Re-Blueing

[Blindside]

I have several small scratches on the slide of my XD and have been thinking about having it refinished but I am on a really tight budget so I was wondering if anyone had an idea of where I could get it done in the Columbus/Seymour area and how much it might cost or if there is a less expensive way to treat a few minor scuffs and scratches. Thanks in advance for any info or suggestions.

 

[Drail]

There don't seem to be hardly any "affordable" gun finishes around any more. Traditional caustic hot bluing used to be very affordable but thanks to the EPA it is an pretty expensive operation to run today. If you cannot afford the price of a "professional" refinish then you can either just live with it or buy a can of Krylon and do it yourself. The other day I was talking with a smith at a local gun shop who showed me a tiny bottle of "Cerakote" and said that bottle costs him $200. I told him I really did not care how "good" it supposedly was at those prices. That's just absurd. My all time favorite hard use finish is and has always been military Parkerizing. It's cheap and it holds up better than anything I have ever used. You could use some cold blue to touch up your gun IF it is made from carbon steel. Unfortunately on a gun that actually gets used wear and tear is inevitable. All of my handguns now show a lot of wear and tear but I finally just stopped worrying about it.

 

[Squirt239]

There don't seem to be hardly any "affordable" gun finishes around any more. Traditional caustic hot bluing used to be very affordable but thanks to the EPA it is an pretty expensive operation to run today. If you cannot afford the price of a "professional" refinish then you can either just live with it or buy a can of Krylon and do it yourself. The other day I was talking with a smith at a local gun shop who showed me a tiny bottle of "Cerakote" and said that bottle costs him $200. I told him I really did not care how "good" it supposedly was at those prices. That's just absurd. My all time favorite hard use finish is and has always been military Parkerizing. It's cheap and it holds up better than anything I have ever used. You could use some cold blue to touch up your gun IF it is made from carbon steel. Unfortunately on a gun that actually gets used wear and tear is inevitable. All of my handguns now show a lot of wear and tear but I finally just stopped worrying about it.

$200 for a small bottle is a load of bovine fecal matter. In essence, he was exhaling smoke in the region of your backside.

 

[oldpink]

If it's a carry gun with a blued finish, some incidental wear from handling and the holster is inevitable.
If you had intended it as a showpiece, it would spend 99% of the time residing in your safe instead of on your body or at the range.

 

[Blindside]

It's my carry gun and the scratches aren't really that bad. I was just hoping to find a way to get it refinished cheaply if I decided to go that route. Thanks again for the info.

 

[sloughfoot]

I use black sharpee pens or those Birchwood Casey bluing pens for those intolerable scratches on my carry guns.

 

[INDY-1911]

I have a nice Model 10-10 bull barrel that I have been considering for blueing. I think there is a place in Ohio that hase different grades of blue that range 150-400. My Victory back strap is pretty bad. I might try to degresser/blue kit just for this area.

 

[engineerpower]

I just received a big bottle of Oxpho-Blue that I'm loving. Easy prep, wipe on, buff off, repeat. Makes a deep, dark finish on 4140, and covered some scratches on a painted AK cover. I'd recommend you look at that angle.

 

[INDY-1911]

Great. Would like to know how it wears, or not. Any pics you can post?

 

[engineerpower]

Just did it, so haven't had a chance to wear it in yet. That's the fun part, anyway...

 

[Drail]

Any type of cold blue can be made to look very good but will wear off very quickly. It is very thin and not very hard. But it is easy to touch up.

 

[chubbs]

Take a look a DuraCoats new DuraBlue. Its not really a blued finish, but it looks very similar and is durable.

 

[EricG]

Ive learned over the years that a sustainable metal treatment, coating will cost a pretty penny. There are cheaper, easier solutions but not as durable.

 

[INDY-1911]

Interesting product. Will try it out! Thanks much

 

[Squirt239]

Realistically, "bluing" is not the expensive part. It's the prep work leading up to the bluing that is expensive.

Larry Potterfield did a thing on YouTube for slow rust bluing. Take a look. You'll see it's a long drawn out process to get the correct finish on a firearm.

Hot bluing is not as long of a process. But, the down side is the caustic chemicals, needed supplies etc.

Anything worth doing is worth doing right. Good luck in your ventures and I hope you find the correct path to take with this project.

 

[WebSnyper]

I'd look at getting it Cerakoted. Take a look at the Diamond Collision sub forum here on INGO for some examples. Allen did a couple of pieces for me, and as Squirt/Brett said earlier the price mentioned earlier in this thread was BS. Squirt, you do cerakote work as well, correct?

 

[davedolli]

I use black sharpee pens or those Birchwood Casey bluing pens for those intolerable scratches on my carry guns.

Same same here.

Dave

 

[Thor]

on the Oxpho-Blue. Here is a write up I did on a couple of vintage pistols that I used it on. The first page is how they looked originally and the next has the outcome and process I used.

https://www.indianagunowners.com/forums/handguns/330645-legend-argentine-pistols-5.html

Since this was a year ago I can say that they've worn very well. Still look decades younger though there is some slight wear on the front of the slides where I stick them in my shoulder holsters. It is still better than I expected. If you are working on scratches, as they are recessed the finish should hold up well.

 

[duffman0286]

Oxpho blue is fairly good stuff friendly to use and forgiving, rust bluing is best but extremely time consoling ...I refinished AK receiver this way and I'll never do it again. ..gun looked amazing but too glossy and took a whole week....oxpho is so easy to use I use it for touching up factory finshes and it blends quite well...not half bad as a complete finish ether but there are better... Duracoat
Now has the a number of aerosol options you might consider.

 

[Squirt239]

Cerakote, bluing, parkerizing and full service gunsmith.