Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Results: mixed on rust bluing

(Lousy photography warning in effect)
The barrel, front sight, rear sight base, lever, trigger, inner receiver(which has the trigger guard) all came out flat beautiful, dark and lovely; the receiver, not so much.I'll try to get some better-lit shots later. The receiver just wouldn't color well; I'm wondering if a different alloy(maybe nickel content?) than the other stuff. Or maybe I just didn't do something right. Any case, it looks a lot better than before

Added: couple more pictures:
Yeah, still a so-so shot. Here's a closer look at the barrel and front sight:

5 comments:

Keith said...

I think the original receiver finish tended to be blued on a charcoal fire - probably as the receiver's tempering.

I'm not sure what the steel is or whether it is case hardened or through hardened.

I have heard of winchester lever actions giving a mottly effect when they are blued - partly due to slightly differing carburization, and partly because it is a large flat surface which shows such things well.

Extra saucer of milk needed, and I'll have a look through my copy of Angier tonight.

Firehand said...

Big problem on the Winchesters, from what I've heard, is after a certain date they used a high-nickel content steel for the receivers; very strong, but a flat bitch to blue.

I may try the receiver again another time, right now I'm stopping at 'well enough'. WHich is unusual enough for me to deserve a drink later.

Anonymous said...

You might try using Brownnell's cold blue on the receiver. I've had good results with it on shotgun barrels that spotted.

Anonymous said...

Ooooh. I likee. I picked up a Martini .357 conversion not too long ago. It has had some shade tree smithin done to it, but still looks great, shoots pretty darned good, and appeals to me greatly.

Enjoy.

Firehand said...

Might try the cold blue as a touch-up, see how it works.

I've heard of these being converted to .357, apparently works very well. Especially with some of the newer ammo, that ought to be a serious small-medium game rifle.