getting an aged dark grey patina look on barrel

[cowboys1062]

 I have a barrel that still has some traces of bluing on it. I would like to remove the old bluing and replace it with an aged dark grey patina look to it. Can anyone tell me the easiest way to remove the bluing and produce an aged dark grey patina look to my barrel? Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thankyou, cowboys1062.

[kaintuck]

Go to your local auto parts store and get some Kano....rust remover......do it OUTSIDE and it will take the blue off.
Blue ing is just nice rust

The cold blue back to the old silvered look as you please.....

Marc n tomtom

[cowboys1062]

 Thanks for the reply! I will give it a try. cowboys1062.

[Pete G.]

Hit the remaining blue with about some 320 grit, particularly on the edges and corners. Leave a very little in the center of the flats. Wipe on a coat of cold blue and when it has set up, scrub it back with some WD40 and one of the green Scothbrite scrubber pads. If you don't like the look, you can always give it a wipe with any kind of hardware store rust remover.

[hortonstn]

Is the cold blue very durable on rifle that will be shot weekly ?
Thanks hope this question doesn't hijack your post
Just need to know
Paul

[JDK]

Durable?  In a word.....NO!  But in this case you are not going for durable.  You are going for an "aged" finish....what a typical 200 year old gun looks like.  To preserve the look I like to apply paste car wax to the barrel after I getting looking like I want it.  Others use Johnson's paste wax, Miland's or any other similar product.

That being said, I also like to brown it thoroughly first, scrub it off and then apply the cold blue.  The blue is then rubbed back with Scotch-Brite or steel wool and oil as Pete described, so it just highlights the texture the browning process left on the barrel.

Look at good color pictures of antique rifles and you'll get the idea.  It's fairly easy to find old cowboy guns in this condition.

Enjoy, J.D.

[thecapgunkid]

Naval jelly.  works every time, after which you can put the level of shine you want with steel wool or a chore girl.

[Turtle]

  If by dark grey you mean pewter color, you can scrub the bare steel barrel with steel wool saturated with phosphoric acid. After several treatments and some time and use it gets a nice darker  "old" look. I have read this resembles "French Grey". I have done several guns this way. it is also a durable finish in the weather and tripping. If it does rust, a retouch with more acid  restores it easily.
                                                               Turtle

[Pete G.]

Is the cold blue very durable on rifle that will be shot weekly ?
Thanks hope this question doesn't hijack your post
Just need to know
Paul

The cold blue is not durable; that's the whole point. Once it is scrubbed back it resembles a worn finish. If you do ad JD says and start with a brown finish and sand it back it very closely resembles an antique finish. Incidentally, phosphoric acid is the active ingredient in commercially available rust removers.

[Hungry Horse]

 My two cents goes like this, Birchwood Casey's plum brown is the least durable of any browning solution I've ever used. It easily is removed with Scotch Brite pads. This plus the cold blue rubbed back, will give you a nice aged surface.

              Hungry Horse

[davec2]

I have been experimenting some with the last three rifles I have built.  Not necessarily a "dark grey" patina, but it's not a brown and it's not a blue...I'm not quite sure what it is, but I like it....so far.  Here  are some variations on the same theme on 3 different rifles.....











The process is as follows:  I start a rust brown exactly as I would for a plumb brown finish.  I use a damp box and do one, two, or three, rust cycles of Laurel Mountain Forge Barrel Brown carding with a brass wire tooth brush each cycle.  The number of cycles depends on if I want the final finish more grey / blue or more brown.  Once I have a couple of brown cycles on it, I handle the barrel with latex gloves.  I take the barrel and put it on the bench covered with a plastic trash bag taped down.  Now I scrub the barrel with a small, maroon ScotchBrite pad (2" x2") soaked in one of the cold blue solutions (Oxpho-Blue, Dicropan T-4, Historic House Parts Brass Ager) until I get the barrel to look like I want it.  If you only give it two browning passes and do not dwell too long with the cold blue, the barrel comes out with a slight golden tone.  More browning passes and not much ScotchBrite rubbing and it comes out a little more brown.  Rub it a little more with the cold blue, and it takes on a darker, bluer tone.  I did one where I subsequently rubbed all the finish off the edges with a dry ScotchBrite pad, and that looks OK too (a little more "worn") but I figure use and handling will take care of that fast enough anyway.

Just some thoughts.

[cowboys1062]

 I ended up using BC's Blue&Rust Remover to strip off the old bluing on the barrel. Next I applied BC's Super Blue to the barrel while using 0000 steel wool to take the dark color back to a grey color. I then mixed Vinegar&Mustard together and applied that to the barrel. I then sat the barrel aside waiting for the mixture to set up and dry on the barrel. After the mixture had dried I took a washcloth and wiped the mixture off leaveing a very dark grey in color. I took some 0000 steel wool and brought the grey to the right shade that I had wanted. The barrel now has that aged dark grey patina look that I wanted to achieve. The last thing I did was to put a light coat of gun oil on her and put it away. I want to thank everyone for the suggestions and advice. It gave me alot of options to think about and try. Respectfully, cowboys1062.

[Eric Krewson]

This is a couple of coats Oxpho-Blue rubbed back to gray with a scotch bright pad.

I like the color but the finish has no rust preventive properties and had to be kept oiled to keep spotty rust flowers from forming on the surface.

[Marcruger]

Dave C.  Other than "beautiful" I'd call that color "bronze".  At least it looks that way in the photos.  Great color.  Best wishes,   Marc

[David Rase]

Here is Allen Martin's method. He shared this with us a while back.
David

First step ....
Brown the barrel like normal but do not card or remove scale like you would if you were making a even brown  . What you are looking for is the pitting . I normally leave my barrel in the damp box for about 8-12 days . The barrel will look ....rough !!!!!!
Some folks use bleach but I feel the pits get to large ......... and uneven .

Step two ....
Sand the barrel down to the bare metal but you leave the pits .
It's very messy job .
Using 100 grit sandpaper going to a scotch-brite pad , I also you use hot -soapy water and wet sand .

Step three .....
Apply cold blue ..... Brownell's 44/40 works for me .....
Rub the cold off with a scotch-brite pad & oil .......... And that's it !!!!!!!!
Simple takes time and it's messy .

Every job turns out different ..... but thats the beauty of it !!!!

Good luck .............
Allen

[Acer Saccharum]

Now that the secret is out, everyone's barrels will look the same.

[Mike Brooks]

Now that the secret is out, everyone's barrels will look the same.

[davec2]

Marcruger,

Yes, the barrel in the last two pictures came out looking like aged bronze.  Just enough rust to get the reddish tone and enough rubbed back blue to make it look like bronze.  Don't know if I could do it twice !

[David Rase]

Now that the secret is out, everyone's barrels will look the same.

Now all you have left to master is architecture, carving, engraving and stock finishing and you are there!
David