Hot Blue Barrel Interior?

[arcticap]

In your opinion, is it preferable to have the interior of a new barrel hot blued (along with the exterior) or not, and why?

 

[paulvallandigham]

Bluing the inside of the barrel is pointless, as the first few shots will wear away the thin coat of oxide and the barrel will be in the white again. Plug the barrel and don't take the chance that by bluing the barrel you might be corroding the surfaces of the lands and grooves unnecessarily, and to the detriment to accuracy. ( If its corrosive, it can't be good.)

If you want to do something to the inside of the barrel that could help, have someone chrome plate it.

 

[Zonie]

I'll show my stupidity by saying with a Charcoal Blue, or a Hot Salts blue, the inside of the barrel will be blued right along with the rest of the barrel. This is because the inside of the barrel will be at the same temperature as the outside of the barrel and the Blueing is a function of temperature with these hot blue methods.

Blueing using the Rust Blue method on the other hand is a process which does not rely on heat, so the bore can be left bright while the outside of the barrel is blued.

Which is better? In theory, leaving the bore bright means it isn't affected at all. If it is blued, it has been "rusted" although the thickness of this rust almost can't be measured and I'm sure after a few shots, it is worn away.
Having said this, I don't think it makes a difference at all.

 

[arcticap]

I had a choice to have a new white barrel hot or cold rust blued. Both hot blue "experts" that I talked to told me that they don't plug any modern gun or ML barrels. I was surprised and checked the barrel interiors of some of my production caplocks. Of the ones that I checked, a Pedersoli, 2 Traditions and a CVA barrel (which was bought used so I'm assuming) have factory blued interiors. I didn't check my TC's but I don't think they are.
There is very little bluing wear except for the tips of the lands at the barrel crowns, (the CVA has significantly more wear from conical shooting, another assumption).
I was curious about the consequences if I proceeded with a hot blue job, (the gun furniture is black).
I suppose the reason for the factory blue method is due to either production costs or corrosion resistance, or both.
I once saw an Armisport rifle that was factory chrome lined, and the nickeled Traditions Deerhunter also has factory plating which extends throughout the bore I believe.

 

[arcticap]

On second thought, that chrome lined rifle was an older Investarms model..... :thumbsup:

 

[shmrck1]

If you want to do something to the inside of the barrel that could help, have someone chrome plate it.

Paul,
Do people really do that with a M/L
barrel. Say it ain't so :nono: .
snake-eyes :v

 

[scott k]

If you would plug the barrel when it is in the hot blueing tank it might let loose and that could be a problem.
Lehigh...

 

[dlemaster]

Just some thoughts, I don't have an opinion one way or the other, except that hot blueing on a muzzle loader looks out of place to me.
I don't see where the hot blueing of the bore can be all that detrimental after all, all those whiz-bang modern target rifles are hot blued and it doesen't seem to hurt their accuracy.
It's just my personal opinion but charcoal blueing looks best on a muzzle loader with a good rust blue being a close second.

Regards, Dave

 

[Tom Curran]

If you charcoal blue, pack the bore with charcoal. Yes, it will blue, but it won't get any nasty oxidation. The charcoal reduces the contact with oxygen.

With rust blue, it is practical and neccessary to keep the bore white. You don't want the blueing acid getting into the bore.

Tom

 

[paulvallandigham]

Yes, some do. It makes cleaning after each shot a matter of running a patch down the barrel and you are done. It makes cleaning the gun after a shoot so fast you hardly have time to take out patches before you are putting them back away. You spend more time wiping down the stock and furniture on the gun, and oiling the outside of the barrel to remove fingerprints, than the time it takes to clean the inside of the barrel. Homer Dangler chromed the barrel of a gun, at my suggestion, back in the early to mid 1970's( Probably 1974) and made the same comment to me. I had chromed the barrels on two modern guns, and stopped by his booth to ask him if he had ever experimented with doing that to a barrel. He offered to do so, and when we talked the next year, he told me the gunbarrel did not shoot any more accurate, but it surely was much easier to clean. I doubt many people do it to BP barrels, as they don't know it can be done, or the advantages of a chromed barrel. After soldiers returnef from Vietnam, there was bubble of interested in chromed barrels, based on their experiences with the M-16, where stoppages occurred because the Gov't. did not follow the manufacturer's recommendation to chrome the chambers of the guns. Once that change, much of the problems with the M-16 disappeared.

 

[arcticap]

This rifle is a .36 CVA with a laminated stock, so there's really not much point to trying to make it look like anything other than what it is, a modern sidelock.
Plus as Lehigh mentioned, I've been told that the hot solution will make the air inside the barrel expand if it's not properly plugged with valved stoppers, a more expensive proposition for sure.
As a side note, I have an H&R single shot, rifled shotgun (20 ga.) with a blued bore and they're known to be one of the more accurate slug guns on the planet.
I'll just have to grin and bear it... :grin:

 

[wszumera]

If you would plug the barrel when it is in the hot blueing tank it might let loose and that could be a problem.

I was thinking the same thing. Barrel heats up, plug blows out, chemicals getting splattered.

I've hot blued exactly one barrel in my life, a shotgun for a bud. Just wanted to see if I could do it. He didn't mind having bore blued.

Clutch

 

[wszumera]

I wouldn't mind a chrome lined barrel. There may be some argument that a chrome line barrel might not be as accurate as non-chromed target barrel but the lifetime accuracy of chrome is likely to be better.

I've a few arisaka (jap wwII rifles) They had a good idea chroming them. Corrosive ammo in tropics.

Ditto to the comment on the M16. Stoner wanted the chamber chromed but the penny pinchers cheapened the design.

Clutch.

 

[JOHN L. HINNANT]

Greeting Arcticap,

Based on my experience in hot (cautic-nitrate) bluing of some 300 plus firearms, plugging the bore, is definately a dangerous situation.
Allowing the bore to be blued was never a problem with any fiearm, except those in 17 caliber, but those tiny calibers are a world unto
themselves.

A "hot blued" bore will not cause any accuracy problems in a muzzle loading rifle ,or for that matter in any other type of rifle bore.

Hundred of thousands (if not thousands of thousands)of firearms have "hot blued" bores and shoot with very fine accuracy.

I suggest you obtain from Brownell's, a copy of their copyrighted Caustic-Nitrate Bluing Instructions and read for yourself.

Best regards and good shooting,

John L. Hinnant

If you are not an NRA Member, why not? I am carrying your load.