Gun Blue Experiment

[RaceM]

Recently I picked up a beater HWM Windicator in 38 Special for an around-the-house/truck gun. As is typical of used zamak framed guns the paint had seen better days with lots of holster wear. Figuring to pretty it up some and keep the frame from corroding out here in the rainy northwest I detail stripped the gun and proceeded to repaint it. THREE times.

Didn’t seem to matter the kind of paint, the prep, or whether or not it was primered first the paint just wouldn’t stay. Since I wear it on my hip almost constantly it’s always gettin’ banged against doorways, the tractor, etc. Within a couple days the paint would start chipping off near the hammer. I dunno, maybe ceracoat or duracoat would work better, but I’m stingy and the gun ain’t worth investing a lot of effort or money into.

Today I’ve gone a different route, trying Casey’s Super Blue. Stripped her down, sanded some scratches with 600 grit, hit it all over with 000 steel wool, then degreased with carb spray. Applied the blue with a sopping wet cotton ball, let sit, light scrub with steel wool, reapply. Took it in to the sink and ran the water as hot as I could get, let it soak a couple minutes to suck up some heat, then scrubbed with a toothbrush. Repeated the application, rinse and scrub twice more.

Turned out pretty well. The resulting color is a satin grey-black, a couple shades lighter than the cylinder & barrel, with just enough tooth to hang on to oil. Guess we’ll all find out in a few days if this is any kind of durable. Gotta be better than paint chipping off, and touchups should only need a few dabs with a Q-tip.

 

[Clipper]

After cutting, recrowning, smoothing and polishing my 91/30 sporter, I used Super Blue on it and two years later, it still looks great.

 

[tyeo098]

Pics or it didnt happen!

 

[RaceM]

Ask and ye shall receive. It's already showing holster wear at the front of the frame on the corners, but that's expected given that the holster's had dirt, sawdust, and grinding dust down the inside more than once. Already banged it off a doorway but no marks near the hammer so far.

 

[john323]

Not a bad job.Looks good.

 

[Old Shooter]

I did pretty much the same thing with an early RIA government 45 and it turned out looking pretty nice. Nice enough that another fella offered me a lot more than the gun was worth to me, I let him take it home and made the deposit to the bank.

Really, the finish came out much nicer than I had expected and made that gun a real looker.

 

[RaceM]

Been about a week so I figgered it's time for an update. So far it seems to be holding up pretty well. Still banging the gun on doorways, counter edges, etc., but not showing any marks near the hammer at all. The holster wear seems to have stabilized on the frame corners at the front, and is just starting on top of the rear sight. Guess I'll give it to the end of the month then see how and where it's worn off. At least it looks better now than any paint job I did after a week. Might even get motivated now to make a new holster for it.

 

[Caveman4]

Just a comment from an old gear head, carb cleaner has oil in it, I use brake cleaner to prep my gasket surfaces, I clean my new dies with brake cleaner also

 

[RaceM]

Huh, learn somethin' new every day. Next time I do something like this I'll see if there's any residue left after spraying. Didn't seem to be as the blue went right on, no spotting or problems that I saw. Thanks for the tip.

 

[jjjitters]

Would heating the parts up in the oven work even better? get it up to 200F,for the bluing to soak in the "pores" better(wife would have to be away). Have an old project that I'm interested in re-blue attempt,just interested.

 

[Mango88]

I've used a hair dryer to heat up metal parts rather than using the oven and risking the wife's ire. I touched up my Single Six about a year and a half ago with Blue Wonder and it has held up well. The Blue Wonder cleaning gel works very well on hot metal and I recommend it highly.