barrel greying?

[Kentuckyjed]

Been searching the forum but can't nail down any info. What would be a good way to preserve a barrel giving it the greyed steel or soft steel look and still have some sort of rust proof protection. Just looking for a simple way that I can keep the barrel looking somewhat aged but not blued or browned.

 

[Ames]

Jax Black will turn it grey in seconds. Nothing stops the rust but oiling and oiling. There is no magic potion to stop the rust.

 

[TDM]

As @Ames says Jax Black is very effective, it’s what I use most of the time. Brownells Oxpho-Blue is very good too. Steel wool is required to draw the color back to what you want.

 

[64Springer]

Cold blue diluted with water.

 

[Kentuckyjed]

Has anyone tried the mustard technique.

 

[smo]

Yes , mine looked more galvanized than gray…

There’s lots of info too be found in the search feature about “mustard finish”.

This one was done with naval jelly..

FYI….

 

[Kentuckyjed]

Cold blue diluted with water.

Any cold blue (birchwood?)

 

[tenngun]

Mine with naval jelly
Keep it oiled
And knife with mustard that was mirror bright when I got it

 

[TDM]

Have to admit I’ve never tried cutting cold blue or Oxphor Blue with water but I know it’s supposed to work well. Clay Smith recommends 50/50 oxphor blue & water for his kits. I would think Jax Black could be water mixed too. Curious if anyone has tried that. And mayonnaise is supposed to work well too.

 

[64Springer]

Any cold blue (birchwood?)

Any cold blue is fine.

Dilute to the color you want.

 

[Crows-R-US]

Plug all openings and suspend in a trough of lye water. My uncle used to keep a bucket of it around to clean up the iron skillets he sold at flea markets and it gave them a nice durable grey color.

 

[Kentuckyjed]

Thanks everyone for all the input . I have a piece of old barrel that I will try some of these methods on and see which one will work for me.

 

[stewart.leach]

Your thinking is right! Best to see what various chemicals and finishes do on YOUR metal and wood.

Thanks for asking this question. I am about finish metal on an older CVA Mountain Rifle I am rebuilding, and want to try something different.

 

[Kentuckyjed]

Well the Birchwood Casey Perma Blue 50/50 with tap water worked the best for me. I was going for the not browned, not blued, but more of a raw not shiny steel look. Cleaned the barrel with brake cleaner, dried/wiped down, applied the mix in uniform passes along the length of the barrel, rinsed with tap water, wiped dry and used fine steel wool to buff out to a slight steely look then used Kroil and steel wool on the entire barrel again then wiped clean. Looks good. The mustard took longer and wasn't as reactive as I thought it would be (maybe brand, French's) plus it just made me hungry for one of the old salcissia in a pretzel at Gus's in St. Louis.
Anyway, thanks all for the anecdotes/remedies/et cetera.

 

[Pete G]

Phosphoric acid, sold as rust remover.

 

[BadDaditood]

I searched here for French grey, got tons of info.
I went with phosphoric acid. Several coats over 2 days, looked nice.
Decided I didn’t like some scratches in barrel, did a better job “draw-sanding” it to 320 grit.
Tried cold blue, wipe, dark grey scotch brite with phosphoric, wipe off black then rub more acid on, let sit an hour.
Neutralized with ammonia then an oil bath rubbed in with scotch brite.
Looks just as good as the 2 day job but only took an hour and a half.

 

[Jay Templin]

I used white vinegar on my fusil de chasse with good results. Just repeated applications.
Jay