Belgian Blue or Rust Blue

[hilltopper55]

I have a Stevens 5100 double barrel that I am preparing to reblue. I do not know if I want to try Belgian Blue or Rust Blue. I am polishing down to 360 grit, and have cleaned and plugged the barrels. Does anyone know which is the best bluing and which is the easiest for a first timer to do? Thanks in advance. This is a great source of information for me.

 

[44-henry]

Belgium Blue is the quickest, but it is not quite as durable as a slow rust blue, color is similar though. I used to do a lot of this in the kitchen on the stove top using a half tank.

The slow rust blue isn't really any more, or less, difficult, but it does take a lot more time. Getting your metal polished (by hand is best) and clean is really the tough part of the process. If you can do a good job on that you shouldn't encounter any major problems during the rest of the job.

 

[dclevinger]

hilltopper,
Both processes are fairly similar and very durable, although I think rust blue gets a slight edge for wear. The main difference in the two is that, when doing rust blue, the parts must be left in a humid environment for about three hours. During that time, the parts develop a film of rust which turns black when boiled. Belgian blue does away with this step so it's also much faster.

The key is making sure that the parts are completely clean and applying thin even coats of the solution.

I've used Pilkington's Rust Blue, Herter's Belgian Blue and Mark Lee's Express Blue. All of them produce great results with the proper prepwork and application.

David

 

[Jim K]

Given the same method of use and preparation, Belgian blue will work the same as other types of rust blue.

Jim

 

[44-henry]

You might look at LMF Barrel Brown and Degreaser, I've used it for browning on several occasions and it works good for rust blue too. I still degrease the parts, but this stuff makes the process a bit easier with fewer booboos.

 

[hilltopper55]

Laurel Mountain Forge and Degreaser

Decieded on the LMF and am very gald I did. Worked great and very easy to use. Made a boiling tank from a 40" piece or damaged alum gutter I found at Lowe's. I glued the end caps on with a tube of Liquid Nails. I boiled the barrel after 3 hours the first time, and 4 hours the second time and 12 the third. I used wood dowels and sanded them to fit the barrels. I used 0000 steel wool to card the black rust after boiling. I was worried about it until I tried it and now it seems very easy. I guess everything is easy after you know how. P>S 1" foam brush works great to apply the LMF