doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Question on Perazzi color duping

I have two Perazzi MX-8'S. One that was imported by Winchester and retains almost all of the original factory "color". It appears to have been done exactly like Miller described the touch-up procedure several times previous, vertical blue squiggly lines with just traces of a straw color between some of them, randomly.
The other is an older Ithaca imported MX-8 with absolutely no color left, anywhere. No blue left on barrels, ribs, nothing. I am about to have the ribs resoldered and the barrels then reblued, along with new locking mechanism and other minor details. I would like to try Miller's method of recreating the colors on the receiver, but can't figure how to get the straw color as on the other one. As Miller explained, this method only uses heat to about 160 degrees. This is not an attempt to do nice case colors, only to duplicate Perazzi's (ugly) colors. Any ideas on the straw colors? Miller?
One more thing. What is a substitute for the Koloid acrylic aerosol? I can't seem to find the stuff.

Thanks, Stan

Stan, you're on a snipe hunt. I'd be having the receiver nicely blued along with the barrels.

Stan;
The posting I made on this was taken directly from an Ithaca service manual. They only mentioned using the cold blue. From other sources Tincture of Benzoin is the chemical to use by the same process to add yellows, just alternate with it & the cold blue. When I first tried this back in the 80's I obtained the Tincture of Benzoin from mry local drug store, don't know if is something still available or not. I tried it both ways at the time & personally preferred the colors without the yellows, just as described by Ithaca, so never used the Benzoin again.
The beauty of this finish is at the temps involved absolutely no danger or damage is involved to the gun. "If" you get a coloration that suits then all is well, "If Not" simply polish it off & proceed to bluing, you would have had to polish it anyway, as 8-bore suggested. You would have lost only a little time & a few drops of cold blue in the interim, so is no great expenditure involved. You may happen to like the result.
I believe the Perazzi frame was made from an alloy steel unsuitable to the traditional bone charcoal process so that was not an option.

Sounds to me like this a case for ed-1. I'll bet he knows just how to do it...Geo

Geo, I'm speechless, you suggesting such a thing! Chortle!
Mike

Jawje, you should be ashamed fum yo'sef!

Thanks, Miller. I'm going to try it, just for fun. I am attempting to build another MX-8 that is an EXACT physical match to my main sporting clays gun, the Winchester imported one. It has the ugly blue tiger stripe colors. If it works, fine, if not, I'll have it blued and the only difference will be the colors. No big deal, since the main goal is to have two guns that handle and shoot EXACTLY alike, and the color of the receiver has naught to do with that.

Both guns have fixed choke barrels that have had the chokes opened from full/full to .020"/.020". Neither have enough metal at the muzzles for anything but Briley thin wall chokes, and measurements reveal that there would only be .005" metal remaining between the two bores after boring and threading. I'm not willing to risk that at this time with either gun, and have been shooting my best scores, since beginning to compete in registered shoots, in the last year with the tight chokes.

A Perazzi service man who does my work on them wants to polish this one's receiver and leave it "in the white", like some of the newer ones are done. I don't particularly care for that look, however.

Stan, you really do spend your "summers in Jawja" dont you. If not you could never have nailed the vernacular in that sentence. Respects...Geo

Nah'suh Jawje. Ah LIVES sommers (somewheres) in Jawja. Bin heah all mah life.

And the light goes on! Thanks, Stan. By the way, as I explained on another thread, Ithaca did not use the miserable excuse for coloring because they liked it. According to a factory memo published for our enjoyment in one of Walt Snyder's books, the correct method had been lost over the years and the shop supervisor instructed his gunsmiths in the use of a torch to refinish Knick single barrel receivers when they came in for service. I sold a 4E to a friend who sent it to Ithaca in the 80s for refinishing. It came back with a hideous torch job that just ruined the gun. A professional blue job would be much preferred to "hideous".

I do think for the sake of accuracy we need to make a positive & Very Distinct difference between this method & a "Torch Job". The method of heating with this process is totally irrelavant, it can be done with a torch, in a warming oven, even a pan of hot water. The coloring is done by the reaction of the chemical on the warm metal. As to it's desirability, everyone can make their own choices, one can chose to like it or lump it at their own discretion. The thing to keep in mind is the gun itself has not been physically damaged, only it's appearence changed.
A "Torch Job" is when some "Idiot" sticks the very hot tip of a torch to various "Spots" on a part until it is heated enough for that spot to take on a temper color, thus producing a Smorgasboard of varying hardness throught the piece. I seriously doubt an Ithaca Gunsmith recommended this procedure for a gun frame, but if he did, even if he had an engineering degree from MIT I would still call him an "Idiot".