[John357]

Hello everyone, Im new to THR (although I've been a long time reader) but I have a question for y'all, I plan on fixing up one of my old 870's that was camouflage (dipped?) from the factor and has since been spray painted. My question is can I Sand it back to bare metal and cold blue it? Thanks in advance for the advice.

[rcmodel]

You can, but you will be very disapointed with the best cold blue job in a few short months.
It won't last nearly as long, or ever look as good as a normal hot salts blue job.

I'd suggest you bite the bullet and have it professionally re-blued.
You won't be sorry.

rc

[John357]

Thank you RC, do you have any recommended company's for such a job?

[rcmodel]

I don't in your area.

Maybe the Yellow Pages?

Or Fords in FLA is real good.
http://www.fordsguns.com/

rc

[Mauser lover]

NO!!!! Don't cold blue it!
NO!!! Don't send it off to be blued either!
Slow rust blue it! It will offer just as good a finish as a professional hot salt bluing, and be almost as easy as cold bluing.
Click on my username, search my threads, and click on the one that is titled "Slow rust bluing"; enjoy.

Edit: Or I could just post a link to it...

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=657572

[jkpq45]

If the 870 receiver is as high-chromium content as my 1100, your rust bluing process will fall short. I've studied the process and tried it twice in both humid and dry seasons, but it's of the wrong composition to rust! Consequently, I'm considering just polishing it.