Rust Bluing Revolver Advice

Hello All,

I have a Hawes National Corp "Navy Model" .36 Cal. brass frame revolver that I inherited and will soon be restoring/overhauling. I'm looking for advice on bluing with Laurel Mountain Forge.

Specifically:
1. My impression with LMF is that it is largely used for rifle barrels and I haven't come across many examples of it on revolvers. Is there anything better that I should be looking into instead? (I'm pretty adamant about NOT using cold blue and not that interested in dropping the money or time for a hot blue set up.)
2. Any issues getting the LMF down into all the nooks and crannies of the barrel and cylinder (including the cylinder chambers)?

Hoping anyone who has direct experience with this can chime in, or even better if you have pictures you can share. Thanks in advance!

I'm no expert (famous last words, right?)

But if it was my revolver, I would remove all the old bluing and any trace rust with Evaporust..., rinse and dry, and use a non -residue cleanser to be sure everything was grease free, and then I'd use
Oxpho Blue.

Not disparaging the Laurel Mountain Forge product at all btw. It's just that the above stuff is a really good "cold" blue, while the LMF blue requires a scalding of the metal during the process.

Some people don't like cold bluing results. Sometimes the metals in the firearm are dissimilar alloys, so the coloring with a cold blue when done is not uniform. Others have had bad results in the past from one brand of cold blue or another, and won't cold blue anything, no matter what brand is suggested.

LD

I just finished a Lyman pistol with rust blue on the barrel, under rib and sights. I used BC Plum Brown but added the boiling water and carding that is common to rust blueing. Nothing fancy to the process.
2403B66F-2F84-4AA0-80EB-669B179F6283 by Oliver Sudden, on Flickr

If you are talking about the LMF Browning solution then here is a picture of a colt that I did using the browning solution. The extra barrel was stock, but was shorten to 6 inches.

The LMF is fairly easy to use, and yes will get into all nooks and crannies. The more coats it gets browner/darker and can start to etch slightly. The finish will not look new as in being shiny blue. It is great for giving a gun an older look. If you want the nice deep blue this is not what to use. I prefer the used older look so yes this worked great for me. Good luck with your project.

Thanks everyone!

I've rust blued a few barrels, but still not sure how well it will hold up to the wear on a revolver (moving parts, etc. etc.)

The Remington on the right is a kit gun I assembled and rust blue 40+ years ago by first browning and then boiling back then. The polish job might have been better but the finish has held up well with lots of use.

Kansas Jake said:

The Remington on the right is a kit gun I assembled and rust blue 40+ years ago by first browning and then boiling back then. The polish job might have been better but the finish has held up well with lots of use.

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That looks fantastic and exactly what I was looking for! Did you rust blue the cylinder chambers too, or treat it like the bore and leave it alone? How did you treat the threads, just like any other surface? I take it the two on the left our factory blue finishes?

I've blued several rifles with LMF solution... the boiling bit isn't that bad, just takes time. For a pistol, you could do it on your stove, but make sure to use distilled water. If it doesn't come out the way you like, do the rusting bit, boiling and carding until it's the shade your after. My final carding is with 0000 steel wool and after I coat the metal with motor oil over night. After that, a coupla coats of Briwax and a quick buff and you're golden.

Below is a Jaeger barrel I did some time back, deep black color.

If I remember right I disassembled gun and browned the parts and boiled all the parts in a metal pan on a camp stove. I think I browned the chambers and did everything. I believe the rammer assembly was already blued in the kit. I did pull the nipples.

I've done many rust blue jobs. Don't sand past 320 grit. Most important, don't let red rust form on the metal. Look for a light haze of oxidation, then boil or steam, buff, and repeat. This gives a high polish finish.
I prefer steaming to boiling. With steaming, you don't need distilled water, you only need to steam for 20 minutes, as opposed to 25 minutes for boiling. Steam is hotter than boiling water.

Waksupi, could you tell me what rust bluing solution you use, and approximately how many coats you average on a gun? Thanks for any help you can give, Pete

I have been using Andy's Rust Blue, but it is no longer available, unfortunately. Laurel Mountain, Pilkington's, pretty much any mix will work fine. I usually have a good finish in a half dozen cycles, but will go another one or two just to set it deeper. No idea if it helps or not, but makes me feel more confident in the end results.

I've used DGW browning solution, which worked well, but its no longer available. I use Laurel Mountain now and really like it. The hotter and more humid it is when you use it the better.

I have never attempted (nor will I) any blueing or browning, but I inherited a copy of Angier's "Firearm Blueing and Browning" (1936) from my father. The number of different recipes is mind-boggling and some of the ingredients are frightening.

Auldjin said:

I have never attempted (nor will I) any blueing or browning, but I inherited a copy of Angier's "Firearm Blueing and Browning" (1936) from my father. The number of different recipes is mind-boggling and some of the ingredients are frightening.

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My grandfather gave me a copy of Angier’s “Living in the Woods on pennies a day“ I promptly went out and started building a cabin in the Flattops Wilderness. Some part of it may still be there. He was an excellent writer and a curious intellect.
Back on topic, I’ve browned revolvers and cold blued them, I guess if I tried it I would use the BC stuff, it’s worked well for my purposes.

Rich44 said:

If you are talking about the LMF Browning solution then here is a picture of a colt that I did using the browning solution. The extra barrel was stock, but was shorten to 6 inches.

The LMF is fairly easy to use, and yes will get into all nooks and crannies. The more coats it gets browner/darker and can start to etch slightly. The finish will not look new as in being shiny blue. It is great for giving a gun an older look. If you want the nice deep blue this is not what to use. I prefer the used older look so yes this worked great for me. Good luck with your project.
View attachment 149874
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Is this an ASM?

Uberti, bought the extra barrel and loader and did the machine work to have a 6 inch barrel. With the shorter sight radius the same height front sight installed, puts it on the money at normal pistol ranges. Hardly ever put the 8 inch barrel on. I wanted it to have a used older look and it turned out OK for me. Yes, I have an old engraver.

Bad Karma - Hope you doing OK, you are a great knowledge base.

Rich44 said:

Uberti, bought the extra barrel and loader and did the machine work to have a 6 inch barrel. With the shorter sight radius the same height front sight installed, puts it on the money at normal pistol ranges. Hardly ever put the 8 inch barrel on. I wanted it to have a used older look and it turned out OK for me. Yes, I have an old engraver.

Bad Karma - Hope you doing OK, you are a great knowledge base.

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Very nice work! Uberti mad a very few 5.5” Army Colts years ago. Most for Navy Arms I think. ASM did a lot more. Yours could’ve easily passed for a factory job. I prefer them to the 8” guns and of course the 1860 Army over any other c&b revolver.

Thanks for asking Rich, Having some good days, It’s been harder on Mrs Karma and the kids. We just put one foot in front of the other right?

Roger - Same here.