White barrel

Hello everyone,

I just recently got interested in muzzle loaders and decided to jump in and try to build a kit. I ordered the traditions Kentucky pistol, but the problem is the barrel. The barrel is in white so it really stands out. I don’t want to try and “blue”it since it seems complicated and I would probably screw it up.

My question, is there anyway to darken the barrel that is not over complicated, easy to do, and not too expensive? Thanks to all who reply...

Welcome, HoYa. Vinegar will give the barrel a "grayish" cast that I like. Just rub it on & let it set. You can go through the process more than once to get it like you want.

cold blue look it up or Krylon spray paint.

Not sure what's available now but years ago I used "browning" to brown a barrel. Get the barrel hot and apply the browning with the included brush.

Formula 44/40 Instant Gun Blue is one of those. Rub on and wipe off with a dry patch. You won't get that deep color but it sure works for quick. To make it even, you will want to degrease which can be as simple as rubbing with a cotton ball and alcohol. Just want your oily finger prints off! :wink:

I go the other route and use Naval Jelly to get finish off and leave a nice "French grey" color...it's acidic properties microscopically pits the metal surface and kills the shine. Wear gloves! :haha: You don't want to be pitted as well! :shocked2: Found out not only does it remove all color from the metal parts, but does the same to the color case hardening...doesn't affect the hardness but it's all the same nice grey! Surprise, surprise, surprise! In my case, I didn't mind. But it made the old Replica Arms M.1860 look antique and some low-life stole it!

Flintlock Bob said:

Not sure what's available now but years ago I used "browning" to brown a barrel. Get the barrel hot and apply the browning with the included brush.

Click to expand...

You are talking about using Birchwood Casey, Plum Brown.

IMO, it is OK for browning small parts but it is rather difficult to get an even coating on large objects like barrels.

It also takes some fussing and luck to get it to work right.

The metal must be totally oil free and heated to 270°F ± 20°F.
Hotter than this leaves a splotched, uneven look and cooler than this deposits a layer of copper which prevents any additional browning.

Multiple coats with water washing between them are required to get an evenly colored coat.

If a quick bluing that looks pretty good is desired, Birchwood Casey "Perma-Blue" will work rapidly and produce a pretty even, long wearing dark blue color.
I don't recommend using Birchwood Casey "Super-Blue". It is made for modern, alloy steel barrels, not for the low carbon steel barrels muzzleloaders are made with.

I always had good luck with Plum Brown, my barrel in the grille (gotta turn it a few times) and a bunch of cotton swabs. Im not real picky though :grin:

I just used Tracks Tried and True browning on a fowler barrel.It's Like $8 plus shipping. Its super easy to use.

I sprayed the barrel with 409 to degrease it rubbed the barrel down with 220 wet/dry sandpaper while still wet with 409. wear rubber gloves to not leave finger prints on the barrel. Rinsed it off with warm water dried it inside and out all while wearing rubber gloves.

Put a cork in the barrel and applied the browning chemical. Its dry here in Nevada so I put it in the bathroom with a humidifier going. I put more chemical on it every day and in a few days it had a nice chocolate color. rubbed it down with 000 steel wool and put oil on it to stop the chemical reaction.

It came out beautiful!!

Wear gloves through the whole process!!

I'll post pics tomorrow.

You could duracoat it a dark brown color to mimic browning. That is what Traditions does with some of their rifles.

Duracoat sells basically spray paint cans now, you don't have to mix it.

Perms blue gives a nice looking but not very durable. Navel jelly makes a gray color on the metal. Vinegar as mentioned above and makes any finish. Cold brown is slow but makes a nice finish.
In the old days guns were in the white, blue and brown.shoot a white barrel and cleanbut don’t polish and it will Grey well.

Personally, I've found that the perma-blue product is worthless. I have tried it on several modern and repro guns, and at best, it turns gray and rubs off easily....I ALWAYS polish my restorations with fine emery cloth until they shine, and then blue them Brownell's oxpho blue works on contact, gets very dark, almost black, and stays on. I have touched up the blue on a 100 year old Swiss military rifle, and you can't tell it from the original finish. My latest project is a 1992 build Pietta 1851 steel frame 36. I had to strip all the original blue off the cylinder and barrel, and polish off the rust spots. Two applications of the Oxpho blue, and it looks pretty nice. Anybody know how to bring back the color in case hardening?

without seeing ,you could be causeing your own problems with the blueing. From what I know, you might be polishing toooo much. I know it works better on a slightly rougher finish, for sure if you were to brown the finish.

Well if it is a Kentucky, might want to brown rather than blue. I like Laurel Mountain Forge browning solution. Really easy to use. On screws, etc., just wipe on and set a side. On the barrel the only rule is ONE WIPE, don't go back and forth- if you missed a spot get that area on the next coat. Sand down to #240 or #320, not finer and wait a little extra for the rust to form.
A pistol is a great first project that gives you the skills for rifles.

I would think most of the original Kentucky were white, the brown we see on them now is two hundred years of patina.

I have a bottle of Naval Jelly and it does do a good job. :thumbsup:

Birchwood casey, Plum Brown is my go to. Never had a problem browning a barrel, but it does require some prep. Draw file, then wrap 400 or 600 grit sandpaper around the mill file and polish the barrel flats to near mirror finish. Thoroughly degrease with denatured alcohol and then suspend it over a heat source. I often used a coleman camp stove. Once the barrel gets to the "ssss" temperature that a drop of water sizzles then apply the plum brown solution. It will look like manure but keep going and rubbing the stuff on. It leaves a scaley residue. when you get done with the barrel let it cool and scrub it down with 0000 steel wool. Degrease and repeat the hot process. Let it cool again and then scrub it with the steel wool soaked in oil


The finish will come out very smooth and shiney. Some folks prefer a rougher coat and there is a salt rust process that basically leaves microscopic rust pits all over the barrel. It leaves a surface that looks more like dark brown suede. If you intend to hunt, you may like the suede finish better because it does not reflect light like a shiney surface does. Another way to describe it is like a dark brown parkerized finish.

I got some pictures of the fowler barrel using tracks tried and true brown. I like the way it came out. It's important to degrease with 409 real well but it's easy.

https://imgur.com/gallery/Pe10A

I bought a complete kit,(stock and metal, followed the instructions to the letter. Let it sit with barracade on it over night (part of the instructions) and it just wiped off the next day leaving a gray color. The oxpho-blue turns black on contact and won't come off unless you go at it with emery cloth. I used to use G44, I think it was, but I haven't seen it around here.