Finishing a rifle barrel

[Craig]

I am building a Pedersoli Dixie Cub rifle kit. I stained the stock what became a dark with red tones. I had planned on a honey gold stock and a browned barrel but that isn't going to happen.

I lightly sanded the black coating Pedersoli puts on the barrel as a temporary rust preventive and now I like the looks of the "gun metal" (not shiny) barrel with the dark auburn stock. Is there some type of coating I need to put on this barrel as it is now to protect it from rusting and let this natural look come through?

The book I have on gun making by Sam Fedala says to put a paste wax on a browned barrel to stop the chemical process. It doesn't say what to do if you want to leave without a browned or blued finish. Will the paste wax work or is something else or nothng needed?

I appreciate any information anyone can send my way. This is the first time I have built anything much less a gun kit. I am looking forward to shooting it and showing it off at November Rendezvous at Fort des Chartres.

 

[Zonie]

The paste wax will provide fairly good protection to your "in the white" barrel.

The wax won't provide complete protection from firing your gun so if you want to keep the "new" look, you will have to be very thorough with your cleaning.

If you don't mind a "used" look you can be a little less thorough and your barrel will develop a nice patina over the coming years. Some folks like that look, others don't, so it's up to you.

I don't know of anything that will really give it enough protection to keep the powder/cap flash from discoloring it some. Even painting it with some transparent paint won't do it because the temperature of the flash is higher than the paint can take. :hmm:

 

[Toomuch_36]

With the barrel "in-the-white" all that would be needed is to clean thouroughly and oil liberaly each time you are done shooting and over a short time (about year) the barrel will develope a soft brown patina.

Toomuch
..........
Shoot Flint

 

[Craig]

Thank you, both, for your advice. One additional question I have, now that you taught me something, is what causes that patina you both refer to? I understand browning a gun barrel to be causing a chemical rust that, once stopped, protects the barrel from further rust. (I don't completely understand it and maybe some day I will try to research the subject further.)

Is the soft brown patina that will form over year(s) rust? If it is, does it take so long to become a damaging process that I do not need to worry about it?

Also, I can see what is happening on the part of the barrel that shows but what about the part of the barrel that is hidden by the stock?

I only take my flintlocks out once a year to fire them. I may so it more often with my new rifle, but even then it won't be more than 2 or 3 times per year. In 5 years I have never removed the barrel on my Pedersoli Brown Bess Trade Gun (browned barrel) for cleaning. I did not want to mess up the pin holes.

Thanks again!

 

[paulvallandigham]

The condition of the barrel that is not exposed to the open air may differ, but usually only if you have packed the barrel channel of the stock with a grease or silicon packing, so that water and air do not reach the surfaces of the barrel there. I doubt you have done that, from what you write. As long as the guns are stored in a low humidity location in your home, there should be no problem with serious corrosion, or rusting. The patina we speak about is a slow oxidation that first shows as a graying of the metal, and then a light brown color. Once the barrel is covered in brown, the oxidation process is greatly reduced if not stopped, and oiling the barrel after each use is all that is required to keep it in top shape.

For those shooters who want to protect their barrels when out in the field during rain, mist, drizzle, snow, sleet, etc. packing the barrel channel with a good water pump grease, or silicon lubricants will keep moisture out of the wood of the barrel channel, and protect the metal that you can't see down there. You can use a wax, or lube around the edges of your lock plate to seal the insides from getting wet, there. I like to use one coat of stock finish on the inside of my lock mortise, and barrel channel to inhibit moisture from swelling the wood. I then seal the lockplate with lube on rainy day hunts.

I have had a ramrod swell once, so that it would not go back into my rifle until I dried it over night. I had taken it out of my stock when I tested it only to find it was swelling in the stock. I stuck it in the ground at the foot of the tree that was my " stand ", and when I finally was leaving my stand several hours later, the base of the rod had swollen so it would not enter the stock at all! I put more stock finish on the rod when I got home.

 

[Toomuch_36]

Yes it is an oxidation, just as the brass or silver furnature and inlays will tarnish over time. In the same process as the chemical browning solutions, once formed and stabilized it will become it'sown protective barrier as long as you keep it well cleaned and oiled. When you oil the barrel after cleaning (while the metal is still quite warm) the cooling steel will draw the oil back into itself. The part of the barrel that is hidden (protected) by the stock will take much longer, if ever, to reach this browned condition .

Toomuch
...........
Shoot Flint

 

[Zonie]

IMO, the only difference between "patina" and "browning" is the degree. They both are rust.

The "patinas" rust is so thin that it looks more like a darkened discoloration often with the base metals steel showing clearly thru. Nevertheless, it is rust.

One of the good things about rust is that it absorbs oil easily and this oil will protect the underlaying steel from further rusting.
The key word here is oil. If the oil film is removed by excessive handling or by using soap it must be replaced if it is to continue to protect the steel.

 

[Craig]

Thank you, all, for teaching me so much. I appreciate all the information I now have to not only decide what to do with my kit but also how to better care for the flintlocks I already own.