have a renegade barrel want to reblue it to remove the surface rust?

[shorthair15]

i have a thompson center renegade the barrel that was not taken care of. i got the gun on a trade for a fishing rod. has rust on the out side no pitting. had it rebored to 54 to salvage the barrel. what is the best way to remove the rust without removing all the blueing either way is fine just wanted to try another way. i think i will just remove all the blueing and just reblue it so i can get the surface rust off. never reblued a barrel was looking at a birch wood casey reblueing kit i think it runs about 15.00 dollars. or should i take it to a gun smith and have them do it. thank's

[lokidog]

The only way to get all of the rust off, it sounds fairly bad, is to use rust/blue remover and then emory cloth to get it down to the bare metal.  I would not recommend cold blue as I have not had much luck with it.  However, I have done two MLs using Birchwood Casey's Plum Brown.  You have to heat the barrel with a torch (propane is fine) and then swab the solution onto it. It is more corrosion resistant than cold bluing.    The brown also looks cool compared to blue.

[lee]

Hi,

Lokidog offers sound advice.

As an alternative I'll offer what I have done in the past.

After a few failed attempts at cold bluing, (it never lasts) I bead blasted my barrel and hardware to bare metal, rubbed smooth with emery cloth, then parkerized it with a kit I ordered on line. This process is similar to the browning method lokidog references. The biggest difference is in the color obtained. Parkerizing will give a color similar to that found on military firearms.... a dull black and has much improved corrosion resistance than cold blue.

Basically, you get a cheap stainless pan large enough to hold the barrel. After de-greasing all of the parts, you bring the solution up to around 170*. Place the items in the solution. They will start to "fiz". After around 20 minutes when the "fizzing " stops remove the items and rinse them in soapy water. This stops the chemical reaction. Dry thoroughly and apply light oil.

I use a Coleman stove to heat the solution on the back porch as once the "fiz" starts there is some smell to it.

Take care,
Lee

[lokidog]

I've thought about doing cerakote to refinish mine.  I do like the plum brown color better than blue/black type color for old style muzzleloaders.

[floatinghat]

i have a thompson center renegade the barrel that was not taken care of. i got the gun on a trade for a fishing rod. has rust on the out side no pitting. had it rebored to 54 to salvage the barrel. what is the best way to remove the rust without removing all the blueing either way is fine just wanted to try another way. i think i will just remove all the blueing and just reblue it so i can get the surface rust off. never reblued a barrel was looking at a birch wood casey reblueing kit i think it runs about 15.00 dollars. or should i take it to a gun smith and have them do it. thank's

I would consider browning it rather than blue. You also might try some rem oil and 0000 steelwool, depending how bad the rust is?

[lokidog]

i have a thompson center renegade the barrel that was not taken care of. i got the gun on a trade for a fishing rod. has rust on the out side no pitting. had it rebored to 54 to salvage the barrel. what is the best way to remove the rust without removing all the blueing either way is fine just wanted to try another way. i think i will just remove all the blueing and just reblue it so i can get the surface rust off. never reblued a barrel was looking at a birch wood casey reblueing kit i think it runs about 15.00 dollars. or should i take it to a gun smith and have them do it. thank's

I would consider browning it rather than blue. You also might try some rem oil and 0000 steelwool, depending how bad the rust is?

He's planning on doing the Plum Brown.