Repairing Bluing

[Modski66]

It has probably been discussed before, but I can't find a thread that covers my question. I have an old Haenel rifle that has some small rust pitting over most of the blued metal, and I would like get it looking a bit better without having to get too involved.
How do I remove the fine pits and improve the finish without destroying the existing blue? The Internet lists all kinds of oils and potions, ranging from bluing inks to Balistol, but has anybody got first hand experience of any of these products and how to use them?
It isn't something I have tried myself, so any information would be a great help.

Cheers,

Mark.

[Geezer]

Ballistol, or, frankly, any oil, like 3-in-1, with a mix of kitchen roll and very fine steel wool, used gently.

[longman]

Ballistol, or, frankly, any oil, like 3-in-1, with a mix of kitchen roll and very fine steel wool, used gently.

Ditto that , but I use the aluminium wool you get from asda it seems to work better for some reason

[Modski66]

Thanks for the replies; is the aluminium wool in the cleaning aisle? I have never heard of it before, but I would imagine that it is less aggressive than steel wool, I am keen not to end up with a polished steel finish!

[Charlts]

Thanks for the replies; is the aluminium wool in the cleaning aisle? I have never heard of it before, but I would imagine that it is less aggressive than steel wool, I am keen not to end up with a polished steel finish!

Either put up with it or get it properly reblued, you cannot touch up or repair a blued finish to any sort of decent standard without hot blueing kit.

[Bladerunner too]

Either put up with it or get it properly reblued, you cannot touch up or repair a blued finish to any sort of decent standard without hot blueing kit.

I would agree with that, I have used the bluing paste,only to get a colour (ish) back, but i use the guns for hunting so it dont bother me too much, (having said that,i have thought of having the barrel done professionally)

[gingernut]

I don't think you can do a little fix on this type of rust.
On an old gun you can remove all rust and old blue with wire wool or whatever does the job.

Then use G96 as per instructions.
This should give acceptable results.

I've done it on a few but I wouldn't do it on anything too valuable or modern.

But older metal seems to rather take to G96.
Or the G96 takes to older metal.
You can see I'm not very technical !

[buttloaves]

What would the cost of a professional re blue be, just the barrel, i have one that could do with a re blue.

[Modski66]

The main area that catches my eye is the breech block, the barrel is pretty good, there are a few bits on the air cylinder too.
I have ordered some Balistol and will get it as good as it can be with that, it is only a £100 plinker project after all!

Cheers,

Mark.

[longman]

Thanks for the replies; is the aluminium wool in the cleaning aisle? I have never heard of it before, but I would imagine that it is less aggressive than steel wool, I am keen not to end up with a polished steel finish!

Yes mate it's in the cleaning isle
If it's just surface rust you may get away with a gentle clean
But if it's deep I would agree with the other comments made
Atb
Dean

[Phil Russell]

I have used the home-blue liquid and cream preparations a few times, mostly to attempt a complete reblue of an old rifle that is in a terrible state in order to make it more presentable.
Results can be variable. I have had brilliant successes along with abject failures. I well remember one rifle (maybe a prewar Daiana 27?) that I had high hopes for. It really was in awful condition, far beyond the wire wool and oil renovation condition. So I prepared it well and set to. The barrel took the blue very well, the cylinder a little less so as it just refused to get to a rich shiny blue, remaining somewhat dull. The end block was even worse and basically refused to adopt any permanent blue colour, always turning out a dull blueish brown that just did not seem to be permanent in any way. An oil coating helped matters but it never reached the heights I hoped for. I contacted the manufacturers of my blue treatment but they offered no help or advice other than 'follow the instructions'.
I could only conclude my results were influenced by different grades of steel.
And in case you are wondering ... I did not rate the rifle valuable enough to go for a professional re-blue.
Cheers, Phil

[gingernut]

Im sure that is the reason Phil.
You never know how it will take.

My Bonehill Brittania ended up a nice patinated type brown with G96.

The end of my Webley Spectre barrel had flash rust but went back to shiny blue with G96, thankfully.

[junglie]

It's the grade of steel for sure why you get different finishes, not just with cold blues either, my 35e action had to have the trigger block re-dipped 3or4 times to get it to match the tube in the hot blueing tank the gunsmith told me.I find with cold blues warming the parts to 70+deg c helps get a deeper finish.

[Modski66]

Yes mate it's in the cleaning isle
If it's just surface rust you may get away with a gentle clean
But if it's deep I would agree with the other comments made
Atb
Dean

Hi Dean,

Our local Asda does not seem to stock the aluminium wool! Is it an own brand thing, or some particular brand? Otherwise I am sure I can find some online...

Cheers,

Mark.