How to go from polished blue to dull blue on a rifle?

[Scott Spencer]

If one currently has a gloss blue finish on his rifle now and wanted to make it a matt/flat blue, like Ruger's finishes, how would that be done? Bead blasted by a gunsmith? A whole new bluing job by a gunsmith?

I ask because I am thinking about rebarreling a rifle and would prefer the matt finish on the barrel and the action similar to the Ruger matt finishes. The scope I'll be using in matt as well and I don't want a "do it yourself" job.

 

[JD338]

Scott,

A good gunsmith will be able to do this for you. A Dura Coat or Parkerized finish will look great. You could also have the SS barrel done for an even match.
FWIW, Williams offers these services.

JD338

 

[Scott Spencer]

Thanks, Jim! So when I order the SS barrel I should tell them to put a parkerized or duracoat finish over the SS? If not, would it be better to buy a CM barrel and have it finished with the action at the same time for a match?

 

[Thebear_78]

Get a nitride finish. It will treat stainless and chrome moly steel and will do all steel parts of teh firearm, so internal protection is much higher than just duracoat. Stainless steel can't be parkerized. Nitride completely blows every other kind of finish or coating I have tried out of the water. Teflon gets sticky and wears easily, duracoat scratches and wears, any of the coatings will wear easier than nitride. Nitride is a metal treatmeant, to scratch it off you have to remove the metal that is treated.

I just got a mauser nitrided that I built for my dad. Stainless barrel, chrom moly action and stainless bolt handle, It all came out a uniform flat black finish.

I got mine doen at alaska custom fiirearms. Cost is similar to other finishes. $350 and that includes dissasembly, reassembly and test fire.


www.alaskacustomfirearms.com

 

[Scott Spencer]

Thanks for the recommendation and details on the various pros and cons!

 

[Guest]

Since you're in Birmingham, I'd go talk to the folks at Mark's about what they can do finish-wise. Or I can get you the name of a gunsmith a buddy of mine uses (I think the smith is in B'ham). Don't get the barrel finished from the maker. Just get a stainless barrel, and have your smith chamber it and install it. Then have him refinish the whole thing to match. Cera-Kote comes highly recommended by a special forces friend of mine, and he is known to use/abuse his equipment. When I get a gun redone, it will be Cera-Koted. In fairness, I'm not familiar with nitriding one, so I can't say how they would compare. But I have seen some spectacular guns Cera-Koted, and I believe what I hear about durability.

 

[JD338]

Scott,

Here is the link to Dura Coat....

http://www.duracoat-firearm-finishes.com/

JD338

 

[Elkman]

I painted my with camo krylon paint. Might be a little extreme for some but at $3.98 beats the hell out of the other options. Shoots great and it stayed home to get the job done. I have painted my stock two times in 20 years, keep wearing the original finish off. Brown precision stock.