(02-14-2015, 06:00 PM)rleete Wrote: dallen, I found that heating the part slightly helps obtain a more uniform surface finish.  Hot enough to be uncomfortable to hold in a bare hand, but not hot enough to actually burn you.  I used a toaster oven; obviously, your barrel won't fit in one.  Maybe pour very hot water over it until it's heated up?

I also found that scrubbing the part with very fine (00 or 000) steel wool got the finish darker.

One thing I've learned since I been dabbling in the gun hobby is that there are about as many ways of doing something as there are people doing it.

And everything you said was taken into consideration when I blued the barrel. Heating the barrel before applying the chemicals only does one thing, it causes them to rust faster. The Barrel was so hot from boiling it in between carding it and then reapplying I used hooks to handle it with.

I used 4/0 steel wool which had been washed with brake cleaner. only way to get the finish darker is to blue it more, carding will make it shine more.

Color on the barrel wasn't exactly what I was shooting for but I like it, its more in line with what the rifle would of looked like in 1885, not sure at what point but guns used to be white, or bare metal finish.

Oh, yea I'm not done with it yet. Just got bored and needed a break so I worked on a new project that I been itching to start.

DA