[Irishlad]

I'm refinishing my 1991A1 right now to a polished blued.

As a comparison, does anyone know to what "level" (grit) the Gold Cups of the 70's were done? The current XSE? Kimber "royal" finish?

I'm trying to compare from what I have or have seen and it's difficult , for me anyway, to determine "in the white". I'll be able to tell when it's hot blued, but that will be too late.

I'm up to 600 grit and tried some cold blue to determine the finish, but hot blue has a different look and depth, I'm told.

Thanks.

 

[Jim Keenan]

For a "factory look", I would stop at 600 grit and really would not go beyond 400. The fact is that few factories (except Weatherby), ever made guns with a "mirror shine" like the rebluing books talk about. That gives a very shiny black finish, almost like high gloss paint, which is fine if you like it, but does not look like a factory finish.

All tank bluing gives a black finish. The blue look comes from the light reflections off the small scratches in the finish, so the higher the polish the fewer scratches and the shinier and blacker the finish.

Jim

 

[Irishlad]

Okay, thanks for the response.

Less work to stop with 400 anyway.

 

[car54]

Irishlad.....how about some pics of your finished product? :biglaugh:

 

[Irishlad]

Ha, old thread.

Sorry, I don't own a digital camera, one of the few people I guess.

I ended up using 320 grit which gave a polished look without the "mirror" look, which is what I wanted. The entire gun was polished, not just the flats.

Just used cold blue on the complete gun, several times now, and in truth, it looks like "Hell" most of the time. I can wear cold blue off in the frame areas within a couple of weeks. So, you have area's of white, grey and blue/black all over the gun.

Let's just say that if this gun were for sale, there would not be a "bidding" frenzy.

 

[car54]

Maybe try hot blueing. Wouldn't that stand up better? :hrm:

As for the old thread, I was bored the other night and did a search on blue finishes....and there you were!

 

[Irishlad]

Yes, hot blueing would stand up much better and no problem on the old thread.

I hesitated only because of a little work needed/wanted on the frame and wondering whether chrome wouldn't be better for my 'acid' hands. By the time I added everything up, shipping, chrome, some frame work, etc, etc I lost interest and did nothing. Some day though!

 

[SPJ911]

I once hand polished a Winchester Model 70 to a mirror and then cold blued with Brownell's Oxphoblue. It was pretty for a while, unitl in a mist while deer hunting it rusted with oil on it. Oh well, good try. I sent it to APW for matte hard chrome and now it looks like a brand new gun. Man, I love HC.