel looks OK, this simple scalding method worked very well.


Staining (AF) and first of the Sutherland & Wells Tung oil finish going on......





One more pass at polishing the barrel steel before finishing.......





And finishing the metal........

[Daryl]

Now THAT looks REALLY nice, Dave.
The patch-box engraving, indeed, all of it is absolutely marvelous.

[Fly Navy]

Yes, that looks great. What a beautiful color.