I've viewed videos on bluing, and doing it right appears to be a learned skill. It is one I do not have. What I have is a recently purchased S&W Model 10 with a 4" Bull Barrel that looks absolutely gorgeous (is it all right to say that?). But....... there is one issue: on the right side of the barrel there is one spot about 1/6th inch in diameter that has lost its bluing. It really takes away from the appearance of the pistol. Here is my dilemma: will I be compelled if I want to deal with it, to at least resign myself to cold bluing, at least, the barrel of the pistol? There was one video that was particularly well done that involved use of grinders and some other tools I just don't have nor could justify for this (not to mention my concern that I could really screw it up and ruin the pistol). So to make a short story long are there some more idiot proof alternatives where if I got started could limit the work to the specific area I want to re-blue and not take a chance of screwing things up royal? In other words some kind of bluing touch up kit? I understand the question may not be asked that articulately but I thing you get the point. Thank you in advance for any recommendations. bib

I just posted on another thread and bared my soul about hazards of rebluing . Check out Blue Wonder products while you are thinking , and for heaven sake do not grind , polish with anything especially power equipment , nor let any Gun Smith convince you to trust him , until you have schooled yourself on all your options . If I can save you from making the same mistake I did , maybe i won't still go to hell just for being stupid .

Model 27 restoration?

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Idaho , Elmer and Milt

I've tried to do major cold-blue "touch up" on older firearms.

I always encounter these issues:
1. On hard metals (typically receivers) the cold blue just won't "take" very well.
2. On soft metals (gun BARRELS are a good example), the blue may take surprisingly well if the metal is stripped before application. But that "surprisingly good" cold blue finish will rust in an instant if exposed to damp conditions.
3. Where cold-blue is applied to worn areas adjacent to still-nicely-finished areas the junction between the cold-blued area and the original finish will develop a hazy "corona" where the disparate finishes meet.

For these reasons, I find cold-blue to be generally unsatisfactory.

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WWSSD?
What would Skeeter do?

Just the opinion of one old fart--leave it alone. Cold blue[I use Brownell's Dicropan], and have for more than 20 years. It does work well on things like sights, edges of trigger guards, and other edges, when used properly. On flat surfaces, it will look just like a touch up job.

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the world is round everywhere

Whut GLV sed!!

Based on 40 or so botched touchups I have done, I say listen to GLV.

I disagree to an extent. What they others have said is true but you are not doing a total re blue. As long as you do not make things worse or as Drs say, "Due no Harm", than I see no reason not to touch up. No grinding or sanding. Just a little super fine steel wool, degrease and touch up. Yes, it will look a little different but IMO it looks better than a big spot with no bluing. When it wears off, then you can re do it or you are just back to were you started. I would rather look at a slight off color blue than rust or bare metal. With several coats and light steel wool you can blend pretty well.
It looks better than touch up paint on my car

GunTech : Introduction to Cold Blue Finishes - World's Largest Supplier of Firearm Accessories, Gun Parts and Gunsmithing Tools

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Still Running Against the Wind

Cold blue works on inferior blue finishes, it will never match Smith, or any other quality bluing.....one more vote for GLV's sage advice

Go ahead and use cold blue, if you feel the need. But be aware that even though the worn spot may no longer be a glaring white spot, it will never really blend in completely with the surrounding finish. I will sometimes use it, sometimes not. No sort of grinding is needed.

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Pisgah

good luck, yes, you may make it "dark" but NEVER blend in to any 'lustre' Smith or Colt finish, yes, "close" on a 'matte' finish,but still not a perfect blend in......I have never ,ever seen one in all the years we've been refinishing firearms (since the late 1960's)
any touch up will "jump out at you".........yep, just 'darken' the bare metal.

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dan
NRA Benefactor,PMA

You are getting some good advice on cold bluing. I have never seen any gun touched up with cold blue that didn't look exactly like a gun that had been touched up with cold blue. If you can't have the entire gun professionally blued, then leave it alone!

I used Brownells Dicropan to touch up extreme holster wear on a Mdl 15 ex police revolver I purchased at a good price. Yes if you look closely you can tell it was touched up. However, it looks a whole bunch better than a two tone pistol with largish silver grey spots all along the barrel and cyl. The gun is not a collectors piece and I carry/shoot it. the touch up has worn well and is easy to redo.

Try a black or blue Sharpie. It should hide the mark and not cause any damage. Probably won't help with rust, but it will look better. I've used it on slight mars when assembling an AR, but those are aluminum.

So you are picky about your S&W revolvers. You have 2 options on the white spot:

1. Reblue the gun at S&W or by another professional.

2. Make a worse mess with cold blue, and reblue the gun at S&W or by another professional.

Don't bother asking how I know.

Don't buy a blemished gun and think you will be happy with the blemish. Wait and buy the best gun you can find for more money and skip the extra work and double shipping charges!!!!

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S&WHF 366

Yep ~ it'll most likely always look like a touch-up job.

Pay accordingly for guns with cosmetic damage. If it's a rare gun or one you otherwise just simply can't live without and the finish is just a total loss ~ get it cheap enough to send it to the factory for a professional refinish.

It never bothered me to see someone else pay too much for a gun.

The cold hard facts about re-bluing a gun.
I don't know what you paid for your Model 1O. It doesn't really matter, but lets say you paid $300 for it.

You can send it back to S&W and have it re-blued for around $275 including shipping to and from Springfield.

You will now have a beautiful shooter in which you have $575.00 invested, and you can probably sell for $275.00

You can cold blue the spot on your gun to help protect it from further rust etc., if you wish, or just make sure you keep a good CLP oil on it and shoot it forever and enjoy it for what it is, a truly classic revolver that everyone should own.

I got lucky once on a barrel that was a bit thin in the finish department. I degreased it with alcohol and used Oxpho-Blue. It came out great. I probably won't ever get that lucky again.

Dwight

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Veritas et Humanitas

I've been using Oxphoblue gel that comes from Brownells to touch up my blued revolvers. It doesn't blend in completely but it will hold lube on the surface better than bare metal so it's worth putting on the gun as a better rust preventative than just leaving bare metal IMO.

When I joined the forum many moons ago, there was a thread about cold blue touch up where someone explained in detail why cold bluing and hot blue doesn't mix (blend). To paraphrase what I remember, because of the difference in the two chemicals for Cold/Hot bluing... one acidic the other alkaline, a reaction takes place where they touch and it is why you get that halo/ring effect around the cold bluing spot that makes it stand out.

I've tried Blue Wonder... in my opinion/experience, it's not worth the money and frustration of trying to get it applied "just right" for it to look good.

Out of curiousity, I used it on an "in the white" steel grip frame I fitted to a Old Model Ruger Blackhawk a few weeks ago and after a number of attempts of trying to get it to a dark blue, following both written and video instructions on the Blue Wonder website, I gave up and stripped back to bare metal and used Brownell's Oxpho-Blue which turned out great.

As others have said, you would be better served to leave it be unless you can have it fully refinished.

The responses you have gotten here by these folks is great. They know what they are talking about. I only want to add one more thought. I have used blue wonder as well as other over the counter bluing solutions. IF I want to go this touch up route, I use blue wonder. I like it and have learned to be patient and keep working it until I get a satisfactory finish. My main comment is that even a factory blue is NOT to be taken for granted, that it will match the present blue job. In the 1980's I damaged the crane on a model 19. It had a deep, rich blue finish on the entire revolver. An excellent blue job, I had to send it to S&W for the repair and opted for their "reccommended" re-blueing of the entire gun. When I got it back, I was literraly sick when I saw it. The revolver was now a black, not blue, semi gloss finish. They said it was their typical "bright blue finish" and could not be any better. Maybe this issue has been corrected since 1985. If your revolver has one of those great deep blue finishes, I would suggest you see the work of anyone that you might consider to re blue it. I cast another vote for, leave it alone. Good luck! "sometimes less is more"

I feel your pain and have had my share of bad experiences with touch-up blue. If it were just holster wear that would be one thing, but this sounds different and it would bother me, too. I have had some positive experience with Oxpho blue, but probably the best you can hope for is to make the spot less noticeable. If it were me, though, I would try Wonder Blue. They claim that it will only blue the exposed metal and not change the surrounding blue. If this is true, it will solve one of the big problems with cold blue which is that surrounding metal. If you try it, please let us know the results.

I've had Brownells Oxpho blue work for me once on a Colt barrel. It looks perfect and it does not stink. I finished it off with Renaissance Wax. I probably will never get that lucky again.

Dwight

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Veritas et Humanitas