Brown on top of Brown

[Irish13]

I have a pistol that I recently purchased but the browning on it is very thin looking almost like the builder did not put enough coats on it. Not knowing what browning technique he used will it hurt for me to brown over it? I have R.E. Davis browning solution that I usually use in a sweat box, or should I sand it down and start over. It is a brand new unfired smooth bore barrel, which i don't know if that makes a difference, but I throwed it in there just in case.

Thanks in advance,
Irish

 

[jtmattison]

I would sand it and start fresh.

HD

 

[mazo kid]

I would pull the barrel from the stock, de-grease it good and try browning it in the usual manner following directions. Sure can't hurt anything and if you don't like it or it doesn't work right, then you can sand it down and start fresh. Just my 2 cents worth.

 

[Rogue River]

I've browned over existing brown and it came out good. Just make sure you prep it right (degrease, rubber gloves ect.).You can always sand it later if it doesn't turn out.

 

[Zonie]

As Rogue River said you can try it without sanding but IMO the big problem is the degreasing part.

The hard brown rust that we call Browning is very absorbent and any oils that have been applied to it are very difficult to remove.
As long as the oils are there, the surface is protected against further rusting (Browning).

If it were mine, I would buy some 220 grit wet/dry, black silicone carbide sandpaper and using a small flat piece of wood as a backing block would sand the barrel flats.

Then I would rebrown the parts using either Birchwood Casey Plum Brown or Laurel Mountain Browning solution.

 

[Irish13]

Thanks for the info. I was going to try the brown on top of brown but when I degreased it and cleaned it, it took 90% of the color out, so I went ahead and took it down to bare metal and started over. Thanks again.

Irish