After browning...

[Etienne Brule]

Hi,

I just borowned my girl... a .54 Sharon 33 inches barrel...a beauty...

I was told to put Ballistol or linseed oil or Ballstol for a few days, then some WAX...

What kind of way would you use ??

Any advice will be welcome !!

I just worked so hard to get that browning on the barrel... as many as 10 layers on 10 days... I do not want to make any bad mistake...


Thank you for your time and advices.

Etienne Brule. Quebec city

 

[mazo kid]

It sounds like you took your time and did the job right. After neutralizing with a baking soda mixture, rinse well with cool water. When dry, I apply a good coat of paste wax, like Johnson's floor wax, let dry and then polish. After a couple of days you can repeat the wax application. I am sure others may have a different approach, but this has worked for me.

 

[paulvallandigham]

Any wax you have will do. I have used spray furniture polish, car wax, stock wax, Bore Butter, which is about 1/2 wax by volume, and I have known other shooters to use the same wax they use on their skis. I have a jar of Renaissance Wax, sold for use on antiques of all kinds, but have not opened it up to try. Until I run out of my spray "PLEDGE" furniture wax, I don't think I am going to use much else. The wax helps keep moisture and grease, and acids from fingerprints off the new browned surface.

Obviously, with a rust brown, you aren't worried about the barrel rusting, unless you have a particular finish to the metal you want to preserve. Water spots and the rust that results can spoil a " look " of a finish. The nice thing about wax is that you can use it on both the metal and wood of the gun with equal effect. It wears off with use, of course, and has to be renewed, but that is not such a hard thing to do after a day with a fine rifle or shotgun. :thumbsup:

 

[Birddog6]

I can tell ya right off don't put Ballistol on a freshly browned barrel, as it won't be brown for long. Everytime you wipe down the barrel the Ballistol will continue to leech out the rust & you will end up with a gray barrel rather than a brown one.

 

[ricklandes]

After making absolutely sure you stopped the acid's work with a baking soda rich wash, heat the barrel to a warm to the touch temp and apply a thin coat of BLO, rub it in and let dry, repeat 2x. This type of finishing evens out the color of the browning and slightly darkens it.

Then finish with a good wax. I still have a can of Johnson's paste wax that I got a long time back.I put a good coat on and let it dry out (about 10-30 minutes depending on the day) and rub off the excess. I then repeat the waxing just in case I missed a spot. You may touch up as needed in the future.

There are a lot of good ways to skin a cat and this is just my way.

(This is just for fun)

Paul, Do you find any better finish with the lemon fresh over the orange scented Pledge? :rotf: :rotf:

(Sorry Paul,:redface: just to early in the a.m. not to have some fun. A friend used to wax his Caddy with pledge and swore it was great stuff, not only cleaned off bugs it gave a nice easy shine.)

 

[Vaino]

I now use only household ammonia after experiencing after rust w/ other neutralizers. A hot water rinse to get rid of the ammonia, drying and then a light rub w/ 0000 stl wool saturated w/ one of the waxy lubricants. A wipe off and another light application of the same lubricant and you're done....Fred

 

[paulvallandigham]

To be truthful, I never have really given the "Pledge" a good look. This is something that was left over from my first marriage, when I found 3 unopened cans of the stuff my ex-wife had squirreled away, and left behind. I suspect its the lemon scent, only because that is more her liking.

Once I began using Young Country 101, and began finding out all its uses, Its been easier for me after cleaning the gun to simply use it to rub over the metal to seal out the fingerprints, acids, salts, water, etc. The only time the Pledge gets used is on those nights/mornings before I leave to go hunting, when I am cleaning and drying my rifle for putting that first load down the barrel. If its raining or drizzling out, I will get under the kitchen sink and find the Pledge, and spray the stock down, but only because its closer to the kitchen sink where I am cleaning and drying the barrel. I figure its only good for about one day in the woods, as it rubs off rather easily. Its only wax.

I also found my jar of Foggy Mountain Bear Guard, intended to seal boots as a waterproofing agent, but its made of Beeswax, and bear "fat". I am sure that this will also work to protect the metal and stock of my BP guns. Since I was given this by a friend who lives up in Maine, I will probably try this before I look at that Renaissance Wax, which is really expensive stuff. I kind of like the idea of using something with Bear fat in it on my BP guns, don't you? Oh, the stuff has no odor. I will also use it on my leather boots, although I tend to wear rubber hip boots, if its wet out.

 

[ricklandes]

I like to Bear fat idea to...seems HC doesn't it.
I have rendered fat from whitetails for bird suet type blocks and have used that a small amount for a FL pistol I have. It seems the longer the stuff is heated the firmer it becomes...like a very hard paraffin. I will have to tinker with it a bit more.

In re: to the lemon...there is a lemon oil on the market that works great for wood; I am of the opinion this component of Pledge would work well towards keeping your FL in fine order :bow:

 

[Zonie]

Don't knock Lemon Pledge.

When I owned my BMW motorcycle after a few years of Arizona sunshine the windscreen would cloud up and although I had it adjusted so I would be looking over the top of it I just didn't like the crappy appearance.
Lemon Pledge sprayed lightly onto the inside and outside surfaces and wiped off with a soft cotton cloth removed all traces of the frosted look.
It would last about 1 month before I had to re-do it again.

I've also used it on many of my rifles and it works very well.

 

[ricklandes]

Don't knock Lemon Pledge...

Sorry...did not think that I did...was just wanting to have some fun with Paul (as I thought I noted?). I apologize if anyone was offended.
It was far from my intent to so.

 

[Black Hand]

After browning and neutralizing, I coat the barrel with deer tallow. After a couple of days, I wipe the barrel and use a very thin coat of melted beeswax to seal the barrel (most of which is rubbed back to give a "finished" look).

 

[Zonie]

rick: No need to apologize.

I knew you were pulling poor old pauls leg but I thought it might be useful to someone to know that the cans of Pledge actually do work rather well for some things.

 

[renovato]

If you had use Future floor polish, your windshield would have stayed clear. That stuff has some serious acrylic polymers in it. It'll fill in fine scratches in anything. Great for CD repair or scratched sunglasses. It'll even restores a badly hazed car windshield, though it needs reapplied about once a year to keep it clear.

I haven't tried it on guns yet, but that's coming up soon. I'm curious to see if it'll restore stocks that have hazing and fine scratches.