# Cold Blue Project.....Long Post.



## Bruz (Mar 7, 2007)

A couple of month's ago I bought my step daughter Carli her first rifle. It's an older Marlin 15YN that had seen better days.

The bluing was thin to non existant in areas and surface rust and pitting had started on the barrel and receiver. The bore however was bright and the stock was good. I bought an older Simmons 4x from Weagle and a set of Leupold Rifleman rings and we were in busines. The little gun is accurate which was important to me so that Carli didn't lose interest and it's safe for teaching a kid because it's a single shot bolt with a 2 position safety. She will eventually graduate to an ADL style .223 and the similarity should allow her to be comfortable with the change.

Anyway...The bluing drove me nuts. I couldn't own a gun with pits and bare spots but didn't want to put a lot of money into having it re-finished. So I decided to buy a Cold Blue Kit and give it a try. I followed the directions and ended up with an irredescent rifle.....I did it again.....and again. (The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result) Finally I got it to work and it turned out great. These are the steps that I took.

1) Make sure the rifle is unloaded.
2) Remove the stock,
3) Remove the Bolt and plug the barrel with cotton at both ends.
4) Apply degreaser to all surfaces.
5) Rinse thoroughly and allow to dry.(The instructions do not tell you to let it dry)
6) Apply rust and blue remover and let it soak for 4 minutes. (The instructions say 2)
7) Soak 0000 steel wool in the Blue and Rust Remover and begin removing the bluing. Remove it all until the metal begins to shine.
8) Take 2800 grit sand paper and sand the metal areas that are still discolored or pitted until smooth and bright. (This takes a while depending on the condition of the rifle) Keep the metal wet during this process.
9) When and only when the metal has attained an even shine and color stop and dry all pieces.
10) Wipe all pieces again with degreaser and the dry completely(again the directions do not tell you this)
11) Set up 5 cotton balls with the same amount of Cold Blue on each ball.
12)Apply the Cold Blue with as much consistancy as possible using a cotton ball as soon as the cotton ball seems to be running low on solution grab another and overlap your last section with the new ball by at least a 1/2 inch. Kep moving and DO NOT take more than a minute to coat each piece.
13)Let it sit for 1 minute and then take a soft cloth coated in gun oil and wipe the metal down from the end of the barrel or bolt that you began applying the Cold Blue. Be very careful to remove all of the Cold Blue with the cloth.
14) Take a clean cloth and coat agin with gun oil and wipe the entire rifle down again and let sit overnight before re-assembling.

I am very pleased with the final product...It's a very deep dark almost black finish and the pits and rust are gone.


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## CK'n (Mar 7, 2007)

*nice work*

Bruz! Got a before picture? How many times did you have to experiment...and would you do this again?

Lucky daughter,
Chris


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## pnome (Mar 7, 2007)

Very nice Bruz.  

Great info.  I think I'm going to have to do this to my father's winchester 94.


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## Bruz (Mar 7, 2007)

CK'n said:


> Bruz! Got a before picture? How many times did you have to experiment...and would you do this again?
> 
> Lucky daughter,
> Chris



Chris,

Only one(See Below). I had to do it 4 times before I got it right. Absolutely I will do it again.

These are my mistakes(So hopefully you won't make the same ones)

1) Not completely drying between each step. The blue is diluted by water so if the rifle is wet then you end up with an almost case color or irredescent finish (Which actually looked cool) but wasn't what I was after.

2)Prep is everything. If you don't steel wool/Sand/Steel Wool and give the metal a uniform appearance then the blue WILL NOT be uniform either.

3)WEAR HEAVY RUBBER GLOVES The solution will slap eat away a pair of latex gloves. Also, do not get any on Mama's kitchen table  

4)Make sure you are not dealing with alloy or aluminum pieces. The trigger guard on this rifle is aluminum and now has to go to Toridak for a coat of Duracoat. 

Here's the only before pic


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## Hooty Hoot (Mar 7, 2007)

What did you use as a degreaser


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## Bruz (Mar 7, 2007)

Hooty Hoot said:


> What did you use as a degreaser



Hooty,

The kit came with:

Cold Blue
Degreaser
Rust and Blue Remover
Sand Paper
Steel Wool
3 Applicators (Junk...Use cotton balls)
2 Oil Cloths

All for $9.95 at BPS.


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## Hooty Hoot (Mar 7, 2007)

Thanks! I`ve used it years ago. Never got it to look that good. Always thought it was the degreaser.


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## killitgrillit (Mar 7, 2007)

*cotton balls*

Just be careful on the cotton balls you use, some have lanolin in them from the factory. so there goes your degreasing job.
been there done that.


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## SmokyMtnSmoke (Mar 7, 2007)

Great Info. This should get a thumb tack (sticky).


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## Back2class (Mar 7, 2007)

May I suggest you let it sit 48 hours before applying oil. I found the oil thins out the blue if you apply it right away. Ive also had pretty good results (for cold blue). But better results if I give it a day or two.


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## CK'n (Mar 9, 2007)

*good going*

Bruz,

Like your crack about using gloves. I keep using nitile ones. They can stand up to the chemicals, they do not stand up to punctures from snagging them on sharp edges. Never tried latex, but if they come apart like you say....I'll keep giving them a pass. Time to borrow the misses, the ones she keeps under the sink. Think she would notice?   

One suggestion on the cold bluing, I use a strong solution of baking soda and water to wash down the barrel when I am all done. THis might nuetralize the chemicals. I have done that on regular bluing...seems to darken and deepen the color. Might work as well here. 

Chris


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## Bruz (Mar 9, 2007)

CK'n said:


> One suggestion on the cold bluing, I use a strong solution of baking soda and water to wash down the barrel when I am all done. THis might nuetralize the chemicals. I have done that on regular bluing...seems to darken and deepen the color. Might work as well here.
> Chris



Chris,

I will try that on the Marlin 336 that I'm about to tackle and let you know the result.

Thanks,


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## Bruz (Mar 9, 2007)

Spam 4 and Killit,

Thanks for the input. I will keep both of those recomendations in mind on the next one.

Thanks,


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## jglenn (Mar 9, 2007)

if you'd like to try something "better" than the cold blues you find in sporting good stores I'd suggest Dicropan IM from brownells


MUCH tougher than any cold blue you'll find locally. They also have their own cold blue called Oxpho blue but for me the Dicropan works, looks and lasts much better.

it's actually applied with 0000 steel wool so it's tough. They sell it as a type of Rust blue and have a procedure for doing this method,  but I've found it to be very good as a cold or mildly warm steel bluing agent


just something to think about


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