Home brew browning solution?

Hey guys, my brother and I got Flintlocks last spring and we're finally getting around to browning them. Dad found his browning solution but we think there is only enough to do one. What are some of the better home-brew browning solutions that you know of?

Thanks!

Ben :thumbsup:

Get a bottle of LMF barrel brown and degreaser and save yourself the problems and expense of mixing your own. Anything that will cause rust will work for browning, but not all work equally well.

Muratic acid will.But why go cheap on a gun.It takes some time & work to do it right.$10 is not
alot to spend on doing a good job.

JMOHOP Fly

Thanks guys. The only reason I asked was we live a long way from anything(50 miles from a tiny little town) and the roads are really nasty and muddy right now so it's hard to get to the Post Office to pick up some browning solution from TOTW! :haha: We'll probably just do one or the other gun first, then order some solution from 'Track for the other. Thanks again,

Ben

you can order it online and pay with a credit card

Yes, I know, but I still have to pick it up in town as we just have a PO Box and not a mail box and the UPS trucks don't have good tires for our roads! :redface:

Well, here's a couple of ideas that will brown your parts but remember, there are some good reasons that they are seldom used by anyone who wants a nice even smooth browned finish.

Being in a rural area I'm sure you know the rust finish that most like is the hard brown rust that forms on your shovels and hoes, not the soft red rust that's on your hinges. :grin:

Salt water mixed with a bit of soap.
The metal parts will have to be absolutely clean and free of all oils including the oily fingerprints you will leave when you handle the part.
A solution of 8-12 percent salt in water will form a layer of rust given some time to work at room temperature if enough humidity is in the air. This may require 10-15 applications giving each time to work. Rub off the loose red rust that will form. It will produce a gray/brown finish.

Boiling Salt water using the same mix will produce a better, darker browning in 3-4 applications with the soft red rust removed between applications.

Salammoniac dissolved in water at a 0.5 percent solution and used cold will produce a brown/black surface with 5-6 applications.

A boiling 2% salammoniac solution will produce a dark brown/black with just a few treatments.

Six parts zinc chloride mixed with 4 parts Olive oil applied to a very warm barrel will produce a green coat that will change to red and then to brown after it is neutralized with a 5% solution of caustic soda lye water.

These came from the book "FIREARM BLUEING and BROWNING" by R.H.Angier.

Household chlorine bleach diluted to about a 5% bleach to 95% water will cause rapid rusting. It may take several coats to develop the browning.
A stronger solution will increase the speed that this works but if it is too strong it will start to eat holes into the surface.
Neutralizing this stuff isn't easy and if it isn't totally removed it will continue to rust the surface.

My recommendation is that you take the time to drive into town and pick up your factory made browning solution. You'll probably want to check out all of those ads from the mail order houses anyway.

I find it amazing how many people buy their browning solutions when all you need to brown a gun or parts is to oil and plug the bore, degrease the outside and imerse in Coke.And soak for about 24 hours at room temperature. As they say, " things go better with coke!" A two liter bottle will do a barrel and several small parts.

Hummmmmmmmmmm?Can you come back & rust blue by boiling in hot water.If does indeed rust I would
think you could. :idunno:

Fly

Hey Ramrod, Will Dr.Pepper work as well....that's all I drink !!! Horserod

Lucky you....... I can only dream of being that rural........... :bow:

I think if I didn't have any browning solution, I would clean the barrel well with some brake drum cleaner, or scrub the heck out of it with 0000 steel wool & dishsoap & rinse.
On the muzzle end I take a dowel 6" larger than the bore, turn it down 2" of it so it will start in the bore. Oil the bore well with some barricade, then oil the dowel well & drive it into the bore til it seals well, that is to support the muzzle end.
On the vent liner or nipple, remove them if removable & take some teflon tape & install a allen head plug to seal it off there.
Wait for a couple hot rainy day & brown it with a solution of 20% Clorox & water, outside suspended on a table.
If it is not in the summer, use a hot steamy bathroom, cover the air ducts, put a small electric heater in there to keep the temp up to 85+ degrees.
Run the shower about every hour to keep it steamy & the mirror in the room fogged.
Bout every hour rinse the barrel down & lightly rub it with 600 wet/dry paper or 0000 steel wool (that has been washed in dishsoap to get the oils out of the wool) You will have to play with the time between rubbing the barrel down.
You want it to rust but not scale large flakes. Use just the tip of your index finger to rub the center of the barrel flats as you will have a tendency to rub all the rust off the edges of the flats. Don't rub it hard, you just want to keep if from flaking.
Put your Clorox/water in a small bottle, take a cotton ball & wet it & wipe on one swipe down the flat, do the bottom ones first & turn it over & the top ones last.
I usually put a piece of plastic down & then 2 pieces of 4" 2x4 to support the muzzle end & tang on the wood.
Do not pool the solution on the barrel you just want it damp with the solution, not dripping wet. if you have it pool it will make large flakes & you don't wan that.
You want no large flakes as it will chip off & leave unbrowned places.

I use latex gloves. our you can use a pair of old cheap cotton gloves that have been washed. Wash your hands well before starting & wash them before you put the gloves on each time, you don;t want ANY oil on your hands or the barrel. Don;t forget to wash of the doorknob on the bathroom, as women put lotion on their hands & thus get it on the doorknob, = on your hands if you pick up the barrel & then you have oil on the barrel & it won't brown in the contaminated areas.

If you want to run a test first to insure you can do this, just use some clean steel that has been sanded to 320 & run a test, then you will know what to modify to make the procedure work in your humidity environment. Must be hot & humid where ya brown it. You are going to need 2 bathrooms & stay out of this one. Going in & out is going to change the humidity & heat so it will work against ya if you are in & out all the time.

This should give you a black/brown finish. I suggest ya do the test run first & get it down pat & then do the rifle parts.

I use the same procedure with Tru-Brown, but have done it as well with the Clorox when I want a darker more aged look than just a brown.

If you want a mottled aged finish, you Mist the barrel with a spray bottle instead of wiping with the cotton ball. In this case, it is imperative you test the spray bottle & insure it mists evenly & doesn't spray droplets. Mist along the barrel so it falls on the barrel rather than spray on it so it is not completely wet, just misted.

Keith Lisle

Coke eats the metal because it has phosphoric acid in it . It doesn't brown it. It eats it.
If you want that eaten look it works fine. Then there is the Urine school of thought and the manuer school. All fine art schools no doubt. :rotf:

I tried the "HOME BROWNING" method. It didn't work for me. I used salt water and a bit of soap for my mixture. I applied my mixture in a warm moist enviroment and carded about once a week. It produced a thick red rust, which turned black when oil was applied. I sanded the whole thing back down and just used Birchwood Casey plumb brown, it turned out MUCH MUCH BETTER! My advice to you: Order the B/C Plumb Brown and wait for a nice dry day to pick it up.you'll be much happier with the results.
On a side note, I ordered everything from the Log Cabin sports shop (not saying anything bad about them, their awsome!)....not knowing that my local hardware shop had EVERYTHING in stock for my browning job..I mean EVERYTHING, they carry the WHOLE B/C line including stock refinishing materials. If your hardware store carries firearms, might not be a bad idea to look there for your Plumb Brown before you order, might save ya some shipping money?
anyhow, I hope this helps.

I rust blued these pistols with this home made solution:
Ferric Cloride rusting solution.
Add iron to cons.HCl until it stops reacting. Filter through a coffee filter. This gave a clear yellow solution. Take 25 ml of this and add 125ml alcohol and 100ml dest.water

For browning,I would recommend adding 4 grams of coppersulfat to the mixture. These pistols have had 6 rounds of rusting, boiling and carding. The rusting was done in a large plastic bucket with a lid and a sponge as a water reservoar. Each rusting was done at 24 degrees celsius for 2 hours and then boiled and carded.




Best regards
Rolf

Rolf, should the alcohol be "rubbing alcohol" or "drinking alcohol"? Thanks
Rich

Rich,
Why do you have concerns regarding "DRINKING" alcohol?? :surrender:
Best reagrds
Old Ford

I used rubbing alcohol(96%).

Best regards

Rolf

Old Ford said:

Rich,
Why do you have concerns regarding "DRINKING" alcohol?? :surrender:
Best reagrds
Old Ford

Click to expand...

Seems such a waste to rub it on a gun barrel! :rotf:

Beautiful work, Rolf.