Mercury/Meteor blacked not painted?

[styggron]

Hi,
I'd be interested in any thoughts on the above, i.e. removing the enamel finish from an old rifle and having it polished and blacked (not cold bluing). I've got an old Merc. in bits and not being a fan of the painted look would rather do something else with it.
Many thanks in advance for any help

[frontend loader]

I would go for getting it chemicaly blacked/blued as you suggest.The cylinder end cap is some kind of alloy and not sure how you can get round this-maybe anodising.I have done this to a mk2 mercury-years ago and it looked great.Also had a mate who had his airporter blued after stripping all the paint off,this also looked fantastic.I think the mercury 's' model was blued and not painted.Go for it!!
Cheers,Pat.

[styggron]

Thanks for that. The metal is quite rough under the paint - a sort of coarse brushed finish - but if your mk2 turned out ok then it must be easy enough to polish back to a perfectly smooth surface. I'll get it properly done. The end block I was thinking of painting by hand.
Your advice is much appreciated.

[inproved]

Hi,

Why not strip the paint off,when I refinished my Mk 6 Airsporter which had been spay painted. I used Blackfriers Paint and Varnish Stripper..This is not as harsh as Nitromors and it does not need water to stop the chemical reaction...Do not over polish the metalwork the Factory never did..Repaint the Back Block I used Hammerite Smooth Black,this seems to do the job well,then If the Rifle was mine I would send it to BSA ask them to service it, and re Black it...


Regards

Inproved

[styggron]

Thanks Inproved. I've made a start with Rustin's 'Strypit' but it will take me several sessions to get everything off (short of time and have to do jobs in dribs and drabs). After a quick go with several grades of wet and dry it is clear that a lot of oomph will be needed to get back to a polished finish that will take a nice black so I will probably leave polishing to the person doing the blacking. (This applies to barrel also of course.) Thanks for the paint recommendation. The back block is painted and not 'baked on' enamelled so I think paint will be just fine.

[greasemonkey]

hi, i blued/blacked my childhood meteor when i revamped for my son recently,improved it no end.personally i hate the appearance of painted bsa guns and webley pistols but thats just me..cheers greasemonkey

[king don]

Hi when I polished my Mercury I kept it all shiny looks quite nice. But at the time of stripping it I found that Birchwood and Casey do bluing for aluminium. An option maybe instead of painting hopefully this maybe be useful. ATB Dave

[inproved]

Hi

Dependant on the Alloy that was use'd for the Back Block by BSA..I don't think that the Birchwood Casey Aluminium Blacking would give a satisfactory finish,I tried this on a BSA scope rail on a BSA Stutzen scope rail with very poor results...A painted finish is much better,however you do need a paint finish that does not chip...

Regards

Inproved