Does blued stainless work?

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notsofast

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Can a stainless S&W revolver be blued? The gun is a dull finish stainless (media blasted 627 pro) that I assume would need smoothing and polish before the blueing.
Will the end result be a traditional deep & shiny S&W blue?
Thanks
 
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I don't think it's chemically possible, though I have heard of "bluing" treatments that work with stainless.

Most people that want that look get their guns black nitrited. Yeah, it's black, not blue, but is far more durable than coatings that flake off.
 
Technical a "blue nitride" should be doable...

[ame]https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6_vH998GFt0[/ame]

...but don't ask me about costs.


P.44
 
I've seen a number of blue (mostly black) stainless finishes that were quite nice, but always a satin or matte shine. I've not seen a high polish blue/black on stainless. Thirty years ago I had a stainless Ruger Gold Label O/U blackened...called it my Ruger Black Label. I know where it is now and the finish has held up very well.
 
Here’s my most recent example of blued (nitride) SS. Notice the shade of SS 625-10 barrel from rest of gun (M1917)
6527d5d114066f6d7636a1fd80b3359a.jpg



ETA:
I should add that the gun posted may not be a good example to answer your question as I wanted a satin low-luster finish rather than high luster. And at least an entire gun in SS should match color wise.
 
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"Bluing" or "blued" refers to a variety of specific chemical processes for controlled rusting of carbon steel to effect a blue appearance and minor abrasion and corrosion protection.

Stainless steel does not take to the process and the term "bluing" doesn't correctly apply, irrespective of whether stainless has been darkened through one of the several other processes that can achieve that.

As mentioned, nitriding (aka: ferritic nitrocarburizing; quench-polish-quench; trade names like Melonite, Tenifer, Hard Hat, etc.); Cerakoting (and similar spray-and-bake); Ion Bond (PVD); and an oxidizing process that turns the chrome in the stainless to chrome-sulfide, blackening it.

None of that, however, is bluing.

Of the processes that work on stainless, I believe nitrocarburizing, Ion Bond and perhaps chrome-sulfide blackening are amenable to metal preparation producing reflectivity from matte to high lustre, depending upon the polishing applied to the stainless; spray-and-bake does not.
 
It is possible to blue the types of stainless steel used in firearms.
Brownell's sell the special hot bluing chemical, which is a variation of standard bluing salts.

The problem is, it's difficult to have complete success every time, the finish isn't as dark as a standard hot salts blue job, and it's not as durable.

For these reasons, most of the refinishers who offered the process have stopped due to difficulty of getting it right every time and customers dissatisfied with the job.

BROWNELLS OXYNATE(R) NO. 84 - HOT CHEMICAL BLUING COMPOUND | Brownells
 
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Hapworth said:
"Bluing" or "blued" refers to a variety of specific chemical processes for controlled rusting of carbon steel to effect a blue appearance and minor abrasion and corrosion protection.

Stainless steel does not take to the process and the term "bluing" doesn't correctly apply, irrespective of whether stainless has been darkened through one of the several other processes that can achieve that.

As mentioned, nitriding (aka: ferritic nitrocarburizing; quench-polish-quench; trade names like Melonite, Tenifer, Hard Hat, etc.); Cerakoting (and similar spray-and-bake); Ion Bond (PVD); and an oxidizing process that turns the chrome in the stainless to chrome-sulfide, blackening it.

None of that, however, is bluing.

Of the processes that work on stainless, I believe nitrocarburizing, Ion Bond and perhaps chrome-sulfide blackening are amenable to metal preparation producing reflectivity from matte to high lustre, depending upon the polishing applied to the stainless; spray-and-bake does not.
Click to expand...

THIS IS A VERY INFORMATIVE POST.....

IMHO---THE COST OF THE PROCESSES, OTHER THAN DIY SPRAY 'N BAKE, WOULD NEVER BE RECOUPED.....

A DIY SPRAY 'N BAKE, MIGHT BE A GOOD TACTIC TO IMPROVE THE EXTREMELY POOR VISUAL APPEAL OF A BEATER, HOWEVER......
 
That Brownells Oxynnate 84 Stainless Steel bluing salt works well but takes more than casual attention to your bluing work as you go along.
It was used in a large shop I worked in at one time and worked just fine. Most of the work was to 'blue' stainless steel rifle bbls that were put onto blued steel actions.
People liked the idea of a SS bbl but not the 2-tone look on a classic sporter rifle.

I was surprised that the salts are listed as just Sodium Hydroxide and Sodium Nitrate on the MSDS of it.
Nothing more than what we used to use to make up home made hot bluing salts years ago.
Maybe they put something else into it, a proprietary chemical(s), not listed.

>
3. Composition/information on ingredients
Mixtures
Chemical name Common name and synonyms CAS number %
SODIUM HYDROXIDE....1310-73-2.......60 - < 100
SODIUM NITRATE ........7631-99-4.......10 - < 25
 
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dfariswheel said:
It is possible to blue the types of stainless steel used in firearms.
Brownell's sell the special hot bluing chemical, which is a variation of standard bluing salts.

The problem is, it's difficult to have complete success every time, the finish isn't as dark as a standard hot salts blue job, and it's not as durable.

For these reasons, most of the refinishers who offered the process have stopped due to difficulty of getting it right every time and customers dissatisfied with the job.

BROWNELLS OXYNATE(R) NO. 84 - HOT CHEMICAL BLUING COMPOUND | Brownells
Click to expand...
Is that a true controlled rust? My understanding is that the oxidized "blackened" stainless is a chemical conversion affecting color, not an actual rusting process like bluing?

If it's truly a controlled rust, I've learned something new and appreciate it.
 
notsofast said:
Can a stainless S&W revolver be blued? The gun is a dull finish stainless (media blasted 627 pro) that I assume would need smoothing and polish before the blueing.
Will the end result be a traditional deep & shiny S&W blue?
Thanks
Click to expand...

Talk to Robbie Barrkman at Robar. They offer a blackened stainless finish, but I am not sure about what it might look like if the weapon were polished prior to finishing.

They have other finishes as well that can darken stainless.
 
Hello, food for thought, I Have a couple of handguns that were black hard chromed by APW back in the day. SS can hard chromed so why not do it in black?
Just sayin.
Semper paratus
 
My stainless Colt Gov't model was 'blued' after the engraving.

1911-Colt-Engraved.jpg


Colt Defender's slide was 'blued',

Colt-Commander-BUG.jpg



I've had several S&W stainless revolvers run through the black oxide tanks...

I used a commercial black oxide shop to do that.......

The salts they used work on all the stainless bolts and nuts they ran everyday.

.
 
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Firearms grade stainless steel contains enough percentage of carbon that it can be blued.
That type of stainless is nothing like utensil or surgical grade stainless steels.

There are a number of ways to blacken stainless, including firearms grade.
On the first stainless S&W revolvers the rear sights were bare stainless.
Soon after S&W began blackening the sights by some method.
These sights have an "S" stamped on the bottom of the leaf portion.

This seems to be more durable then bluing, so I assume that it was some other process.
I don't know what the process was but it was a flat black color that I've seen on other stainless guns and parts.

TechPlate lists stainless blackening as Type 2, 3, and 4 Alkaline Oxidizing and Fused Salt Oxidizing.

Black Oxide Coating [MIL-C-13942C] causes no dimensional change. Used mostly as a decorative coating
 
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Most of the Modern Smith and Wesson stainless guns that are darker in color are finished in IonBond

627pinto2s.jpg

This is a Black finish. However, I know that other colors are available

IonBond that be very shiny, it is dependent on surface preparation
 
I had a 7mm mag built on a 98 Magnum action with a stainless
barrel back in early 70s. A buddy of mine started this project
with our gunsmith. I took it over before it was done and had
barrel blued. Smith sent it to a process that plates barrel with
copper and then iron. It produced a deep dark blue. It was expensive even back then and iron will chip off down to copper.
It didn't happen to me but I was warned. Our smith sent plated
guns to same outfit to have plating removed. I think company was in Baltimore.
 
AS we all know, stainless used in firearms will rust eventually under the proper conditions so it will blue as well.

The shine of blued stainless, exactly like carbon steel bluing, is totally determined by the surface polish.

So if you want a bright shiny finish the bead blast finish must be sanded/polished to a mirror finish, then blued.

Bluing stainless is no more expensive than bluing carbon steel. Those that do it know the proper heat levels, duration in the tank, and salt mix. Polishing your gun will be more of the cost than the bluing.

This 1917 pre war factory style 4" non-ribbed, tapered, and shrouded barrel started life as a Stainless Mtn Gun target barrel. I finished the barrel with a 400 grit to better match the original WW I semi bright blue. It is blue not black. If I wanted a bright blue I'd finish with 2000 grit with a final light buffing:

standard.jpg


The barrel started life as one of these, a SS tapered taget barrel for a 45 Colt Mtn Gun:

IMG_0596.jpg


I milled off the rib and milled down the integral front sight base to match the pre war integral 1/2 round fixed sight base:

standard.jpg


The barrel cost $40 to blue here:

Run-N-Iron - General Gunsmithing
RUN-N-IRON Customizing
10116 - 744 Road
Bertrand, Nebraska 68927
308-472-1445
[email protected]

They also CCH like for S&W hammers and triggers.

Durabilty has been as good as the rest of the gun for the two years since finishing.

I'd have a hard time justifying any of the high priced finishes when I can get stainless blued like this.
 
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