Rusting :-(

[Rooster]

Does anyone know how to stop a gun from rusting? I have a shot gun that I had to de-blue because it was at the evidence place in a jail for about a year. When I got it back there was a couple big rust marks probably from finger prints left uncleaned. When I got it back I deblued it and reblued it but I put the gun oil on afterwards and I didnt know I was supposed to wait. Anyways I had deblued it again a week or so later and reblued it, and waited to oil it, and the same thing happend. So I did it again and did not oil it at all, and its already starting to rust up again. The rust covers pretty much the entire barrel and its a really light colored non flakey rust. Its just orangeish I guess is how I would put it. THe barrel when stripped is all silver with a couple tiny spots, but I dont see how the whole things starts to orange like that. Does anyone know how to fix that?

[addicted]

I have a shot gun that I had to de-blue because it was at the evidence place in a jail

that sounds like a good thing to say to scare the daughter's boyfriend. "i just got this shotgun back from the evidence locker"

[robodad]

I would say to take it to a gunsmith for the rebluing, they use a different method then the cold blue OTC kind and is much more durable in my opinion. I think the home kits for rebluing work well for screws or small parts but when you need to do a barrel or reciever I would leave it up to the pro's !! 

[Bscman]

Heat is the key to cold bluing...Use a HOT water dunk, or a heat gun.

I always let the blue "cure" with a THICK coat of oil...it always rusts QUICKLY if I don't.

As mentioned, most of the OTC types don't work very well and you will be MUCH better off with a hot-blue. Even when you get the desired effect with a cold-blue, it's not nearly as durable and will almost always brown/orange in little time.

[DOUBLELUNG]

Put it in a gun safe and leave the light bulb on.   

[BC CHASER]

Have you ever thought about Dura Coat?

[MagKarl]

If it were mine, I'd rust blue it.  I used this process on my muzzle loader and the finish is great, sort of a dull charcoal blue/grey color.  Very easy do it yourself process using LMF Browning solution and boiling distilled water.  Do a search for "rust blue".  LMF has rust bluing instructions too.  I've hunted a bunch in the rain and snow, and clean this gun with hot soapy water with zero rust. 

[Rooster]

Thanks. Sounds like you guys use different methods than what I did. I bought this "Birchwood Casey" stuff. I dont know what the remover was called, it was for debluing and rust removing but I cant find that bottle at the moment. I also bought a bottle of "Birchwood Casey Super Blue" and a bottle of "Birch Casey PERMA Blue" dont know what the differences are. I just scrubbed it with one of the wirey dish brushes and that got some of the rust off, but it still dont look good. I think I might just take it to a gunsmith like somone said and have it cleaned, cause it was getting rust inside the chamber.

It was in the jailhouse evidence room because of an incident awhile back between my dad, the neighbor and myself. To make a long story short they both were drunk at the neighbors, and the neighbor pulled a gun on my dad. I kinda walked behind the neighbor and grabbed the gun and pushed him forward, and then jumped off the deck with his gun. He came up and grabbed me by the throat and my dad grabbed him and pounded the heck out of him. Wrestling went on for awhile, decided I needed to have the cops over so I ran home (RIGHT next door) to get the phone and my gun incase he had gone for his (Which was thrown in the bushes by me). I fired my gun on my property to break up the fight (cause my dad would of popped his eyes out of his head and smashed his face in lol) and my gun had to be taken as evidence until the whole trial was over. And if anyone is familiar with court procedings, you already know that trials get put off and off and off. So I had to wait about a year to get it back. Now, what makes me mad about that was that I wasnt a suspect, and my gun wasnt being held because of fear of endangerment or anything like that. I dont know WHY it had to be held, but it really makes me mad. Sorry so long.

[huntnphool]

I have to go talk with these people soon, you might consider Hydroprinting your gun at this point, after you re-blue it. At least if it didnt turn out the same color you wouldnt be able to see it under the camo.

http://www.northwesthydroprint.com

[Rooster]

They will camo your gun? That sounds awsome.

[huntnphool]

They will camo your gun? That sounds awsome.

You bet Rooster, check out the process on this video.

http://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php/topic,10873.0.html

[Bscman]

I chimed in a bit ago...but I'll add some more.

One of the best solutions is Oxpho-Blue, IMHO...
The birchwood casey stuff pretty much sucks. The SUPER Blue is okay--as it is the only one that will give you a fairly dark finish.

I did a Remington 511 Scoremaster (.22lr) about a year ago for my girlfriend. It was a rusty, pawn shop rescue.

I dipped the metal in Naval Jelly (rust killer/de-bluer), scrubbed it over will fine steel wool and some 600grit to remove a few scratches/burrs, and cleaned with brake cleaner. I dipped the metal parts in HOT water, then dried and cleaned with brake cleaner again. The heat opens the pores to help assure ALL the oil is removed.

Then I heated it with a heat gun and applied Oxpho-Blue with a cottonball...once I was finished, I buffed with a cotton rag, re-heated it, and applied a second coat of Oxpho-Blue.

Once that was done I buffed one last time with a fresh cotton rag (dry) and applied a HEAVY coat of Hoppe's gun lubricant (not their cleaning solvent!). After letting it "cure" for a couple days, I buffed again and called it a day. It still looks as good as the picture below, but it does seem to scratch more easily than a hot blue.

Results:

You may also want to consider Duracoat as BC Chaser recommended...it's tough stuff when properly prepped. It's also pretty cheap to do yourself. You won't have to worry about rust ever again!

[MountainWalk]

Are you degreasing all the metal before you blue it?  I dont really mess with the commercial home blue stuff. A method that works great on small parts is to get charcoal, get it hot, and attach wire to the part to be blued. Insert part into heat, let it get a dull red color then dunk it into some motor oil or tranny fluid,, keep your distance when you do this. This will leave the part a wonderfull, durable blue.

[ICEMAN]

I've reblued for myself on a few occasions, with pretty good success. On my beloved .270 (sounds of angels on high...) I took my rifle to a professional and am glad I did. Spendy. Cost as much as replacing the rifle would have.

Ask yourself this; "Is this an heirloom or favorite shotgun, that I just have to have turned back to new, at any cost?" 

You may decide that you can get bye with a different approach. My ol' mossberg shotgun never had a nice finish, and is painted.  A whole lot easier and cheaper to do than a re-bluing.