Rust Browning GPR Barrel

[Mike_AK]

I am ready to rust brown my barrel using LMF. I built a little rack out of scrap lumber to put in my bathroom to hang the barrel from while the LMF does its stuff. I figure I will run the shower hot for a few minutes, shut it off, close the door, and let the rusting begin. That said, I want to hang the barrel from the little threaded hole in the end of the breech plug (not the hole for the nipple or the cleanout, but the one on the end of the hook). I eyeballed it and guessed #6 machine screw, but I was wrong. Anyone know the dimensions of that little threaded hole?

 

[BrownBear]

Nope. I just hung mine from the front underlug. The weight counter-balances it so it hangs at a little angle.

Couple of pieces of advice you didn't ask for:

Take a crock pot and set it on high in the bottom of your shower. The extra steam and heat will push the process along at a good clip, but just running hot water now and then is going to take you 8-10 days. Atsa long time to tie up the shower!

And second, use nothing finer than 220 grit paper to prep the metal. I know it says 320, but that produces way too fine a finish, and it's prone to coppering if you card it.

And speaking of carding, I finally decided it's best not to do it till you're through, rather than between LMF treatments. Kinda depends on the effect you want, but I like the results a whole lot better with the courser sand paper and no carding.

You'll sure like the looks of the GPR when it's browned! :thumbsup:

 

[Birddog6]

You can brown it in the bathroom in under 24 hrs, I do it on every rifle I build. Put a electric heater in the bathroom to maintain about 85 degrees or so. Run the shower on how til it is real steamy. (Run shower again about ever 1 to 1.5 hrs & keep it steamy & hot.... mirror should be dripping all the time. Block off all A/cond ducts)
Oil the bore, cork muzzle & vent or drum. Wash the barrel down good with some brake drum cleaner. Put on some powder free exam & apply the solution. Let it sit for 3 hours, then take it to a drill mounted in a vice with a Dixcel wheel on it (Brownells) card the barrel, go back & repeat process. Usually takes 6-7 applications & cards.

When done neutralize the barrel by boiling some baking soda in water, pour liberally over the barrel, when it dries immediately rub down with a paste wax or beeswax. Rub down good next day to insure the rusting has stopped. If it tries to rust more, wipe off the wax & wipe down liberally with ammonia, reapply wax & rub down again.

I never have trouble browning one, but sometimes it can get aggravating to get one to stop rusting. :idunno: I have tried about every solution, some barrels stop rusting right off, some it takes 2-3 days & several times to neutralize it.

:thumbsup:

PS: Tell you wife to STAY OUT. Those women think it is mandatory to have some kind of lotion on their hands. :shake: They touch the doorknob, then you touch the doorknob & then the barrel. crapola...... Now you have a place that won't brown & you get to start all over....
:idunno:

Every Time I pick the barrel up I put on new clean exam gloves so I don't contaminate it.

Note: The Dixcel Wheels is a special wheel that is for carding barrels. I would not try substituting for something dif. or cheaper, as you will peel the browning off faster than you got it on there.

:thumbsup:

Also, the hole you are wanting to hang it by has a Metric thread, that is why nothing you have tried fits.

 

[Mike_AK]

I ended up buying a humidifier and putting it in the bathroom. First application of LMF done. Barrel looks...well...rusty. I hope it gets better than this with more applications!

 

[Birddog6]

That should work. More applications will improve it, just keep at it. When you have it perfect....... do it one more time.......
:thumbsup:

 

[Mike_AK]

I finished the second application and carded it with cloth from an old pair of jeans. I'm a little disappointed. From the muzzle to about mid barrel, the finish is taking on a nice brown color and is smooth. From that point back to the breech, it is bumpy and the carding knocked off the tops of some of the bumps leaving tiny spots where you can see white metal below. Any advice on what I should do, or am I screwed? I applied the LMF using a lightly wetted patch of cloth using a single motion from breech to muzzle on each flat. I don't know what I did wrong to cause this.

 

[Birddog6]

Can't tell ya. But I do know if the mirror in that bathroom is not dripping wet & it is not about 85-90 deg in there, you are in for a long haul in browning it, to achieve a good solid browning job.

All I can say is keep applying it & see if it takes.

 

[lspjmp]

Mike,
I just finished building my first real Hawken from TOTW. Jim Bridger's Hawken.
I really like the look of blued metal, so I looked into the possibility of cold bluing using some steel that I bought at a local Fleet store. One attempt convinced me that cold bluing won't work.

So, my next attempt was browning. I tried LMF, but kept getting strange results. If you wipe back, it will get a copper color that apparently impedes the browning. I looked around on the internet and heard about this stuff called Dangler's browning solution and bought a bottle from Muzzleloader builders supply. It works a bit slower than the LMF, but is much more forgiving in my opinion. I finished all the metal but the barrel and tang with the Dangler's so I had a good idea how it worked. It is good stuff and gave me a very nice, smooth chocolate brown color on the metal.

However, when I did the barrel and tang, the tang came out perfect, but the barrel came out a bit rough and there are small streaks here and there. Most people won't notice it, but I sure do. I was disappointed at first, but the more I look around, the more I see that most barrels have a similar appearance. I think it is just the steel that is used in the barrel that reacts differently than the rest of the metal on the rifle.
I decided that I would not card my metal until I got a good 3-4 coats applied and it seems to have worked out well. Used a bit of Ballistol to oil it up afterward and it looks great! I love my new rifle.

Keep the humidity high and take your time. It may take 5-6 coats or more to look right.

Larry

 

[BrownBear]

I decided that I would not card my metal until I got a good 3-4 coats applied and it seems to have worked out well.

Keep the humidity high and take your time. It may take 5-6 coats or more to look right.

Larry

That's what I finally ended up doing with LMF, and I've been real happy with the end results. Just letterrip and don't do any carding till late in the process, and then only to get the "high spots" back down. I've never seen one that browned uniformly through the middle of the process, and the more you mess with it, the worse it gets. Just keep on applying without carding, and after 5 or 6 times everything comes up uniformly.

And yeah, the higher the humidity the better. I'm betting your humidifier is working fine right now, but may not be enough mid-summer there in FBX cuzz it's so dry on hot days. Even here in my wet climate, I try to restrict my browning to wet weather. Works fine with the crockpot sitting right under the metal in the shower, and would probably be even better with the humidifier.

It would be even simpler if I'd get off my hiney and build a sweat box, but......

 

[AZ Muzzle]

The only thing I do differently than most of the advice offered, is after I have washed the barrel with baking soda I hang the barrel in the hot AZ sun for a day, covered in 10W-30 motor oil. The oil seems to soak into the barrel and I always get a deep dark chocolate brown barrel with no streaks. I then wash off the excess oil after 24 hours of the oil sun treatment and then put a small coat of your favorite gun oil on the barrel and she is ready.

Mark B

 

[ohio ramrod]

After trying several types of browning solutions and methods I came to believe that : "Things go better with Coke " . I just clean and prep , and plug the barrels well and set them in a pluged piece of PCV pipe , fill the pipe with Coco Cola. Let set for a day and remove, wash with water and rub down with oil. :hmm: Don't drink the coke! :hmm:

 

[Zonie]

Just keep at it.
Also, sense you are applying the LMF like your supposed to (one swipe and no rubbing) are you applying it from the same end of the barrel each time? If so, you might want to alternate the direction every other time.

A humidifier usually doesn't stir up the air in the room so the moist air tends to be different at different heights.
Adding a small fan to keep the air stirred up is a good idea.

 

[lspjmp]

My barrel browning job was a bit disappointing and was much redder than the chocolate color I had on the rest of the metal. I accidentally got some Ballistol on the outside of the barrel after swabbing the inside with it. So, I thought I would wipe the outside with it as well. Now it looks great.......Just like the rest of the metal on the gun.
The barrel on my rifle is a Coleraine, and is very hard steel. I suspect it is just different than the rest of the steel parts on the gun and just reacts differently with the acid in the browning solution.

One more thing to remember before I start my next rifle project.....

Larry

 

[Mike_AK]

Alternating directions is a good tip. I tried that on the third coat. It's in the bathroom rusting as I type. Thanks everyone.

 

[Zonie]

It's about time for your wife to say, "WHY ON EARTH WOULD YOU TAKE A NICE NEW PART AND MAKE IT ALL RUSTY. THAT LOOKS POSITIVELY TERRIBLE!!!!!
Oh, have you seen my pink hair curlers? I need to put my hair up."
:rotf:

 

[Birddog6]

Years ago I started browning a barrel one time & my wife looked at that barrel & said "Please tell me that is NOT that brand new Douglas barrel you just bought"....... :youcrazy: :rotf: :rotf: