Blueing inside of a barrel !

W

Wannebe

Guest
Yes, it hapened to me. !!!

Had a very tight shooting LW barrel in 5.5mm. Over time it got a couple of marks etc. Wanted to have it looking good as I planned to take the shroud off. Send it in for re-blueing and it came back blue all over, also inside. Since then, for whatever reason, I just couldn't get this barrel to shoot as straight as before.

Is it me or is it the blueing ??

I decided to try and remove it, regardless. Either it will be better or it will be scrap.........
 
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I've seen this happen many, times. Its why I usually just paint mine. Bluing does often ruin accuracy, but before stripping, try cleaning it VERY well with solvents, then "firelap" by shooting a half dozen pellets "charged" with JB Borepaste. I "charge" them the traditional way ... put a paste bead on a flat metal plate, lay pellets in row in the paste bead, place another metal plate on top and roll the upper plate back and forth a bit to imbed some paste into the pellet.

After firing, clean the bore anf give a try on accuracy again. Be aware that some barrels need a couple dozen shots or more to settle down after a good cleaning. IF you see any signs of improved accuracy, swab some borepaste on a patch and run it up and down the bore some more ... taking care to not let it exit the muzzle.

I prepared and tested over fifty barrels for Mac1 once, but when he had a blued, he didn't heed my warning and make SURE the barrels were plugged before bluing. NONE shot as well afterward without various degrees of polishing. When I did a few more and they STILL came back with blue bores, I refused to pretest any more.

Clean and test some more. One thing you will notice is it takes a LOT of borepaste rubbing to even BEGIN to remove bluing. This procedure isn't to remove the bluing, but only to smooth its surface some.

If the polish fails, you can use a chemical stripper, but I doubt accuracy will be as before bluing, as most bluing processes use some caustic baths that at least mildly micro etch the surface.

The reason many will argue that "their" blued bore is accurate is often their accuracy STANDARD is different. BUt, I have seen well-seasoned blue bores shoot decently too ... its just not as common.
 
therealld said:
I've seen this happen many, times. Its why I usually just paint mine. Bluing does often ruin accuracy, but before stripping, try cleaning it VERY well with solvents, then "firelap" by shooting a half dozen pellets "charged" with JB Borepaste. I "charge" them the traditional way ... put a paste bead on a flat metal plate, lay pellets in row in the paste bead, place another metal plate on top and roll the upper plate back and forth a bit to imbed some paste into the pellet.

After firing, clean the bore anf give a try on accuracy again. Be aware that some barrels need a couple dozen shots or more to settle down after a good cleaning. IF you see any signs of improved accuracy, swab some borepaste on a patch and run it up and down the bore some more ... taking care to not let it exit the muzzle.

I prepared and tested over fifty barrels for Mac1 once, but when he had a blued, he didn't heed my warning and make SURE the barrels were plugged before bluing. NONE shot as well afterward without various degrees of polishing. When I did a few more and they STILL came back with blue bores, I refused to pretest any more.

Clean and test some more. One thing you will notice is it takes a LOT of borepaste rubbing to even BEGIN to remove bluing. This procedure isn't to remove the bluing, but only to smooth its surface some.

If the polish fails, you can use a chemical stripper, but I doubt accuracy will be as before bluing, as most bluing processes use some caustic baths that at least mildly micro etch the surface.

The reason many will argue that "their" blued bore is accurate is often their accuracy STANDARD is different. BUt, I have seen well-seasoned blue bores shoot decently too ... its just not as common.
Click to expand...


Thanks for the advice ........

Yes, standards differ. This barrel use to shoot routinely sub 30mm CTC, 10 shot groups at 100m indoor. Now it is good for +/- 40mm. Not bad, but not as good as before. That is stil single ragged hole accuracy at 30m !!

Maybe I've ruined it, but this is what I did.

I pulled through about 10 or so patched wetted in white vinegar. Then a good cleaning. Then a good couple of patches with Brasso (a very smooth polishing agent mostly used on brass or copper). Again a very good cleaning. The barrel now look clean and pellets go through nicely. I do think the barrel has a duller appearance than before (either from the blueing process or the vinegar). We will see when I test, but that will only be in a week or two.

We will see ..... if it is scrap at least I did it ......
 
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Makes sure you rise the vinegar out well, as it IS an acid and may etch the metal. I say this because of the "duller appearance" statement. I like to polish til it shines a bit.

I lack a good test range for beyond 51yds ... but I like to see under 3/8" groups at that distance, and my best gun has delivered 12 consecutive five shot groups on one card that averaged around 1/4" ctc.
 
You are correct LD on bluing affecting accuracy. If the bluing solution is left in the bbl for any length of time it etches the rifling particularly the edges of the lands as they are sharp and will affect accuracy. Plugging the bbl is the correct way to preserve accuracy on a shooter.

Frank
 
Is it possible that handling these barrels with wires in the muzzle and the chamber end is damaging the crown,I have seen this method used many times
when barrels are in the tanks.I would imagine a small .177 bore could be even more susceptible to damage.
 
Keven, anything you put in a bbl. has the potential to retard it's accuracy on either end.
The ends of the rifling at the crown are prime candidates for damage. Brass cleaning jags that do not match your rod diameter bump the lands on the back strokeor for that matter going in from the muzzle raising a burr usally at 6 0'clock are often the cause of bbls going south immediatly. I know you are going to say that brass is not going to upset 25 rockwell steel but lands are delicate and only a couple of thousanths of an inch high. Any time you can look at a crown and see a shinny reflection on the end of a land means the land is rounded off. You cannot reflect light off a sharp edge. I have looked at thousands of bbls with this exact damage........so yes it does. I don't like even putting a rod in my airgun barrels unless necessary.

For what it's worth.

frank
 
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damage from bluing process

yes, its possible the wire hangers cause damage to the barrels, but also, the process itself, with salts, caustic baths, unsure rinsing between baths, and lack of good post bluing rinse and oiling, as well as the resultant affects of the blued surface quality itself are enough to affect accuracy even without handling damage from wires.
 
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