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Posted: 6/18/2012 9:23:04 PM EDT
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Someone a while back was asking about this but I haven't had occasion to blue or brown a gun in a while. Recently, I decided I wanted an underfolder AK, so I bought a cheap used Saiga, added the underfolder trunnion and cut the wholes for the spindle and then decided to rust blue the thing, just because I really do not like painted guns. So, here's a basic look at rust bluing, which is the same as rust browning except that in browning you don't boil the parts.
First, I bead-blasted off all the russkie paint. The metal underneath was Commie-cobby—full of dimples and rough machine marks and signs of "good enough for goobermint work" indifference. I keep thinking I might rub the finish back to give it that worn, carried-for-20-years look like this one: 
It's pretty easy to get some brown color back in a rust blue, and I've done some aging to muzzleloaders I've built. Aging of the finish looks fakey, however, unless you also smooth out the metal parts that would also get worn, so I draw-filed out the works of the pitting and rough machining marks, especially in those areas an underfolder would take handling wear when carried slung across the chest for years. 
There it is, polished up pretty well and ready for "juicing" with bluing compound, which is just a mix of acids, including nitric and hydrochloric. Then, you just set the nicely polished parts somewhere and let them rust. 
Before long, everything was good and rusty. 
Then, you boil the parts in distilled water. I used an old pot to boil the smaller parts. I made a trough to boil the longer parts from 30 inches of aluminum gutter with end-caps JB Welded on. I didn't get a picture of it, but it worked perfectly. The boiling water kept the JB Weld from melting during the boil. 
The boiling water converts the red rust (Fe2O3) to black-ish magnetite (Fe3O4), and the parts come out of the water considerably darkened and coated in what looks like soot from an oil lamp. 
Next comes the "carding," in which you scrub all the loose oxide off with cloths, brushes, and 0000 steel wool. It's picky work. I blued every piece of the gun and underfolder except the trigger mechanism and the recoil spring. Fortunately, it can be done in small batches, as you have time. 
Then, you just carry on juicing, boiling, and carding as many times as it takes to get the finish you want. I plan on rubbing it back at some point, so I left off bluing while there was still a bit of translucence left in the finish. 
I think it'll look properly worn with most of the casting and machining marks smoothed off. 
A little oil really brings the bluing to full glory. It's really quite a beautiful finish for a gun and quite tough. It'll be some work rubbing it back, but I think it'll be all worth it when I'm done. I plan on having only one AK, and this is the one I've always wanted—a Russian-built underfolder. Once the last parts are done bluing, I'll post a completed pic. |
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What rust blue did you use?
Can you give a conservative estimate on how long it took to reach the desired finish? I'm wondering how long it would take a NEWB to complete one AK type rifle...any guess? Is the learning curve steep? What do you do with the parts, like the gas block that you left intact on the barrel, does the solution get under those parts or do they leech rust after its finished? |
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Quoted:
What rust blue did you use? Can you give a conservative estimate on how long it took to reach the desired finish? I'm wondering how long it would take a NEWB to complete one AK type rifle...any guess? Is the learning curve steep? What do you do with the parts, like the gas block that you left intact on the barrel, does the solution get under those parts or do they leech rust after its finished? I used Laurel Mountain Forge. Length of time for each coat is dependent on temperature and humidity. A sweat box can really help, or run a hot shower for 10 minutes and put the parts in the bathroom. That way, you can do a coat in 3-5 hours, meaning that you could do six coats in a weekend and be done. I left the gas block on there. Possibly, there is rust underneath, but the boiling should have converted it to blue. I douched the whole gun very liberally with Corrosion X. No rust has bloomed. The learning curve is far steeper on metal prep than on the bluing. Do you know how to get a uniform polish on metal? If so, the bluing will be no challenge. Having good carding brushes really cuts down on the work, especially the Brownell's one chucked up in a drill press. That said, it's totally doable with just steel wool. Also, if you have a vibratory tumbler, that works great for carding and buffing small parts such as screws. |
| I had good luck rust bluing a rusty Swedish Mauser but some of it came out looking color case hardened. Some of it though came out fantastically. The biggest thing I learned having never done it before was to ease up when carding it as I was going way to hard and scrubbing it clean. |
Been a busy summer. I finally got the last screws blued and installed, and the underfolder Saiga is ready to rock, at last.
The bluing turned out great, IMO. 
It's shiny and lustrous and prob'ly over the top for an AK, but so what? 
Who cares if it's guilding the lilly? I'm in lust with it. 
It sure is a nice, handy package to store when the stock is folded. The folding stock is tight and locks up like a bank vault. 
Next, a custom peep sight to make it shoot even better . . . |
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I wouldn't say that's 'over the top' at all - especially after seeing some gold plated and such. It looks perfect. Just how a gun should look. In my opinion paint sux and bluing rox! When paint wears it looks awful and unnatural, when bluing wears it's gradual and gives the gun in question more character and a different kind of beauty (as evidenced by the picture at the beginning of this thread). True, you can't put it up without wiping it down and expect it to hold up forever, but I'll put up with a very minimal amount of upkeep for a vastly more attractive finish.
I've had good luck with this method as well, having done a Swiss K31 and a CZ-82 as well as some miscellaneous small gun parts. Each time I'm amazed at how well it works and how durable the finish is. With a little patience, planning and forethought, anyone can achieve great results with this method. I actually stumbled across this thread when I was wondering if anyone had done a rust browning on an AK. I've never seen one done that way (admittedly, though, my interest in AK's is quite new), but I wonder, if, with the right furniture, it would look attractive and unique. Anyone ever seen one? |
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