# How much to get a long gun re blued?



## chambers270 (Aug 26, 2008)

I have been looking for a Rem 742 for a while and I found one that looks decent. It has alot of surface rust but I am sure it would have to be re blued eventually.

Is it worth it, or will a cheaper gun along with the price to be blued cost the same as a Rem in good condition?


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## Ths dog hunts!! (Aug 26, 2008)

It cost me around $200 To have an 1100 reblued, But it looks brand new again, Call Bob's custom firearms in palmetto Ga.


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## fishndinty (Aug 26, 2008)

Reblues can be expensive; I would say it isn't worth it for a pro job on a Rem742 unless it has sentimental value....I would refinish the gun yourself and spend the money (100 at least) on something else.  

Your new finish need not be a reblue, which isn't easy to do without making it look streaky and like crap .  An easy way to refinish the exterior of a gun is with a spray paint.  They make primerless ones that adhere well to metal.  You'll need to strip the old bluing and rust off first; you can buy the chemical to do this at Wal-Mart for cheap.  Take off the stock, Strip the outside of the receiver and the barrel down to bare steel, then dry well and paint immediately, stuffing a rag inside each side of the barrel and taping over the action to keep paint out.  You could even do a home camo job if you wanted, but any matte color (black, brown, green, gray) will look nice.  Spray paint and let dry.  Repeat w/ several coats for maximum weather resistance.  Then, you can strip and paint the stock to match, and have a sharp looking, weather resistant rifle to take on foul weather hunts and not worry about!

Just my .02$  It seems to me like this is the way a lot of the Saiga guns are finished from the factory, and they hold up pretty well.  You can always respray a spot to repair if you scratch it, but quality paint will hold up VERY well.


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## DCOMP54 (Aug 26, 2008)

*Do It Yourself*



chambers270 said:


> I have been looking for a Rem 742 for a while and I found one that looks decent. It has alot of surface rust but I am sure it would have to be re blued eventually.
> 
> Is it worth it, or will a cheaper gun along with the price to be blued cost the same as a Rem in good condition?



CHECK THE GUN OUT GOOD.GO TO WALLY WOLRD, GET SOME SOLVENT AND A SMALL BOTTLE OF DENATURED ALCOHOL. ALSO A COLD BLUEING KIT (BIRCHWOOD/CASEY ,SUPER BLUE FOR STEEL). COMES IN A BLUE BOTTLE. STEEL WOOL (000) GET ALL THE SURFACE RUST OFF, WIPE WITH DENATURED ALCOHOL, THEN APPLY THE COLD BLUE LIQUID. LEAVE IT ON 24 HOURS. THEN REMOVE. OR USE THE DIRECTIONS AND DO IT TWICE. EASY TO DO.IT WONT LOOK LIKE A GUN SHOP BLUEING BUT YOU'LL SAVE $180.00.
CLEAN IT AND OIL IT LIGHTLY.
YOU CAN SAVE A LOTS OF MONEY ON THIS.JUST MAKE SURE THE 742 IS IN GOOD SHAPE.


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## chambers270 (Aug 26, 2008)

Thanks for the tips, I thought about paint. The gun would be stictly a work gun just dont like rust on my firearms. I would proabably only end up using it during hog hunts or rainy days to spare my Remington Model 700s


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## Wiz (Aug 26, 2008)

I would be a bit more concerned about rust in the bore.  If it is rusted inside and pitted, then I wouldn't waste money buying the gun.  External stuff can be dealt with pretty easily.


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## fi8shmasty (Aug 27, 2008)

If you buff the metal yourself you will save a lot of $$ and then take it to someone with a hot tank . The prep work is what makes the blue job and it is very labor intensive. It is a good feeling when it is done (and hopefully looks Good) knowing you did the prep work yourself.


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## Patchpusher (Aug 27, 2008)

Don't buy a rusty gun! A little bit of rust is alright. The pawn shops are full of 742s. If you juusst have to have one at least buy one that looks like the owner cared for it . My advice is to avoid the 742 like the plague. They are not supported by Remington. No new parts.  If you just have to have a Remington auto. I would find a used 7400. Always check the chamber and the bore for rust. A rusty chamber even if the rust is polished out leaving pits will make your automatic a single shot.When an automatic is fired the empty cartridge is extracted from the chamber while it is hot and swollen to the chamber dimensions. Rust and or rust pits in the chamber will give the swollen cartridge enough resistance to not extract properly. Look at the fired cartridge. If it has shiny spots on it then a bad chamber is the problem.


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## leoparddog (Aug 27, 2008)

The 742 was discontinued in 1980.  You can check the serial number here to figure out how about old it is.. http://www.remington.com/library/history/firearm_models/centerfire/model_742.asp

The cost of that 742, plus money to reblue would probably buy you a 7400 in better condition.  I would always beware of a rusty autoloader, if the owner didn't take care of the outside, you can be sure the inside didn't get better treatment.  If you can dismount the barrel and get a good look at the chamber and internals of the action and check for wear and rust, then maybe it is a good deal.

I have bought a shotgun once in the condition you described.  After buying it and painting it, I found it had at one time gotten rust in the chamber.  With high brass shells it was strictly a single shot and I had to pry every shell out.  With low brass it was a sometime thing.  This was even after I paid a gunsmith to polish the chamber to smooth things out a bit.  Over all I spent over $400 on a $100 shotgun.  A new barrel from Mossberg fixed the issues, but I could have had a much nicer shotgun for that money 20 years ago.


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## TAS (Aug 27, 2008)

I inherited a model 740 (really old)  and had it re blued because of surface rust.  Cost about $180.  Really just did it because it had sentimental value.  It shot so well I put a scope on it.  Certainly not 1" groups but repectable.


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## jhead7416 (Aug 30, 2008)

Here's a link to prices from Bullseye Bluing in Columbus.

http://bullseyebluinggunsmithing.com/default.aspx


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## Larry Rooks (Sep 1, 2008)

An quality hot blue should not run over 75.00 unless the gun is in extreme condition and it would take many hours of buffing to clean up and polish.  I do hot bluing and I've never seen one in bad enough shape to charge 200.00 to
reblue (sorry)


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## RackNBeardOutdoors (Sep 1, 2008)

Ths dog hunts!! said:


> It cost me around $200 To have an 1100 reblued, But it looks brand new again, Call Bob's custom firearms in palmetto Ga.






Bob knows his stuff, he built several custom guns for my dad about 15 years ago.


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