I just bought a .25 Baby Browning, and it has a little rust on the slide and above the grips. Its not real bad, but it bothers me. How should I go about refinishing it.
How about the birchwood casey rust and blueing remover,  and then their  super blueing paste??    Has anyone tried this??

Any other suggestions????
Thanks

Anybody have any experience with re blueing??

I would send the gun to S&W for reblueing, IMO. You have a nice quality gun & they'll make it look NIB for not a lot of $$$.

My .o2

Rather than taking the original finish completely off of the pistol, which the rust remover will do, try some #000 or #0000 (NO #00 or heavier!) steel wool with some gun oil. It will actually polish the blue that remains and will remove the rust. Obviously, it will not remove pitting, but I would try some Brownell's DicroPan or similar...much better stuff than the cheap-o Birchwood-Casey stuff...and just touch it up a bit, then some Johnson's Paste Wax on the entire gun for protection. (Yes, hard paste floor wax works well...it was what the NYPD Harbor cops used on their blued revolvers for years)  If that does not get the job done, and I seriously wanted it for carry, I would consider the Brownell's Moly finish in the spray can.  Have the pistiol bead blasted and finish it / bake it yourself...it should be fine with some attention to detail from you.

Of course, you could always have it bead blasted and refinished by a pro for more $$$. I would never have such a tiny pistol polished due to the small parts and tolerances, but that's just me.

Are you talking about a sandblaster with a different kind of blasting media?   If so what do you use to blast?

Quoted: Are you talking about a sandblaster with a different kind of blasting media?   If so what do you use to blast?

They use glass beads instead of the sand...very "soft" finish and nice as well.

Refinishing is no problem if everything else is in order. We do bluing every day and have customers all over the US. A baby anything is cared for with a tender touch. Give us an e-mail.

I'm now thinking of beadblasting the whole thing, and using the Brownells spray-on/bake-on Gun-Kote, as mentioned above. Anyone use this stuff?  (its like $28 a can)

Is it going to look like I just spray painted it? Or will it look OK?

Will doing this affect the value any?

They have diff. colors, would you suggest the gloss black?

Also, is there any places that I should be carefull while coating?  It is supposed to be lubricating as well, and be thin enough to not affect tolerances.  This will be my first time doing anything like this so I would greatly appreciate your help.

THANKS

Quoted: Is it going to look like I just spray painted it? Well, yes. Or will it look OK? Do pigs fly? Will doing this affect the value any? Does a bear shit in the woods? You have a nice older gun, treat it right & send it to S&W to make it look factory.

Well, Cole and I have different takes on this little gun.

I don't see it as any sort of "collector's item" or even a practical defense pistol. Yes, the baby Brownings were well made, but there are lots of them out there and no matter what, they are striker fired .25 caliber and almost too tiny to handle. Anything that changes the original finish will devalue it to any collector...not that you are likely to have said collector show up on your doorstep offering huge sums of money for it any time this century...and that includes having it reblued...even by the manufacturers if they would do it. Besides, people who rant about "collectors value" always seem to disappear if you decide you want to sell the gun for that big collectors price!

S&W as well as many private 'smiths can, and will, do you a nice job for a reasonable price, but it will still cost probably half of what the gun may be worth and certainly will not return nearly that much in value appreciation from a dollars and cents aspect. As soon as you begin to pocket carry it, you will scratch that pretty new finish back up and will find that bluing adds very little rust resistance. The use of something like the Gun Kote is much better suited to daily carry, but it will not be the "prettiest" finish you ever saw.

I would never sink much into one of these little pistiols myself and, although if it were mine I would sell it immediately, if I wanted to keep and use it, I would just touch up the bluing and use it as is rather than spending boocoo bucks on the thing.

You decide for yourself.

Quoted: Well, Cole and I have different takes on this little gun. I'm SHOCKED!   I don't see it as any sort of "collector's item" or even a practical defense pistol. No one said it was, AFAIK. S&W as well as many private 'smiths can, and will, do you a nice job for a reasonable price, I think I was told about $100 for a S&W reblue job. I don't know if this is still the price or not?

Quoted: Quoted: Well, Cole and I have different takes on this little gun. I'm SHOCKED!   I don't see it as any sort of "collector's item" or even a practical defense pistol. No one said it was, AFAIK. S&W as well as many private 'smiths can, and will, do you a nice job for a reasonable price, I think I was told about $100 for a S&W reblue job. I don't know if this is still the price or not?

I figure the value at about $200-250 max...actual value, not inflated...that makes a $100 to $100+ blue job at or about half-again the value, and we both know it won't be worth $300 or more refinished. (unless I am WAaaaayy off on estimated values)

But...as I always do with Cole...because he is straight up and well-meaning...I must defer to other views as well. I realize that some folks do not look at such a gun as a "commodity"...which, admittedly, is what I do. If my grandad had carried it all his life, that would certainly be a vastly different thing, and there would be NO way I would part with it.

Besides, Cole knows his shit...well, about some stuff, anyway!

Actually, I bought it off of my brother, and it WAS my granpas gun. BTW, I paid $50

Thanks guys, for your suggestions and opinions.  I still don't know what I'll do though

Quoted: Actually, I bought it off of my brother, and it WAS my granpas gun. BTW, I paid $50 Thanks guys, for your suggestions and opinions.  I still don't know what I'll do though

In that case sir, I would go with Mr. Cole's advice...then keep it in pristine condition and never...ever...let it get away from you.

Why not pimp it up ? I'm talking chrome and gold plating.. now THAT would add value.

Yea,  what about chrome plating?  I didn't know if you could chrome plate a gun that wasn't originally chrome. Do they just have to be selective on where they plate, as to not mess with any tolerances?

Who does it?
How much?

I would never get rid of this gun as mentioned above, and I'm really not a big fan of blued guns either, I just never thought of chroming. I'm wanting to get this gun "Fixed Up" for my wife to carry with her when she walks alone at night. I think she would like the chrome.
Any MORE suggestions?
Thanks

No suggestions on chrome?

Chrome no
Beadblast no
Spray on finish no

Blue yes!

Get something else for your wife to carry, you do love her more than 25acp worth don't you?

Quoted: Yea,  what about chrome plating?  I didn't know if you could chrome plate a gun that wasn't originally chrome. Do they just have to be selective on where they plate, as to not mess with any tolerances? Chrome will eventually flake off. Looks bad on a gun, IMO. Who does it? How much? Robar seems to be the best option for refinishing as far as aftermarket. I would never get rid of this gun as mentioned above, and I'm really not a big fan of blued guns either, Here's where we differ. IMO, it IS your grandpa's gun & always will be. Your grandkids have the chance to inheirit (sp?) the gun that looked just like it did when bought. No small thing in those of us who enjoy guns & family. As for blued guns, keep in mind you're probably not going to carry it so rust shouldn't be a problem. I would think a new spring kit from Wolff would be a good idea before I shot it too much would be a good idea too. Thanks