Best way to protect bluing of vintage guns during use

[45flint]

I love the original bluing on vintage guns but I also like to use them. Spring air guns, usually pistols in my case, tend to have to be manipulated with some force to be cocked. Your holding onto blued areas to do this like barrels and grip frames. How best do you keep blued surfaces from wearing?

[edbear2]

A lot of bluing loss can be from acids in sweat etc. and not cleaning after use, so being very careful in this respect would preserve it more, but apart from that, in technical British lingo.......Your buggered!

This is one case of...You use....you DO lose it!

ATB, Ed

[hwtyger]

You can use a glove to prevent acids on yr blueing.
I just wipe em off after use with Ballistol

[piggy589]

Nitrile gloves,around a fiver for a box of a hundred.

[BigDuncs]

While the guys above are undoubtedly correct re salts and pH changes from sweat etc, my first shotgun was a side by side which got carried miles and miles rough shooting.

The blueing did wear very thin / off where I held the barrels. O/Us have their metal work more protected from grubby hands (by bigger forends) but my S/S's blueing was definitely affected by physical contact with the barrels.

[Geezer]

Another vote for Ballistol.

[Peter Dunkley]

Another vote for Ballistol.

Hi the OP if you read it wants to know how to stop the mechanical wear from use. Balistol wont stop this. Even if you think this old fashioned product does any good at all.

[Geezer]

Hi the OP if you read it wants to know how to stop the mechanical wear from use. Balistol wont stop this. Even if you think this old fashioned product does any good at all.

I think it does, actually. In terms of rust, acid from fingerprints etc. It has certainly worked for me.

And if the question is how to reduce things developing signs of use from use, I think my answer would be don't use them. There are things you can do - e.g. shaving the inside of stocks on break barrels where the stock rubs against the barrel block, but the fact is that some things will always rub against each other and cause cosmetic wear.

Look at it this way. You could say "my pistol has holster wear from where it touches the holster - what do I do?". The answer is a combination of mitigate it through lubrication and just live with it. If you want to eliminate holster wear, stop using a holster and keep it in cotton wool in transport to and from the range.

[SRV1]

When cocking my old Service Mk2 that has very good original bluing, I grip the barrel with the oily rag that I use to wipe down all my air rifles. I never had it "slip" when cocking and seem to do the biz......

[edbear2]

A good tip to prevent skirt damage to vintage pellets and still use them is to shoot them in a weapon of the next calibre I have found, ie. .177 through a .22, .22 through a .25 etc.

A bonus is they rarely go far out of the barrel so almost never get lost, and using a duvet or similar item of a light colour in front of the firing point both eliminates any possible dirt / damage caused by hitting the ground and also acts as a background contrast for easy spotting and retrieval.

they can then be carefully inspected and safely put back in the tins for future use.


ATB, Ed

[averageplinker]

I vividly remember a simple experiment my CDT teacher got us to do after we all made mild steel name tags for our key rings. He told us to apply no oil, polish or finish etc. and we left them in class for a couple of weeks to see whose rusted the most/quickest. A chap called Christian had his rust really quickly and mine was one of the least rusty. The explanation was that the more acidic your sweat/grease was the quicker anything you handle will rust!

Even though my key ring hardly rusted at all I still wipe my air rifles and pistols down with an oily rag after use and the bluing appears to stay fine.

[Airsporter1st]

I wear gloves and wipe liberally with Ballistol immediately after use.

As said, if you cannot tolerate any signs of use, then don't use them.

[Airsporter1st]

Hi the OP if you read it wants to know how to stop the mechanical wear from use. Balistol wont stop this. Even if you think this old fashioned product does any good at all.

Old fashioned does not automatically mean ineffective - vintage guns are old fashioned. I and many others swear by Ballistol, because it works.

[45flint]

Found some oil that came with a Beeman maintenance kit I bought years ago. Metalophilic Compound #5 Extra Strength Rust Inhibiting Oil. "Neutralizes sweat and salt, dries to thin, non-gumming lubricating film which lasts through indefinite storage."

Sure sounds good! Actually seems to work quite well, been rubbing down my pistols after each use. Creates a beautiful luster as well. I really don't think there is any finish as beautiful as a highly polished blued gun.

[Mark D]

A good tip to prevent skirt damage to vintage pellets and still use them is to shoot them in a weapon of the next calibre I have found, ie. .177 through a .22, .22 through a .25 etc.

A bonus is they rarely go far out of the barrel so almost never get lost, and using a duvet or similar item of a light colour in front of the firing point both eliminates any possible dirt / damage caused by hitting the ground and also acts as a background contrast for easy spotting and retrieval.

they can then be carefully inspected and safely put back in the tins for future use.


ATB, Ed

I want some of what ever your on :D