How many of you guys have refinished a gun yourselves?

[Model29-26.5]

How did it go?
I’m working my way up to doing it when I find the right beater for the right price.
I’d take it to be blued elsewhere but I’d want to do the prep.
Any advice, stories or before/after photos of home refin revolvers?
Essential tools or polishing equipment/conpounds? Substances?
Thanks

 

[Patrick L]

I have done a lot of stock refinishing, and over the last 2 or 3 years I have started playing with slow rust bluing. So far have limited that to shotguns, but if the right revolver came along I'd probably bite.

If I did this right, here is a thread I ran last winter about my Ithaca M37 rust blue

Ithaca Model 37 Rust Blue

 

[SweetMK]

I have done rifle stocks,, and cold bluing,,

that is why,, now,,
I only shoot the 617, 681, 629,,
and mostly a Ruger MKII stainless Competition pistol,,

Notice a "trend",,,???

 

[stansdds]

Refinish a whole gun... does using KG Gunkote count?

 

[Andyd]

I got a Mauser C96 that was finish challenged and did some work on it. I rust blued it to give the gun to my youngest son as a Christmas present. The time I spent on this is ridiculous!

 

[DWalt]

By far, the easiest way is bead blasting, but you don’t get a highly polished appearance.

 

[Bald1]

The prep work is the expensive part of rebluing. If I were paying for a reblue I’d let them do the prep.

 

[2152hq]

I've done a lot of them. Rifles, handguns, shotguns.
Vintage stuff as a rule. But I worked in the firearms restoration biz for over 50yrs. A little over 30yrs of it was full time.

Lots of room betw refinishing and restoration but the processes are actually the same in many instances.
It's the techniques & skill used to apply them, attention to detail and knowing what the final look is supposed to be in a restoration to factory spec/look.

A very nice refinish can be done w/o the intense labor often needed for a restoration nor the specialty finishes to match those of older period guns.

Not every gun needs to be Restored. Some classics when worn shouldn't be casually 'refinished' just to make them shiny blue again either IMO.
Each should be judged on it's own.

Most work in either direction can be done with simple tools if hand labor is expended. Lots of hours at times are needed at times so the efforts turn out to the labor of love often talked about.
Repairs is where machinery often comes in to play for use more than in refinishing as a 'need'. But much can be done with common tools and skills.
Learning curves can be long and $$ returns low & slow if you go in for the businss side of it..

 

[Drm50]

I had a nickel plated 1911 that was low round count gun. I decided I wanted a target 1911. Went to gunsmith and he was going to send gun
somewhere in Baltimore to have reverse process take nickel off. My old man was present and he said he would remove nickel with aluminum oxide from mini blaster they used to clean precision parts in instrument shop.
When done gun looked like a mirror. Lettering was sharp and OM didn’t round anything off. OM & gunsmith were patting each other on the back for job well done. Then I get call from GS. He was widely known for his blue jobs, he was going crazy. I ran over there and my 1911 looked like a pinto
There were small irregular patches of nickel that was feather and not removed. GS was all upset and wring his hands. I said don’t worry about it leave it that way. Became know as the Pinto Bean. Everyone wanted it. Guy made me a deal I couldn’t refuse and he owned it.

 

[wood714]

I cleaned up a friends old Mossberg 410 500. Came out most well compared to when I got it.

 

[2152hq]

Here is a 1950Model Mannlicher Schoenaur.
9 IIRC drilled and tapped extra holes in the action for 2 different scope mt bases.
Right thru the factory lettering in many instances and those on the left side of the action ment thru into the inside of the bolt raceway as well.
The metal had all been buffed and reblued at some point too.






Damage from the D&T jobs plus rust and old epoxy used to fill the space meant for the factory dummy side plate when the actual scope mt on the side was not fitted (which it was not)
Broken off screw in left side of recv'r.

Holes cleaned up and filled with plugs,,no welding done.





Factory lettering recut and that which was removed during the D&T processes is put back carefully by hand engraving. Surfaces polished back to clean sharp edges and contours. Inside of bolt raceway polished to to leave clean smooth surface and any sign of the old mount screw holes that poked thru.







The rest of the metal polished by hand to reclaim flat surfaces, sharp edges and proper contours from the prior buffer job.
Factory lettering on bbl, floor plate, even proof marks etc were recut.
Then the parts were Slow Rust Blued.









The stock was in fine shape and simply cleaned up. The epoxy filler that was slapped into place to fill in where the factory dummy side plate rests was removed of course. The void was filled with a carefully cut piece of wood and made to match the stock profile allong the action in that area.
I made it only approx 1/4" in depth into the cavity itself so that in the future someone could (with care) cut that section away for a side mount to fit nicely and not have to inlet the full depth.
The owner expressed no intent on using a scope on the rifle, but he appreciated the work being done that way.
The Rust Blue was a simple set up as you can see.

The most complicated machinery involved in the job was a drill press. Other than that it's all common hand tools.
Learn what you need to do, Practice and keep at it. Don't let anyone tell you it can't be done.
Don't watch the clock,,,that's for jobs you don't like showing up for.

 

[Greyman50]

Outstanding job on the Steyr, I worked for a machine tool co from there. Guys had some really nice older Steyr rifles we shot on my farm.

 

[LVSteve]

I did an alumahyde job on a FAL lower that turned out OK, but then I wasn't expecting/wanting some kind of high quality finish.

Another time I spent weeks putting boiled linseed oil (BLO) on the dried out stock of a Chilean 1912 Mauser long rifle. The stock felt like a piece of dried out driftwood when I got it. It soaked up a whole bunch of BLO before it looked and felt right.

 

[chief38]

I have done a fair share. About the only thing I won't do is hot bluing. For the rare occasion I want that done, I send it out. I haven't sent a gun out in 20+ years and do not think I will ever need a re-blue again.

These day it is more important than ever that one can be self sufficient and not have to rely on sending guns out. It will only become harder and more expensive, another form of gun control!

 

[Farmer17]

Back in the 1990s and and early 2000s I was buying a lot of old S&W revolvers pretty cheap. Most had been carried and or shot a lot with little to no speckling and no bad scratches or dings and I would rate them at 70-85 percent condition. I would remove the finish on the grips and rub them with tung oil and use Blue Wonder and a hair dryer to help out the blue finish and I could usually bring them up to a 90-95 percent level. Some guns improved a lot and some just a little bit but all guns looked better and for very little work or expense.

 

[Sea Bass]

I’ve refinished a beater S&W M&P from around 1926. Got it from a pawn shop to learn how to rust blue.
In the before picture, it’s not of good quality, but the entire pistol has no finish and has a light coat of rust everywhere, like cinnamon. The only bluing is in the flutes. It’s hard to make out, but someone etched “KY” and then some numbers on the side plate. I think it was a firearm at a jail or something - it wasn’t fired a lot, but apparently cleaned daily or weekly over the years, the grips are worn smooth.

Anyway, I disassembled it, degreased it, boiled it, carded it, and soaked it in used motor oil. There was some minor pitting in areas and the etching, but I am happy how it turned out. Only boiled it once, should have done it 2 or 3 times, but with its flaws it doesn’t look refinished or out of place. Rust bluing is supposed to be pretty durable; she’s a nice shooter. Check out Mark Novak on YT. Before photo with blue background, after photo with cardboard. I like doing this stuff so it was a pleasure to do, a nice way to spend a beautiful spring afternoon outside.

 

[Claymore33]

No , I have not and I also have never repainted my cars and trucks.
I leave some things to the Pros

 

[oberon]

I have not refinished any per SE, but I did salvage one from a grisly fate. Bubba saw fit to 'enhance' the pistol with his girfriend's name electro-penned into the metal of the upper. It was screwed up bad. After polishing out the 'art work', the last phase was a homegrown cold blue. I hit it 2 or 3 times and Burnished & buffed it out to nearly the same appearance of the rest of the gun. I don't think you can identify the repair now.

I did build a Zastava M-92 on a DCI receiver. I did all the assembly with jigs and cobbled up tools. I made a rivet tool out of a bolt cutter.
I finished the wood with Dutch Oil. The pistol grip was a from a parts guy in MI, I think..
I took the thing to a local guy who used to do hot blue a couple times a year. It turned out OK. It is a blast (literally) to shoot.

 

[oberon]

Hmmm....
This thing wouldn't let me add these images of the M-92 in the above post, so I'll put 'em here.

 

[shovelhead]

I used Oxpho Blue to refinish a pre 64 Winchester 94. While it wasn’t pitted almost all the finish was gone, the result of someone apparently removing some surface rust (no pitting!) with something like a Chore Boy scouring pad.

I cheated a bit and had our gunsmith completely disassemble and reassemble it after it was finished. It has the appearance of a used and taken care of gun.