what would you do blue or brown?

[huntman58]

The Gun will be a Tennessee stock #2 maple. The furniture is all brass. Would you brown or cold blue the Barrel? I have both BIRCHWOOD CASEY cold blue and plum brown.
I also would like to know what is the best yet cheapest way to darken the wood but bring out the strip. Sorry for all the questions I have searched did not find any thing real and want this gun to look good and some what PC

 

[MercerLake]

:v I prefer 'Browning" as it seems to me to be more resistant to rust as it is rust than "blued" steel. Sealed with bee's wax or some other hard wax, browned steel is almost rust proof in extended rain. :v

 

[DOUBLEDEUCE 1]

I have used both bluing and browning on barrels at the same time. I dipped a string in the bluing and then loosely wrapped it around the barrel in the white. I have also wrapped the string around the barrel and then painted the string with the bluing solution. When that was done, I gave the barrel a going over with 0000 steel wool. Next I would do the same thing with the browning solution. It didn't matter if the string stripes crossed or touched the other color, and leave some white metal between the string lines. I would finish the process using another type of browning and just paint it on the barrel. All I remember about the second browning solution was that it came in a brown glass bottle with a simple paper label. It made the barrel look almost fuzzy. I kept adding the second browning solution for a couple of days and kept the barrel in sort of a humid area. I would paint on one last coat of browning as I ran the tip of a propane torch down the barrel to get the solution to sizzle. Wiped it down and it came out looking great, like a striped candy cane or maybe even a tiger stripe, like a poor man's damascus. The whole thing was pretty rust proof, better than the bluing. It ages well too I think, but that is just my taste.
You might think about some WATCO Danish Oil finish. Just let that stuff soak in and then rub the dickens out of the wood.
Anyway, if you don't like the way the barrel turns out, you can always do it over the way you like. Something to think about. :hmm:

 

[huntman58]

some good ideas. Is it best to sand the barrel to only say 180 or to take it to 400 for browning? I do lean to the browning as last time I cold blued it looked good for a few years then turned kind of brown and got really thin in spots also the cold blue never did rust like it has for some . may be I kept it oiled well as I tend to oil my guns at lest one time a month no matter what.

 

[chapmans]

I drawfile the barrel then wrap 80 to 100 grit emery cloth around a block and polish all exposed flats then I take a piece of ramrod and several cleaning patches and tap the rod into the barrel to make a handle. I brown using Dangler's browning solution giving it 2 coats a day, when the rust gets too heavy card it off with some 0000 steel wool and coat it somemore until you get the finish you desire. Next rinse the barrel with baking soda and water then just plain water. After then final rinse I heat the barrel until all of the water dries up and give it a heavy coat of Johnson's paste wax.
This makes a very durable and dark brown finish.
Longball 58

 

[Ephraim]

I do mine the same way only after I get the color I want I heat the barrel so bee's wax will flow and while still hot buff with a good peace wool not steel wool. the brown will hold up for years under hard use.
Ephraim

 

[Birddog6]

I would brown it using Tru-Brown. Use the 24 hr method & card with a Dixcel wheel from Brownells. Just follow the instructions tht comes with it. I don't sand my barrels, I draw file them & then bead blast them & brown them. Personally I would toss the plumb brown in the trash can, using it I did the worst browning job I ever did, and never used it again. But some say they have good results with it. Laural Mtn. is said to be a good browning solution, but I have always used Tru-Brown since I had such good results with it.

I will tell ya Cleanliness is most important when you are browning. A good example is if you have on rubber gloves & are browning the barrel, you leave your workshop & grab a doorknob to leave........ you best change the gloves when ya come back as you contaminated the gloves with the oil film on the doorknob to your gunroom & it will make a place not brown or blue on the barrel if ya touch it with those contaminated gloves. Been there done that....

:thumbsup:

 

[spitpatch]

For your stain call Dick at Pecatonica River Long Rifle supply co--815-968-1995. Ask him about Magic Maple stain. It is formulated for curley maple. I have used it on three rifles and now have more than I started with as you mix it with water. Works great easy to use. Just make sure you test it on a scrap piece.Hope this helps.

 

[huntman58]

Well that it I am going to brown it. This will be my first time browning but have done a lot of cold bluing. The tip about the gloves is a good one and one I use. fact I change gloves as soon as I am done with a coat and then never touch it tell I put on new gloves, the stain I am still looking at options . Again thanks for all you input and well who other to ask but the master that hang out here.

 

[mazo kid]

On some of the barrels I've browned, I pull the breechplug and suspend the barrel with a piece of wire through an underlug. Then I put the flame of a propane torch up the bore of the barrel, like a chimney. It heats up right NOW, and evenly! Then apply the browning solution. If you are using 0000 steel wool to card off the rust, make sure you rinse it in some solvent first as it also contains some oil.

 

[huntman58]

I was reading about the oil on the steel wool. I think I am going to use and old blue jean to card off the scale that way I can not get to umm over doing it. some thing I tend to do LOL

 

[paulvallandigham]

Birddog: You can send any plum brown you want to throw away to me! I don't know how you use, it, but I am not in love with " Carding " rust off metal, as some members here are, it seems.

I get a beautiful Chocolate Brown color using Plum Brown by heating the metal up with a propane torch, and applying the browning solution with cotton Q-tips or swabs.

I Hang the barrel from a coat hanger through the tang screw hole, from the garage door rail over head, and use a old cut off piece of ramrod shoved in the barrel to move the barrel around when its hot, so I don't get any fingerprints on it.

I clean the barrel with soap and water first, dry it, using paper toweling, and then use alcohol to clean the metal before browning.

The metal browns Instantly, and if I brown from the bottom of the barrel( the muzzle is down so that is the " bottom" ) and slowly work my way up, moving my torch up the barrel as I go, I am able to brown the barrel in about 10 minutes if I go very slow. A yellow white residue is left on the barrel.

I let the barrel cool and then take it into the kitchen sink, and use a coarse rag to wash off the residue. I dry the barrel and inspect it to make sure I browned everything, from every angle. I clean it off again with alcohol, and then take it back to the garage, where I heat the whole barrel up again.

This time, when its sizzling hot, I spray the browned barrel with WD40, which burns and puts out a lot of smoke, but seems to darken the color a bit. The heat opens the pores of the metal so that the finish is deep. I spray until the oil is no longer burning, or smoking, and leave it dripping off oil onto newspaper until the next day.

Browning a barrel with Plum Brown, this way, is fast, and produces a durable finish that does not scratch easily. I have carried my shotgun through brush, and banged around shooting it at both the range, and in the field, and while the stock has some war wounds evident, the barrels are still fine.

I have many MLers come up and ask me about the finish, as they too have used browning solutions cold, and have had indifferent results, and days upon days of work to get a barrel right. None has produced the deep chocolate brown finish I have on my gun. None of the browned barrels I have seen done with cold browning solutions have been as durable as mine.

I obviously can't have first hand experience with all browning solutions, as there are many on the market, and new ones appearing every couple of years. I tried three different browning solutions on scrap metal the first time I browned anything. I have not tried Laurel Mountain solution, but am impressed with the pictures shown on this forum by men who have used that product, and with their comments about it. I may just have to buy some and try it on some project some day.

 

[Ephraim]

I tried to email you a pic. of a Tenn. poor boy I just finished using plum brown and bees wax but your email don't work. I don't know how to get photo bucket to work I am computer dumb. So if you will email me I will send pic's to you to give you an idea what it looks like.
Ephraim

 

[xxgrampa]

like most guys said on this thread, browning comes out a lot better than cold bluing..

to add a couple of comments to the excellant advice the guys gave you..

cleaning the bbl. denatured alcohol is better than rubbing.. it has no oil..

try a cotton ball to apply the browning solution to a HOT bbl..


tt.g

 

[huntman58]

I tried to email you a pic. of a Tenn. poor boy I just finished using plum brown and bees wax but your email don't work. I don't know how to get photo bucket to work I am computer dumb. So if you will email me I will send pic's to you to give you an idea what it looks like.
Ephraim

sent ya an email as I would love to see you poor boy and skill thanks

 

[Ephraim]

Pic's have been sent hope they come out so you can see the color . I took them in the possum trot sloon where the light is better two are with a flash and two are with out.
Ephraim

 

[huntman58]

got them and thank you for doing that it shure dose look good nice and smoth just about the look I am shooting for. thanks