Removing bad pitting

[Soldat222]

I have a gun with some pretty bad pitting. Ideally I would want to remove as much of it as I can and then reblue the gun so I hav a nice looking shooter. What are my options here?

[HSMaxim]

You either have to remove metal around the pitting to the lowest level of the pits or fill in the pits.
Removing material is usually not a viable option.
Welding in pits usually does not produce a good result when trying to then reblue. The two metals will blue spotty. In some cases, case hardening may hide the welds.

If you are talking about that Luger you had posted for sale, IMO it's a lost cause, shoot it as is. Restoration would cost well more than the value.

With the amount of pitting on that gun, I'd say if you wanted to try something, maybe some sort of filler for the pits and ceracoat on top.

[Soldat222]

You either have to remove metal around the pitting to the lowest level of the pits or fill in the pits.
Removing material is usually not a viable option.
Welding in pits usually does not produce a good result when trying to then reblue. The two metals will blue spotty. In some cases, case hardening may hide the welds.

If you are talking about that Luger you had posted for sale, IMO it's a lost cause, shoot it as is. Restoration would cost well more than the value.

With the amount of pitting on that gun, I'd say if you wanted to try something, maybe some sort of filler for the pits and ceracoat on top.

That's the one, I understand with that level of pitting it is never going to be perfect. I am just wondering if it is viable to at least clean up the bad stuff a bit and remove some of the minor pitting before refinishing it.

If I do end up keeping it I would rather it look a bit nicer, because as of now it looks pretty ugly.

[HSMaxim]

That's the one, I understand with that level of pitting it is never going to be perfect. I am just wondering if it is viable to at least clean up the bad stuff a bit and remove some of the minor pitting before refinishing it.

If I do end up keeping it I would rather it look a bit nicer, because as of now it looks pretty ugly.

From the looks of the pics, it appears you will be removing far too much material to make it cosmetically better.

Maybe try talking to a place that hydro dips?
Maybe it's possible to have it dipped in black?

You might find someone to weld it up and then might try parkerizing it black, this may hide some of the defects.

I really think that a proper cleaning that will remove any oil, followed by filling in the pits with a filler/epoxy, then sanded and coated with dura/ceracoat is your best option.


Honestly, given the possible history of a Luger, and considering that those pits may be the result of blood, I'd call it as having historical character over being ugly.
I have a vet bring back Beretta 1934 that is badly blood pitted, I consider it's historical value over that of a shooter.
Just my .02.

Good luck.