http://www.brownells.com/aspx/NS/store/P...SS%20BROWN%20#2>
http://www.brownells.com/aspx/NS/store/ProductDetail.aspx?p=7604&title=BELGIAN%20BLUE>
http://www.brownells.com/aspx/ns/store/ProductDetail.aspx?p=1067&title=DICROPAN%20>
Here's 3 from Brownells. I use the Mark Lee's Express Blue #1 alot and have excellent results with it. I used to use the old Herters Belgian Blue (right from Herters) but stopped using it and any of the older solutions containing mercury (mercury bichloride usually) for the obvious health reasons. The mercury residue is in the carded dust and never really goes away. It just gets continually tramped around the shop, your house, clothes, shoes, food, lungs, etc..not good at all. The 'new' stuff from Brownells is I believe 'as advertised' as being the same chemicle make up. I bought a small bottle of it and gave it the hot brass test,,swiped a bit of the soln. onto some warm clean brass and there was the mercury plated out onto the brass. A problem of the older solutions BTW in that they used to plate out the mercury onto any non-ferrous metals. So any gold, silver inlays, brass site beads, etc would come out of the process with a silvery mercury plating on them which is not easily removed. It does not just wipe off.
..anyway..
The Dicropan is a Brownells brand solution that I did use early on many years ago. I got mixed results with it which is why I went with the Herters back then. Others have great results with it and I understand it was reformulated a few years back so perhaps I should give it a re-visit,,but I so dislike change!!!
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You can, while you're blueing, place a small amt. of the soln you're going to be using into a little glass jar and hang it into the boiling water or sit it on the side of the tank if there's room to heat it up a bit. It will aid in applying it and not having it cool off too quick. Some older formulas used to specify doing so. But be aware that the water content will be evaporating while it's heating so a bit of added distilled water to it to keep it from getting too concentrated won't hurt. Also, when you're all done,,DON"T dump the unused soln. back into the original bottle (like a well known person I know used to do all the time)..it'll contaminate the bottle if it has any oil or dirt in it and it most likely will. Either dispense with it or as I do, keep it for a few quick and dirty jobs like an occasional couple of screw heads on a gun that need some blue to them.
BTW,,the Mark Lee soln. states in their directions to heat the parts with a propane torch to get them up to temp the first time, or when ever you needed to, before applying the solution. I've done it and still do it that way at times, but you run the risk of over heating them especially the thinnest portion of the shotgun barrels, mag tubes, etc. You must be carefull using the torch. Overheating will cause the solution to sizzle and sputter on the surface in those areas and while it will still blue OK will cause a patchy etched appearance under the blue when done due to etching. It may not effect a bluing job done on a heavily matted surface to begin with but it's difficult to preserve a shine in doing so.
