What are your thoughts ?

[joeyj]

fellows,I have been cleaning my guns for over 30 years with mineral spirits, without any problems. My neighbor asked me if I could clean up an old shotgun.. It had a lot of surface rust and a little pitting which was easy to clean up. I never tried bluing before, so I thought I would experiment on his gun. Do I need something better than mineral spirits before applying the bluing agent. What do you think. Joe

[JAKIII]

I can't offer good advice, but will stay tuned for tips from others.

Hoppe's-9 followed by Rem-Oil are my go-tos, although not sure about rust on bluing.

[DukeConnor]

fellows,I have been cleaning my guns for over 30 years with mineral spirits, without any problems. My neighbor asked me if I could clean up an old shotgun.. It had a lot of surface rust and a little pitting which was easy to clean up. I never tried bluing before, so I thought I would experiment on his gun. Do I need something better than mineral spirits before applying the bluing agent. What do you think. Joe

I think Brownells has videos on how to blue

[Xringshooter]

Personally, I would make sure that there is no trace of any oil or grease on it before I applied the bluing agent. Do this with acetone, either soak the barrel in acetone and/or wear good gloves an soak a rag in acetone and wipe it down good. Even though Brownells says that some of their bluing agents don't need the oil/grease removed, I would wipe it down.

[fingers80002]

Look at Blue Wonder.

https://www.bluewonderguncare.com/index.php?p=home

[ShortRound45]

Check out this YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@marknovak8255

In particular, these videos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rShG_F85W1Y&t=2829s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_nWVI_3Lo0Q&t=6s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62_pKoYje9o&t=1s

[GunLawyer001]

Only thing I know about bluing metal is that you have to use something afterwards to neutralize it, or the metal will rust like you wouldn't believe.

[Hokkmike]

Pics Please

[JoshIronshaft]

I do a lot of touch up cold blue. I like Brownell's oxpho-blue. It's also on amazon. I clean the part with acetone then apply the blue, then rub it with oil. Usually looks good, but flat. I'm usually working on something modern and military so a flat blue is good. If you want a polished blue, I think surface prep is a big part (polishing the metal before application). Also polishing the blue and applying it multiple times, but I'm no expert on that.

[red dog]

Imo mineral spirits is the wrong solvent for blueing prep. I would look at some of the other prep solutions that are available. You don*t want any residue on the metal at all for the blueing to take well.