doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DIY Gunsmithing @ doublegunshop.com Oil choices for curing bluing

Thank you all for sharing your selection. If you were willing to add in why you made the choice you did, that would be enlightening. I've used whatever was handy, and also stopped using certain things because it smelled up the garage too much, etc.

I agree with Mike about not using any penetrating oil that may remove or loosen rust. Our new browning or bluing is a form of rust after all, and it seems to be less securely bonded to the steel when fresh. I tried using the best known water displacing oil, WD-40 once, and noticed that a little of the blacking I worked so hard to achieve came off when I rubbed the oil off. Since then, I've used ATF, mostly because I was given several gallons of old Dexron II and Mercon that is no longer used in newer vehicles.

I also find that WD-40 with 0000 steel wool works very well to remove loose rust or to clean Damascus that has such deep patina that the pattern is obscured.

Thanks Keith. I've had good results with ATF as well.


I've used 0000 with Kroil, or Frontier Pad and Kroil for this purpose. Target and Wal-mart have three packs of the same scouring product as Frontier Pad, but for much less money than buying them online.

I just use pure mineral, nothing in but oil.

Everyone has their preferences, I'm a big fan of LPS 2, buy it by the gallon, use it in spray bottle.

Thank you all for your responses.

Next question: Do you heat your barrels before applying curing oil? If so, or not so, why?