Browning in low-humidity environments.

[UtahFlintlock]

I recently picked up a nice Lyman GPR at a pawn shop. Given the low price, and relatively good condition of the rifle, I was contemplating stripping the bluing from the metal and browning it. Only issue, is the last time I had anything to do with browning a barrel, I lived in a more humid part of the country. What products or methods do you all recommend?

 

[fishmusic]

Suspend the barrel over a bucket of damp rags and put a trouble light on the rags. About two feet above the bucket should do. I have used Laurel Mountain Forge with no issues. Be sure to degrease the barrel. I use acetone to do that. I do that as an extra precaution even thought Laurel Mountain says you don't have to.

 

[Tom A Hawk]

I'm browning a .54 Rice barrel right now. I made a humidity chamber from a length of PVC pipe. It has an access door along the length with a duct tape hinge and the ends are capped. The barrel rests on wooden blocks placed under the tang and a dowel in the muzzle. I lay some water soaked paper towels in the bottom and the whole works goes next to the wood stove for heat. Works like a charm.

 

[billraby]

I just put it in the bathroom and run a hot shower for a few minutes. Keep it in there with all the steam and the door closed for a while.

 

[poker]

Plum brown works humidity or not.

 

[Omahkapi'si]

Plum brown works humidity or not.

Good to know as I have a small bit of brown rubbed off that I want to repair at some point without leaving my rifle in a hot humid room. It's like the diameter of a pencil or smaller. Just a small spot but enough to bug me.

 

[old ugly]

i just used plum brown on a pistol and a rifle. worked good up here in the frozen north.
if the barrel will fit in your oven, put it and the parts in there at 275f until they are hot enough then go for it.
ou
tom

 

[Omahkapi'si]

Barrel is 39" so no oven I'm afraid. I am hoping to find something available in Canada that will touch it up without having to disassemble the rifle and that can be applied cold. I looked at Log Cabin Shop and they have a couple that I am sure would do the trick but $50 shipping for a $5 bottle is a lot of dough for this little blemish.

 

[poker]

An oven works good, but you can also heat things up with an open flame, such as a stovetop burner or a handheld propane torch. Its not rocket science, just dont overdo the heating. You’ll know by doing it what works.

 

[old ugly]

if it is still blue and you are doing a little touch up i think you can buy cold blue. that you can probably find in canada easy enough. ive never used that tho.

ou

 

[Omahkapi'si]

It's a browned barrel. Ballistol actually has something called cold browning solution but it's actually a jet black/blued finish. I got all excited when I first saw it.

 

[fjrdoc]

The bathroom works well. I just filled the tub with hot water and shut the door.

 

[Musketeer]

The bathroom trick sounds great. I've thought about browning a few items, but being in the bone-dry AZ desert, I figured I'd have to build a humidity or "sweat" box, and I'm too lazy to do so just for a couple small projects. As someone once said, true innovation is the result of lazy people trying to find easier ways of doing things.

 

[Zonie]

Anyone who has had kids probably also have a "humidifier" their wife got to help them get thru a cold or runny nose problem.

That humidifier can rapidly fill a small bathroom with enough humidity to make the browning agent work and it doesn't require running hot water out of your water heater tank.

Just don't let the humidifier run for long periods of time or the air will get too humid. If the air is too humid, you'll get coatings of heavy, soft red rust which is not what your after.

 

[Ames]

Been there. Done this. Kiss the wife and send her off for a four day spa weekend. Then the bathroom is truly yours! Go for it. Make good use of youre time before she comes home.
She gets cucumber sea salt scrubs. You get rust. Sounds about right.

 

[user 48679]

A forum member commented that I could brown a barrel right over the bluing, with a little heat on the barrel - and that it would take several coats.

I test the theory on a section of blued barrel I had left over from a barrel shortening session, and it worked.

 

[William Lincoln]

Before heating in oven, pull any springs, re-install later

 

[Loyalist Dave]

I made a humidity chamber from a length of PVC pipe. It has an access door along the length with a duct tape hinge and the ends are capped. The barrel rests on wooden blocks placed under the tang and a dowel in the muzzle. I lay some water soaked paper towels in the bottom and the whole works goes next to the wood stove for heat. Works like a charm.

OR you could get a piece of PVC pipe capped at both ends, painted black, and made not to roll. Two wooden holders keep the barrel off a swatch of barrel length beach towel soaked in water within the tube. Leave it on the ground in front of the sliding glass doors to the outside (assuming a Southern exposure) and allow the sunlight to heat the tube.

LD

 

[Tom A Hawk]

OR you could get a piece of PVC pipe capped at both ends, painted black, and made not to roll. Two wooden holders keep the barrel off a swatch of barrel length beach towel soaked in water within the tube. Leave it on the ground in front of the sliding glass doors to the outside (assuming a Southern exposure) and allow the sunlight to heat the tube.

LD

You're right. Except we have not seen the mysterious yellow orb in the sky for weeks. I'll stick with my wood stove.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

You're right. Except we have not seen the mysterious yellow orb in the sky for weeks. I'll stick with my wood stove.

Yes, but a tad on the warm side in summer months, eh?

LD