Rust blueing

[hortonstn]

I've browned my barrel oiled it, coated with baking soda, waxed it. It still wants to rust
Ouestion can I boil it in hot water tank to turn it black and stop the rusting?
Thanks

[bluenoser]

In my experience, although aggravating, the after-rust will settle down over time.  It would be best to de-oil the barrel before boiling and brake cleaner would do a good job of that.  Once de-oiled, you could soak it in a strong washing soda solution if you don't want to go from brown to black.  Washing soda is a much stronger base than baking soda and, in my opinion, is a superior neutralizer.

[Waksupi]

Yes you can. Use a piece of PVC or stove pipe, and steam it rather than boiling. Steam of 20 minutes, or boil for 25 minutes.

[okawbow]

I’ve never seen the need to boil the steel. I use a 2” pvc pipe with an end cap glued on. Clamp the tube to a railing and put the barrel in. Boil a big pan of rain water and pour the boiling water in until it covers the barrel. Let set for 20 minutes or so, but the change takes place in just a few minutes. I usually do the boiling water between coats of LMF browning solution, but I have waited until the barrel was browned, and it turned dark and did not rust after. The pictures are of a gun I did after browning.

[kutter]

Try the Washing Soda solution as Bluenoser suggests first.It'll keep the brown finish for you , if that's what you really want.
Washing Soda is Sodium Carbonate, the much stronger base cousin of  common Sodium Bi-Carbonate.

It's available at places that sell paint and the like. It's used for HD cleaning purposes in water soln.

Clear any oil off the metal first before soaking the metal in the soln.
Wear eye protection, getting the stuff into your eyes can cause severe burns and damage.
It'll burn your skin if the soln is strong enough. even weak % soln will sting your hands especially if you have a small cut on them,, even a hangnail!

Scrubb the surfaces with a brush while the part(s) are in it. Rinse with clean water and dry.
I like to coat with Artists quality Drying Linseed Oil . It also seems to calm down any after rust.

You can always boil it and turn it to Rust Blue. But even Laurel Mtn soln will often give after rust problems when used as a Rust Blue soln and boiled with each cycle.
L/Mtn has a touch of Nitric acid in it so it takes some doing to remove any trace of it.

[bluenoser]

You can likely find washing soda in the cleaning section of just about any grocery store.