Phasing out

C

Calibre

New member
Well, after 31 years of of making my living in the gun industry ... it looks as though the writing is on the wall and must phase out a portion of my business.

I do mostly restoration work on older guns and have found and formulated many refinishing techniques that used to be found on the older guns.

In the process of ordering some of the chemicals I need to do this work, I have come to a dead end with my suppliers who no longer want to sell to me. Seems the government (Homeland Security is what's mentioned) thinks we are all going to blow cr@p up and have made the process of selling small quantities of chemicals difficult.

Won't sell to even an FFL holder and I am an 07/02.

It was nice dealing locally for these chemicals as I didn't have shipping or freight or haz-mat fees to deal with and could steal a few hours once inawhile to take a drive and get them.

This really sucks right now as I need some of these chemicals to finish a 1921 Thompson that I am restoring and a 1916 Lewis gun coming up.

I have found over the years that the government nor large business gives a darn about the little guy.

Oh, well, it sucks to be me right now. Guess I'll have to get into benchrest ... most everything is stainless steel and doesn't need refinishing!
 
I can tell you how to get ammonium nitrate but it'll cost you double what you're used to I'd guess.

al
 
Spencer - Haven't given up ... yet. But it is a pain looking for new sources after all these years.

AlinWa - don't really need ammonium nitrate. Not out to blow anything up. Just want to blue some gun parts.
 
Here in Los Angeles, there used to be a great company called Tri-ess sciences. This was THE place to go for small quantities of such chemicals as nitric acid which is used in so many old timey finishing processes from staining maple to bluing and browning metal. They had every bizzare thing you could ever imagine..... and now they are vapor in the memory. Very sad indeed.

As a post script, I would just like to add, that the whole reason for a company like Tri-ess was to supply the small user. Whether it be a young budding scientist who wanted small quantities of chemicals to learn with and expand knowledge, to a hobbyist who just wanted to do some small scale shop work, or even the professional who needed these chemicals to recreate the processes of the past. All down the tubes due to abject stupidity. Why must good men always pay the price for the stupid irresponsible dingbats.
 
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Spencer - I used to use Heatbath bluing salts but they were the first to stop selling to the small guy. They had a great product called Nickel Penetrate. I called to buy more from them one day in '91 or '92 and was told that the minimum order went from 25# to 500#.

At gunsmith school we had a formula for making up our own bluing solution so I purchased the chemicals needed after extensive research on the subject. I find that I have more latitude in my process making up my own solutions, including non-traditional chems, to get results I desire. I currently have 5 different bluing tank processes to do the different types of steel invovled in the gun trade.

As a side to this - I used to be able to "build" my own for about one quarter the cost of the prepared solutions on the market.

AlinWa - Yes, I know it is used and would like to experiment with it for another type of bluing I have in mind, but, at my age I am not sure that I want to do that and then there is the unbelievable hassle of obtaining the stuff in the quanities I need. A few pounds found on the pyro sites isn't enough and when you want 50#, it is thought you are doing recon on a federal building.
 
Calibre said:
AlinWa - Yes, I know it is used and would like to experiment with it for another type of bluing I have in mind, but, at my age I am not sure that I want to do that and then there is the unbelievable hassle of obtaining the stuff in the quanities I need. A few pounds found on the pyro sites isn't enough and when you want 50#, it is thought you are doing recon on a federal building.
Click to expand...

You really are plugged in.

Too bad we're far apart, I'd like to meet you :)

True American conservative thinkers are a dying breed.

al
 
Spencer - That stuff is laboratory grade ... highly refined ... very expensive. Guns don't need that, they just contaminate the solution anyway. Farm grade is what I'm looking for ... I can blue guns, burn tree stumps and fertilize the tomatos all with the same stuff!

AlinWa - If you're ever in western Penna. look me up ... we can do some shooting. I walk 100 feet to work and another 100 feet to my shooting pavilion. Like to shoot that Tannerite stuff with precision guns at 3 to 400 yards, then the subguns and beltfeds at the old refrigerator and stove up on the range. Life is good!

And yes, very conservative in union country!
 
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