Flame-bluing Kibler barrel?

[wiscoaster]

..... Jax Black .....

Already done that last time. Reason I'm asking about fire-bluing is I want to do something different this time.

 

[yellowhammer]

Seems overly labor intensive and fraught with peril, but I totally understand your inquisitiveness. I'm much the same myself...

 

[Mgbruch]

Wiscoaster, you could very easily end up with a warped barrel that will never shoot straight.

 

[wiscoaster]

After the last experimental process, thinking I'd deblue the test barrel again and try a different method on it, and using my usual debluing process of heated distilled white vinegar, which works excellently well with factory bluing, I found the test item this time to be resistant to debluing by this method, and after carding and oiling I was surprised to find my item had aquired a finish that best of any attempts yet represents closest to what's in my mind for my Kibler barrel and iron furniture (and realizing photos don't do justice for comparison's sake due to different time of day natural light and ambient room light affecting them) here it is - a dark gray color. Not black and not brown. I'm thinking kind of what a well-cared-for "in-the-white" item might look like after a hundred years or so (and I have a few of those as "unmentionables" so I think I know the look):

But .... still a major question .... is there still enough iron oxide bonded to that barrel surface to inhibit corrosion? I suppose I could just hang the thing up in the bathroom for a few months to see if it rusts, but I haven't got that kind of time. So.....anybody that knows more about this than I do, PLEASE COMMENT!! Thank you.

 

[yellowhammer]

Oh, it'll rust all right, you can bet on it. Just keep a micro coat of RIG on it all the time...

 

[deerstalkert]

Fire bluing will produce some unique looks on gun parts. unless you are steady and get the heat traveling the length of the part evenly you can and will end up with the lower spectrum of colors.
I have produced steel trigger guards and nose caps/butt plates with the looks of color casing. blues yellows and greens.
the challenge presented by the rifle barrel is the length compounded by the radius compounded by the void of the bore.
A fowler/smoothbore might be less challenging to heat evenly but I would worry about warpage.
But, then again, I worry about warping a barrel soldering tabs and sights on them.
I think personally i would experiment with various grades of polish topped by browning or liquid bluing.
let us know Wise, what you discover. I do love fire bluing on the small parts. just wish it was more protective. it is a thin layer.

 

[Sagebrush]

I went with Jax Black on my Kibler fowler and like it a lot. I'd be concerned that fire-bluing a barrel would create an inconsistent color.

 

[wiscoaster]

...... I'd be concerned that fire-bluing a barrel would create an inconsistent color.

I think that's what @deerstalkert meant by "unique looks" (above).

 

[Sniperdoc]

While fire bluing definitely works well to give beautiful color to small parts, I've never seen it used for barrels. Could be something wonderful, or it could ruin it

 

[FlinterNick]

While fire bluing definitely works well to give beautiful color to small parts, I've never seen it used for barrels. Could be something wonderful, or it could ruin it

Fire bluing a barrel is best done with a nitriding salt bath, not with a torch.

You need a large tank with a controlled heating element up to 500-600 degrees and appropriate nitriding salts and sodium hydrochloride.

This is something that an expert gunsmith should do, some barrel makers offer the service.

 

[reddogge]

No one mentions rust blueing, a process that gives wonderful results. I rust blued a trade gun barrel and it's looks great. I also had a pair of Fox Sterlingworth barrels rust blued with great results. I suppose you could put on a coat or two to get uniform results and card most of it off to achieve the look you want. BTW, I used True-Blue to rust blue and the process it exactly like browning.

 

[Sniperdoc]

No one mentions rust blueing, a process that gives wonderful results. I rust blued a trade gun barrel and it's looks great. I also had a pair of Fox Sterlingworth barrels rust blued with great results. I suppose you could put on a coat or two to get uniform results and card most of it off to achieve the look you want. BTW, I used True-Blue to rust blue and the process it exactly like browning.

Fire bluing produces a vibrant blue finish, hard to get any other way (at least that I am aware of)

 

[reddogge]

I would think that would be a little garish looking on a flintlock rifle. Maybe with a bright red stock.

 

[wiscoaster]

I deblued and sanded another small junked pistol barrel to try out the Mark Lee Express Brown #2 rust-browning product. I think I like this product better than anything else I've tested here or any other product or method of rust-browning I've used on other projects. It's as fast as B-C Plum Brown but at a lower temperature and the color is lighter and more uniform, and it's asier to modulate color as desired. This is the result of three applications in the space of less than 10 minutes, then neutralizing, carding and oiling:

IF I decide to go with "brown" over "black" or "blue" I think this is the product and method I'm going to use.

 

[deerstalkert]

I deblued and sanded another small junked pistol barrel to try out the Mark Lee Express Brown #2 rust-browning product. I think I like this product better than anything else I've tested here or any other product or method of rust-browning I've used on other projects. It's as fast as B-C Plum Brown but at a lower temperature and the color is lighter and more uniform, and it's asier to modulate color as desired. This is the result of three applications in the space of less than 10 minutes, then neutralizing, carding and oiling:
View attachment 373447

IF I decide to go with "brown" over "black" or "blue" I think this is the product and method I'm going to use.

if you don't like the brown, boil it and it will turn black/blue.

 

[wiscoaster]

if you don't like the brown, boil it and it will turn black/blue.

Was done in post #17 to first test barrel.

 

[deerstalkert]

Was done in post #17 to first test barrel.

that was 19 posts ago! i'd fall asleep reading all that!

 

[deerstalkert]

Wise, another process you could use is to tumble the short parts in a vitamin C/citric acid and water solution. 4 tbls to a gallon.
parts come out black and slimy. buffed back they are deep black and shiny. will post a pic of a lock plate i did.

 

[deerstalkert]

citric acid bath. this lock was very rusty so i just tossed it into the tumbler.

 

[wiscoaster]

Wise, another process you could use is to tumble the short parts in a vitamin C/citric acid and water solution. 4 tbls to a gallon.
parts come out black and slimy. buffed back they are deep black and shiny. will post a pic of a lock plate i did.

Yes, thanks. I'm looking for one process to apply to all iron parts, including the barrel. Any process that requires total immersion is problematic for the barrel. But thanks for the ideas. All are welcome.