doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Advice on browning bbl's

Update and 3 new questions! Since my last post there have been some changes in the procedure used to brown a set of damascus bbl's I'm working on, giving some very favorable results thanks to the knowledgeable responses on this board. First, weatherstripping was added to doors which raised humidity from 50% to 80%+. Second, rust time from 1 hr. to 3.5-4 hrs. Third, FcCl3 cut from 12.5% to 6%. Fourth, used the John Deere lawn mower trailer filled with 25 gal. of H2O to submerse the bbl's while carding w/ 0000 steel wool, ha, worked like a charm, now a visible, yes visible pattern. It took 17 cycles to get to this point and had things been done differently it should have taken 4-5 cycles. Having said that, I feel bbl's should be somewhat of a darker brown allowing slightly more contrast. Will applying more browning solution & subsequent rustings and wet carding w/0000 steel wool give these results? The other question is if nothing is done and bbl's are left as is, will a quick boil, turning bbl's slightly blackish brown give better contrast. Or will it now just be blackish brown and silver with a slight contrast? G.

It sounds like the pattern has the appearance you should be seeing after 6 cycles or so using this method.
It normally takes me at least 12 but usually around 15 cycles to get a nice deep color to the pattern.
It builds up slowly as you're loosing part of the built up color on the softer iron portion of the pattern each time you etch as well as completely removing it from the harder steel composition of the bbl material.

If you do choose to boil it now you will most likely instead of the faint brown/white contrast,,get a faint black/white contrast. Sort of like the first coating of rust blue.
Some bbls work up faster than others it depends on the iron and steel content, the rust soln you use, the rusting time, etch soln and time in the etch,,ect.
Most everything you do is a variable upon the completed look.
For that reason, when excellent results are obtained, the finisher tends to stick closely with that process. But there are many different ways to obtain the right look.
Ask 10 different people doing the work and get 10 differing ways of doing it.
Results are what matter.

My experience was that when I was not getting any contrast, my etch solution was too strong.

I was taking electronics circuit board etch which is approx 40% Ferric Chloride, diluting it between 6 to 8 parts water to 1 part circuit board etch. When I used it, the etching was still pretty fast. I was etching for 10 seconds with 8 parts water and it was a very fast operation. I think a 10 part water, 1 part circuit board etch would be a good place to start with a 10 second submersion followed by water flooding and wet carding.

On a Parker, the finish was black and white (silver), not brown/silver. Boiling after each rust is how I got the blue/black finish, then the etch removed the black from the steel ribbons.

My testing showed I could get a pattern quickly by doing several rusts/boiling/dry carding before the first etch and wet carding. This gave a all blued barrel first, then the first etch gave good contrast. Then a few rusts/boils/dry cards followed by another etch/wet card. This process gave me a quick pattern with good contrast.

Update...So far with a couple more rustings and several etches, 3-4 second dips, bbl's might be ready to boil for the brown black look. Bbl's show a subtle pattern with little contrast except for the top and bottom ribs which are more pronounced due to the fact the bbl's are tightly woven (4 iron). Could bbl pattern be tweaked by hand rubbing with a rag dampened with a light etch solution rather than dipping before final boil? Thanks in advance, G.

If you rub with a rag dampened with etchant you may end up with inconsistancies in your finish. Dark here, lighter there, maybe a smudge. I would not recommend it. I applied etchant with a sponge one time rather than dipping thinking I could control the process better. Nope, won't do that again.

This set of barrels is off a 1901 F grade hammer gun. They are what is called Fine Damascus and unusual to find these on a low grade hammer gun.
I gave these barrels 4 rustings and 3 boilings and 3 etchings. I seldom go farther than this because the rest of the gun is not finished. If I had it case colored, then I would bring out the barrels to match the rest of the gun.


When I first looked at this gun before bidding on it, but could not tell what type of barrels it had. With this one, and another hammer gun that has Chain Damascus which is also unusual.
These Chain Damascus are from an 1897 F grade hammer gun. Just enough to bring out the pattern and that is it.


For a final coating, I use boiled linseed oil heated lightly and rubbed on with a cotton ball and let dry till hard. Lasts a long time.

Forgot to include the rusting box, boiling tank and etchant tank.




One other important thing, only use distilled water for boiling and in the etchant solution. Any minerals in regular water can affect it.

Update: Bbl's were boiled for the first time and still remain brown, possibly very slightly darker. A few sections on the side of the top rib of which turned black as well as the short section of the bottom rib behind the bbl lug. Bbl's were boiled at 130 deg and then temp raised to 180 deg using distilled H2o for up to 20-25 minutes hoping to see color change from brown to slight black, again, nothing. Haven't nutralized bbl's in baking soda since color change never took place. Any suggestions appreciated. Thanks, G.

G, barrels weren't boiled at 130 or 180 degrees. Water boils at 212 degrees F.

After rusting, barrels go into boiling water for 5-6 minutes, come out and then card with a gray scotch brite pad then go into etching solution for 5 seconds. Immediately after dipping in etchant come out and go under running water using scotch brite pad again.
Repeat process until satisfied. So far I have never neutralized with baking soda.