doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Odd finish question.....

This will soud strange but I have a old, mid 30's manfacture I think, FN sidelock SXS 12ga with a rather worn out finish. The wood was just cleaned up and it looks good but the barrels are sort of shabby. Some small rust and worn away bluing.

The action is blued and has faded and agged but it looks the way a old shotgun should, at least one that has been used.

So what I would like to do is clean up the barrels some and then protect them without rebluing them.

I like the agged color of the action and if I can get the barrels to look the same that would be my choice.

Any suggestions?

I don't know what look you are really trying for. It is probable the action is a hardened material much harder than the barrels which may make a "same" look difficult. The barrels will need to be rust blued or risk the bluing salts attacking the rib solder if you choose to refurb them. You can clean the barrels gently with some 0000 or finer, oil saturated, steel wool by rubbing them evenly and gently. You will wear some finish off, but they will clean up. Just go slow and check your work frequently

Try cleaning the barrels with a stainless steel kitchen scrubbing pad and any light oil (3-in-1, CLP, etc.). The stainless pads do a nice job without abrading any remaining finish. If the cleaned barrels still need more attention, the quick way to refurb them would be a thorough degreasing, and then treatment with a cold blue such as Oxpho Blue from Brownell's. With some patience, you should be able to blend the bluing over the length of the barrels. It won't look like fresh rust bluing, but it should look OK for the gun as you have described it. If you do a search on this site, you may find some detailed instructions that were posted a few years ago.

I had a Parker that had brown barrels. I rubbed them with 0000 steel wool and WD40. All the brown came off and the original blue was hidden but perfect. I would give your gun the same treatment but go very carefully.

bill

Bronze wool and Hoppe's Numba Nine.

Use bronze wool (available at good hardware stores), not steel wool, and motor oil, rub lightly. Unlike steel wool the bronze wont cut into finishes and the heavy oil will also help protect it. Works well on all blues and I've saved what looked like rusty guns, turned out that pinhole rust had just bled over the surface and the blue underneath was still good.

So if I use the Bronze wool, assuming I can find it, do I then use just oil or should I use some sort of wax to keep the old looking finish in shape?

Once you you get it cleaned up the way you want it, a coat or two of Johnson's paste wax will keep it nice. Marine supply stores carry bronze wool, I'll bet there's a few of those in Florida.

Thank you......

Fishdock I didn't see it mentioned but after you have finished the barrels with the bronze wool and oil degrease the metal with brake or carburetor cleaner before you apply the final wax protective coat.