Can a blued stainless barrel be cleaned?

Bill Wynne

Bill Wynne

Active member
The grandson of a close friend of mine who was a fine gunsmith in the '50s thru '70s has brought me a rifle in a 270 Improved and has asked me to help him with some loading data. This rifle was my friend's personal deer rifle that he made for himself.

It has an FN Mauser action and supreme grade walnut stock with great checkering and a premium trigger. The stock is an example of some of the best work I have ever seen. The blueing on the action is pristine.

The only thing wrong is that the barrel is stainless and it was blued. the man did his own bluing and I suspect the barrel was blued for a customer by mistake.

The grandson did not know his grandfather and he is very proud to have his rifle and he is not worrying about this flaw. He would like to hunt with this rifle. It is a really great rifle with this glaring exception.

Would it be posable to remove the bluing by either chemical or mechanical methods and just have a stainless barrel? It would be acceptable now and it would not have been back then.

Thanks

Concho Bill
 
Bill Wynne said:
The grandson of a close friend of mine who was a fine gunsmith in the '50s thru '70s has brought me a rifle in a 270 Improved and has asked me to help him with some loading data. This rifle was my friend's personal deer rifle that he made for himself.

It has an FN Mauser action and supreme grade walnut stock with great checkering and a premium trigger. The stock is an example of some of the best work I have ever seen. The blueing on the action is pristine.

The only thing wrong is that the barrel is stainless and it was blued. the man did his own bluing and I suspect the barrel was blued for a customer by mistake.

The grandson did not know his grandfather and he is very proud to have his rifle and he is not worrying about this flaw. He would like to hunt with this rifle. It is a really great rifle with this glaring exception.

Would it be posable to remove the bluing by either chemical or mechanical methods and just have a stainless barrel? It would be acceptable now and it would not have been back then.

Thanks

Concho Bill
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Bill, unless I'm mistaken, stainless barrels cannot be blued. Robar in Phoenix does a nice black oxide finish on stainless. Are you absolutely sure the barrel is stainless? At any rate, why not leave it in original condition?

Gene Beggs
 
Gene, Remington and Winchester sold rifles that had stainless barrels and were blued. I believe that they had to put an iron oxide coating on them first. I don't see why you would have to alter your cleaning method.
Butch
 
Gene Beggs said:
Bill, unless I'm mistaken, stainless barrels cannot be blued. Robar in Phoenix does a nice black oxide finish on stainless. Are you absolutely sure the barrel is stainless? At any rate, why not leave it in original condition?

Gene Beggs
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Gene,

The gunsmith was George Curry and he never did anything half way. All of his rifles had the ultimate in bluing jobs on them. He had his own vats and did the work himself. I remember seeing a personal rifle of his with a dull flat and splotchy bluing job on the barrel and he told me it was it was a stainless barrel and it would not accept the bluing and he put it on a rifle for himself so it would not go to waist.

This may have been that barrel. It would look much better in just plain stainless. My question is, "Can the thing be chucked in a lathe and sanded or ground back to the original stainless finish?" This would be my first choice.

I think I will check with Robar in Phoenix. another option would be to install another barrel in a common caliber.

Concho Bill
 
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bluing stainless

today you can get stainless bluing formulas from Brownells

so the barrel could be reblued or Simply bead blasted to remove the old bluing and give you a semi gloss look.
 
Blued Stainless

There is a chemical process to blue stainless. Brownell sells the chemicals.

If a barrel is blued with the hot bluing process normally associated with CM bluing the results are very poor and may even come out red.

The barrel can be polished out in a lathe or with a barrel spinner and buffing wheel and some buffing compound. It also can be glass beaded to removed the bluing.

I would recomend polishing it in a lathe with 400 grit, 600grit, 800grit and 1200 grit then glass geat finishing the barrel. It will give a very even grey mat finish. The action can be glass bead finished to match if desired.

Yes there is a black oxide finish that can be applied and it makes the rifle look like a pre-64 Winchester.

Nat Lambeth

Nat Lambeth
 
Bill Wynne said:
Gene,

The gunsmith was George Curry and he never did anything half way. All of his rifles had the ultimate in bluing jobs on them. He had his own vats and did the work himself. I remember seeing a personal rifle of his with a dull flat and splotchy bluing job on the barrel and he told me it was it was a stainless barrel and it would not accept the bluing and he put it on a rifle for himself so it would not go to waist.

This may have been that barrel. It would look much better in just plain stainless. My question is, "Can the thing be chucked in a lathe and sanded or ground back to the original stainless finish?" This would be my first choice.

I think I will check with Robar in Phoenix. another option would be to install another barrel in a common caliber.

Concho Bill
Click to expand...

No problem, put a generous amount elec tape on the threads and clamp it a 3 jaw, firm, but not tight. I made an aluminim spacer between my live center and rifling that does not damage the crown. Spin it 300 rpms or so, with your desired sand paper grit...not a bad shop project....shine it right up.

Ben
 
blued stainless barrel

I once had an older Remington 40x with what I thought was a cm barrel. Turns out, it was stainless. Remington coated it with some type of copper then blued it. The blueing on that rifle was flawless.

Unless it REALLY looks HIDEOUS, why would the grandson want to change it? Every great now and then I carry a Browning Sweet Sixteen to hunt rabbits with. It ain't about the gun, my pappaw died in 1977 when I was a boy, and when I carry that old gun, he goes with me. Makes me feel kinda closer to him. I don't expect that to make sense to everyone, but I would suspect others feel that way about something that has been passed down.

I hope the young man truly enjoys the rifle his pappaw built!!
Greg
 
My dad gave me a 30-40 Krag, that he hunted with for many years, and was the first highpowered rifle I shot when I was 8. The front sight blade is made from a penny. I would never consider altering it.

Ben
 
You may be right about leaving it like it was built, warts and all. I just wish you could see the quality of the stock work. The rifle is fitted into the stock by hand by carving and sanding and marking with lamp black or something.

This fitting is not only the action but the whole length of the barrel. I know that a free floating barrel is what we use today. That barrel and action could have not have been better fitted to the wood if the tree grew around them.

The hand checkering is flawless.

I am going to fire form 50 rounds of matching brass and work up a load for 130 grain bullets and give it back. In a funny way, I feel I am doing the grandfather a favor as well as the grandson.

Concho Bill
 
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