From Black to OE Steel finish

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scrat

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Ok i have been reading enough information that i made a decision to de blue one of my revolvers. I took the cheapest one my pietta purchased from Cabelas. Yesterday i started really thinking then today i took out a pan took apart the gun then just let it sit in vinegar until all the finish was completley off. Then comes the thinking part everyone had been mentioning about M.A.S.S. However having once part owned a machine shop and having worked in the automotive industry for many years. I went back to my old school thinking.

The following pictures are the before pics. Look at the octagon barrel thats the subject.

1851 Navy Confederate

IMG_1695.jpg

IMG_1691.jpg

100_0818.jpg

100_0817.jpg
 
So how did i do it


1. Take the barrel and wedge off.
2. Soak the barrel, Wedge, Cylinder in Vinegar
3. I let it soak for almost an hour
4. Clean them off with hot hot water.
5. Dry off all parts.
6. Get out the Mothers

Yep Mothers Mag & Aluminum Polish
Then comes the elbow grease work. I have polished the parts for about 45 minutes. The top of the barrel i spent about 20 minutes just on that. It almost looks like a chrome finish. Now im just going to polish it up to even out the polish on all areas then lubricate all the moving parts and down the throats again.

In person it looks really sharp
 
Do you guys have to watch for rust accumulating on these guns since you de-blued and polish them, or would you have to watch for rust more often than a blued gun?

Just wondering, as I'm thinking about doing this.
 
Jamie C., what Lee mold is that and how do the conicals shoot? I'm thinking of trying some in my new Walker, probably need the lee .456 conicals.
Do they load easy? Do you have to decrease the powder charge?
 
JCT, it's a Lee mold. It drops 200 grain conicals.
Lee claims this one is a .450 mold, but the bullets drop a bit bigger than that.... .451 or .452.

You can get one here:
Lee Conical BP Revolver Bullet Mold
( Cabela's has 'em on sale right now. )

I've not run anything but these through my gun, so I can't really say if they're harder to load than ball. I figure with the extra bearing surface they about have to be though. Still, I haven't broke anything yet loading 'em up, so it can't be too bad.

They shoot okay, but as I said, I haven't shot anything else to compare 'em to yet. Other folks here have done a comparison between ball and conicals, and ball seems to be at least a bit more accurate. So the best bet is to try 'em yourself and see how they fair in your gun and your hands.

As for decreasing the powder charge, given the length and shape of the bullet, I'd say you'll certainly have to come down a grain or two if you shoot maximum loads. There's just more lead taking up room in the chamber.

I don't have any trouble getting 25 or 30 grains of powder in behind them in the Remington though. ( I also don't use any kind of wad behind them. If you do, that'll be that much more powder that won't fit. )



J.C.
 
not a bit of rust but then its only been a few days. i believe if you just left it at raw steel it will eventually rust with any kind of moisture. However the metal polish not only brings out the shine and clean but protects the gun as well. Same time though whenever i go to store any gun for a period of time the whole gun gets a light coat of oil inside and out. Just pulled it out of the safe right now and its still as shiny and clean as can be. I put a lot of thought in this i was kicking around weather or not to do it. I really was leaning to the NOT but i just took a chance out of it and im really glad i did. it is so easy to do.
 
I guess I should'a mentioned that all I ever do with my Remmie is wipe it down with olive oil after I clean it. No special preservatives or metal protectants used on it at all, and it doesn't seem to rust any faster than when it was blued.

Oh, and this is my "House and Yard" gun... it's been out in the rain more than once, and is apt to sit outside with me 'til way late at night during the summer. More than once I've had to wipe the dew off of it when I brought it back in. And still no significant rust, even after a year of that treatment.
 
Well im going shooting again on Saturday. I dont mind putting a coat of mothers on it after a good shooting. You know what though it looks really really good. Kinda looks nickel coated.
 
It does look good with your brass frame scrat...

I did the barrel and loading lever today, may do the rest later or just leave it like it is, it looks kind of cool with the barrel like it is... :) then again I'm thinking about browning it too..

shinegt1.jpg
 
i had mine like that for about an hour. then i just had to do the cylinder. just did not make any sense to have a 4 colored gun. Gray on the barrel, black on the cylinder, brass on the fram and brown on the grips. So the cylinder got deblued too. Looks like you need to spned some more time polishing yours. Wow they sure do look good though. Any of you guys thinking of doing it. The pictures do not show how good it really looks.
 
Ok i have fired it twice putting around 100 round balls through her. I cleaned it up. Seems as though clean up on a polished frame is easier. I dried it off really good then oiled her back up. Then i just could not help it so i took out the mothers and polished it back up. However i noticed it did not do much difference. The guns shine is really there after clean up. Second time after i fired same thing, Except this time i just cleaned it up and oiled it. So now its put away. No mothers on it. Still holds its shine no rust or anything.

Im really glad i deblued it. Im sure i will do it again in the future. Howeve i have to invest in more toys first.
 
i have to post pics of my other 1851 they look pretty sharp all White steel. Very easy to maintain and they look great.
 
Scrat, Ive got two with the blue removed. I clean them up and spray with silicone from Wal Mart. Never have rust and I dont touch them for a month at a time.
 
I think I'll do my 1860 Army this weekend. Thanks everybody for the information and pictures. They all look great.

Best...IR
 
Great Job there scrat, that '51 is a screamin'...
I got a '58 Rem I traded for from Mississippi been in the white for some time, nare one spec a rust on it...Just took it out on 14 NOV it's a tack driver and it gave off no glare.
Here a 1973 '58 Rem in the white jus' back from the range...
11-16-08_1554.jpg


SG
 
here's mine

IMG_0567.jpg

IMG_0568.jpg


I did mine cause I was sick of lousy cold blues and I have a thing for polished metal and red. Before I just sprayed the grips Krylon red. Everyone hated it so I just refinished the walnut grips using red wood dye and truoil. Of course the grips show up alittle more red than they are, they have an orange cast to them.
Mine was an EMF "kit" (ASM) I got in the late eighties. It arrived blued and assembled except for a large casting lump at the breach of the barrel, unshaped grips and rough cast trigger guard. I got into the cold bluing attempts when I finally had to grind off the breach lump. Never did look right.
Jack (first post)
 
To Scrat - Thanks for courage to do what you did. I will be posting my pictures as soon as I can get the camera away from my wife. I have an 1860 EMF Hartford Army. Bought a stainless fluted cylinder from Cabelas, followed scrat's instructions and it looks VERY nice.Thanks again, All my best IR
 
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