How to get dull finish browning a barrel ?

[kyron4]

I just got done browning my barrel and it turned out a very even smooth deep chocolate brown color , but is so smooth and even after oiling it looks more like Cerra coat or painted finish with to much glare. I tried knocking it down a bit with a green pad and went to far , so I just stripped it down to start over. I was thinking draw filing with 180 this time as the 220 may have been to smooth. Someone told may a coat of naval jelly will dull the shine and etch the metal just enough to give a good surface for the browning to work on. Any advice ? -Thank you

 

[david w]

After browning my barrels, I heat it up with a heat gun. When the barrel is warm enough to melt beeswax, I give it a light coating. When it cools back to room temperature, I go over it with a soft rag. I use drill cloth for this, washed to remove any sizing. Not only does it cut down glare, it protects the metal from rust.

 

[Vaino]

Let the browning solution work a little longer...it'll then lightly etch the bbl and yield a duller finish. I've used LMF on all my builds and never had one that was shiny.....Fred

 

[Eric Krewson]

The first barrel I browned turned out like yours, I think I went to 400 grit on sanding. Like Fred said above leave the browning solution on for a longer time and your barrel won't be smooth.

I put on 5 applications of LMF on this barrel, it went just a little too far but looks OK. It took a month to stop rusting even though I neutralized it 4 or 5 times.

I put two applications of LMF on this gun and let it rust for 4 days carding often, it came out more like what I wanted. I sanded to 220 on both guns. This one was still rusting just a little a month later as well.

This was this was the first gun I built and browned a crummy looking first gun build, the browning is too smooth for my tastes. This gun also had many, many years and woods miles on it from chasing deer. The rusting stopped immediately when I neutralized the barrel on this gun.

Both of the top two guns pictured had this much rust showing up every few days a month after browning. I neutralized with ammonia several times, a baking soda slurry several times and heated the barrel and oiled it several times. The rusting finally stopped on it's own.

 

[Vaino]

For neutralizing I use store bought ammonia....the small parts are submerged in it and the bbl is swabbed a few times . Found baking soda didn't work as quickly and didn't completely stop the rusting......Fred

 

[kyron4]

Well I think part of my problem was I used Birchwood Casey Plum Brown. I found it locally for $8 so it was convenient at the time. To it's credit it did turn the barrel a even plum brown like your third picture, but after five coats it never got darker than the second coat. After it was oiled or waxed it looked like it was painted. When I sanded it off it was like removing a thin coat of paint.

I got a bottle of LMF browning on the way, should be here by the weekend. Any advice or do's and don'ts ? Right now the barrel has been draw sanded with 180 and a treatment of naval jelly to knock the shine off. I like the result both of you got , a almost black dark brown with a hint of plum. -Thanks

An after thought on the rusting, does the carbon content effect the issue of continued rust ?

 

[Tom A Hawk]

I think I see a difference in performance between the Wahkon Bay and TOW browning solutions. Anybody else?

 

[SDSmlf]

Any advice or do's and don'ts ?

Read the instructions a couple times before starting. The ammonia advice given above is good at shutting down the process. I find LMF works well for browning and rust bluing.

 

[Rich44]

Like Fred said let it work a little longer. I like the results with LMF, but when applying with soft brush or cloth use one clean swipe. Do not play with it, second and third coat will even the color out.

 

[Big Bubba]

On my SMR I only draw filed the barrel and left the Danglers Browning solution on for 10 to 12 hours each coat til I got the color i wanted. The other metal parts were only sanded to 220 grit paper. Carded with the white scouring pads which is equal to 0000 steel wool. Here is a picture of my parts and the barrel came out the same.

 

[kyron4]

So I see a wide range of colors using this product, I'd like to get that dark drown almost black color . Is that achieved by doing more coats ?

 

[Fly Navy]

I usually sand down to 220 or 320. I then use Tracks Tried & True Browning. It gives a nice satin brown finish. I finish with either 0000 steel wool or denim and 30 weight motor oil.

 

[Eric Krewson]

I would go back and sand the parts you put naval jelly on, it removes rust, not what you want, the LMF will remove the shine guaranteed.

It is almost impossible to not overlap the application of LMF at some point and get a coppery streak. I have even seen where some folk get worried about this, sand everything off and start over. Not to worry, the coppery streaks will go away with future applications and blend in perfectly.

Here is my last barrel after one application and one night out in the N/W Alabama humidity under a roofed archery target, I think it was raining that night, I have found to never let a drop of dew or rain land on your metal, it will leave a streak and be hard to deal with. I carded off the red rust with a square of course blue jean material, put on another coat of LMF and left it outside for another night. From that point on all I did was let it rust in my shop and card it a couple times a day until I liked the color.

I always start my browning on a rainy day with high humidity outside. Where I live you won't have to wait more than two weeks for the right conditions, I do the browning and stock finishing at the same time.

Here is my rusting setup.

I have a friend who was building a Kibler (his first gun), he built a rusting box and did the hot shower thing with real blotchy results. I told him to sand everything off, apply the LMF again and hang his barrel out in the garage overnight with the doors open. (south Alabama), success!

I have found the little parts are so much easier to brown than the barrel, When I showed these parts years ago some jerk on here soundly scolded me for making them TOO brown and said they should be no darker than plumb brown. I guess he failed to notice that I was making a gun to suit me and certainly not him.

I like the color, I think I took this picture after I heated and oiled these parts.

Looks good on my rifle, at least to me.

 

[Rich44]

So I see a wide range of colors using this product, I'd like to get that dark drown almost black color . Is that achieved by doing more coats ?

More coats of LMF may get a more even color and slightly darker. Can also get duller and if left on longer will actually give a texture to the finish, almost like it was lightly glass beaded. I have used it on many steels and the picture shows about how dark it gets. All metal parts are coated with the barrel being hot rolled steel. When you said "almost black color" that isn't going to happen. Unless a trick I do not know about is applied, it will be varying degrees of brown. So keep inquiring if you wish that true deep almost black color. Because LMF by itself will probably not satisfy.

 

[Eric Krewson]

Somehow this nose cap found it's way to the back of my work bench, completely out of sight and mind for at least an extra week while I was browning my other stuff.

It rusted way too far to match my other parts shown above but I used it anyway.

 

[kyron4]

Eric, when carding with the denim patch is it dry or wetted with water ? Do you rinse the barrel after carding or just leave it ? -Thanks

 

[BozoMiller]

Lot's of good tips in this thread. Thanks too all.

 

[Ditt44]

Pics below are of a Pedersoli Scout .50 that I did in early 2021. My method was using Laurel Mountain. I very lightly sanded at 400 grit and should have done more/longer. I used a hairdryer to warm the barrel and applied the LM. I plugged the bore with a wooden dowl wrapped in electrical tape to seal it. I hung the barrel by the tang under a tent made from the top half of a skinning tripod (about 4 feet tall upper section) which I wrapped a 10x10 tarp around to seal in moisture. I then boiled about 2 gallons of water and placed that pot directly under the hanging barrel. I left that overnight.

Each day I carded using cut blue jeans, wiped clean with a soft rag and reapplied LM and redid the process three times. I had a heck of a time stopping the rusting after the baking soda wash and it took at least half a dozen applications of 10W40 oil to stop the process. I would reheat the barrel with the hairdryer in sections and apply the motor oil. All in all it came out OK. Not professional by any means and a few areas are too thin, in my opinion. The barrel has a nice matte finish to it and a light texture, which the more I see it, the more I like it.

 

[The Crisco Kid]

Do a test on some scrap using both cold blue and a browning solution alternating coats. I've had some good results but I think a lot of it depends on temperature, humidity, and method.

 

[mark_fare]

I bead blast the barrel and then brown it. The texture is perfect and not shiny at all.