Cleaning/Restoring Blued Barrel . . . How about Graphite Black Cerakote?

[DarkAisling]

I've just completely taken down my Win Model 94 ('78) in a burgeoning attempt to fix her up.

One of her previous owners shellacked the stock without removing it. As a result, there is shellac/clear coat on the barrel. I would like to try to remove this. Any suggestions?

I know a few of you on the forum have used cold bluing agents (http://www.outdoorsmenforum.ca/showthread.php?t=105614): or were planning to use them. Do any of you have anything more to add that wasn't covered in that thread? Since it has no real monetary value, I just want to try to pretty her up a bit without a huge cash investment (perfectly willing to invest time, though). No rust that I can see, but some of the existing bluing is scuffed off and marred. The action is quite pitted.

[Rman]

A few things. The barrel can be cleaned with lacquer thinner, and touched up with any number of cold blues. The reciever is an alloy, and will not take blueing well. Pitting can either be filed or sanded out, or filled and painted.

R.

[DarkAisling]

Thanks! I wasn't sure if lacquer thinner would harm the bluing or not. And yes, you are correct: I was referring to the receiver and not the action.

What kind of paint would one use on the receiver? A ceramic, or something else?

[gitrdun]

Hi Shelley. I recently finished the little Cooey that I mentioned in the other thread. Because there was some rust and a bit of pit on the outside, I decided to sand blast it in a cabinet. That process took it down to bare metal and completely removed all rusting. I was planning on using Blue Wonder. But, because I had some Birchwood Casey blueing left, and I didn't want to make the trip to Calgary, I opted to go with the BC left overs. I must say that it turned out better than I expected. Even though it doesn't mention heat in the BC kit, I heated the parts to about 125F using a torch, then applied the blueing. You must be sure to de-grease and clean the metal real well before blueing. The result for me was a blued matt finish. If you were to chose this route, you'd end up with a matt finish 94. Don't know if this is suitable for you though.

Personally, I wouldn't use paint on the metal parts, simply because it would look painted.

[timsesink]

To get off the Shellac, the antique furniture stripper works really well. Read and White can and about 6 bucks if I remember correctly.

[Rman]

Personally, I wouldn't use paint on the metal parts, simply because it would look painted.

There isn't much choice, as that reciever won't take blueing. I would try alumahide paint first, as it will be the closest to the factory finish. Your other option is to buff the reciver shiny and clear coat it. Either way, it will look painted, and or buffed and clear coated.

R.

[DarkAisling]

Well, this has me thinking . . . maybe graphite black cerakote?

I found a few photos of post '64 Model 94s that had been cerakoted with the graphite black (barrel, receiver, and action), and I really loved the look.

Is cerakote something I could do myself?

[walking buffalo]

Aluminum parts can be anodized and/or dyed.

Do-it-yourself instructions are available on the net (search "aluminum patina dye" ) and there are companies (several in Calgary) that will do custom work.
http://www.albertabase.com/index.htm


Some anodized/dyed gun parts pictures here. These colors are all flashy, but flat blacks, or distressed colors are also achievable.
http://www.focuser.com/atm/anodize/anodize.html


Shelley, if you are not in a rush, I may be dying some aluminum sculptures this winter. I could throw your parts into the mix.

[Rman]

The reciever is not aluminum. This is part of the problem. If it was aluminum, the you could just use aluminum black on it, but this does not work either. It is some kind of alloy, not aluminum, that won't take bluing. It has to be painted.

R.

[Rman]

Well, this has me thinking . . . maybe graphite black cerakote?

I found a few photos of post '64 Model 94s that had been cerakoted with the graphite black (barrel, receiver, and action), and I really loved the look.

Is cerakote something I could do myself?

There is an outfit in Edmonton that sells a cerokote type, two part epoxy paint. It doesn't work too bad, and it looks alright. If its just a shooter, then any old flat black paint for metal will do.

R.

[pikergolf]

Please wear the proper airway protection!

[Rman]

A facemask and snorkel at the very least!
Fins are not required.
R

[DarkAisling]

Thanks for the great tips :)

WB . . . I don't think there are many aluminum parts on this gun. I'm not sure though.

But! Depending on what colours you may be using for your aluminum sculptures, I do have a couple of machined aerospace aluminum fly reels that have parts I would like anodized. :)

[DarkAisling]

Arrgghh. This rifle is going to drive me crazy.

I decided to talk to a gunsmith about ceracoating her graphite black. I was told it wasn't advised, as the thin layer of paint can negatively affect the fit of the pieces and affect performance. That gunsmith gave me the contact info for another gunsmith.

This is what he had to say:
Post 64 model 94's can not be reblued. They were very thinly plated at the factory and sort of 'blued' on top of that. Sort of a factory thing that no one else does. In the past I have sand blasted the receiver and had it electrolysis nickel plated, then blued the rest of the rifle. I no longer do general rebluing/refinishing. You should be able to find someone locally... the preparation is the biggest job. How well it looks is all in the prep.

So, paint is out. Bluing is out (unless I want the receiver plated first). How about parkerizing? Could that be an option for this old girl?

[Rman]

Wow.
All you have to is paint the reciever and or the barrel. You can blue all of the other parts, with cold blue. The paint will not affect any of the parts involved, as the tolerances are just not that tight on those rifles. Worse case is a few of the pins may be difficult to start. Think about the thickness of the paint, as compared to plating. Pretty much the same thing, except plating won't give as easy when trying to start a pin.
Get a can of alumhide paint, and giv'r yourself. If you want to splurge, do the duracoat thing. You're not the first person in the world to paint one of these receivers, and you won't be the last.
Hell, if you're in Calgary, bring the damn thing to me, and I'll paint it and put it back together. Guaranteed to work, or your money back!

R.

[DarkAisling]

R . . . Thanks :) I probably should have mentioned that I'm pretty strongly opposed to using two different finishing methods on the blued parts, as that has been one on the things I considered (very briefly). If that is truly my only option, she'll be staying as she is.

[Rman]

Thats even easier then. There are some parts that shouldn't be painted, like the loading gate, as you'll just scratch the paint off when loading, but most everything else is good to go. Seriously, its not that big of a deal. I'll still paint it for you, if you wish, and it will look a lot nicer, and be better protected, then it is now.

R.