| Trying your hand at minor refinishing of a favorite | | | | of the amateur is Brownells' 444-page mail order |
| firearm, or sprucing up a newly purchased used gun, | | | | catalog of tools, parts, refinishing supplies and |
| or even doing a bit of restoration on | | | | instructional books and materials. The items selected |
| great-granddad's muzzleloader can be a very relaxing | | | | for inclusion in this massive reference are proven |
| and rewarding pastime. In fact, refinishing gun metal | | | | professional products that work. Brownells is the |
| or wood is an ideal introduction into the broader field | | | | one-stop shopping spot for all your refinishing and |
| of home gunsmithing. | | | | gunsmithing needs. |
| It teaches one the essentials of the disassembly, | | | | Another source of mail order refinishing supplies is |
| functioning, and reassembly of a variety of firearms. | | | | Midway, which recently grouped many of its products |
| It requires a minimum of tools, and given today's | | | | within the pages of a new, specialized gunsmithing |
| chemical miracles, the process has never been easier | | | | catalog. It's another great source. |
| to accomplish. | | | | And when it comes to instructional videos, the |
| The Amateur's Advantage | | | | American Gunsmithing Institute offers a variety of |
| One of the advantages an amateur has over the | | | | excellent step-by-step tapes that illustrate and lead |
| professional gunsmith is time. A full time gunsmith | | | | one through various refinishing processes. |
| must complete a job within a certain time frame or | | | | Some Basic Choices |
| else he'll be looking for a new occupation. The | | | | Probably the easiest entry into the world of |
| amateur can putter at bit. | | | | refinishing is to buy a bluing kit and a stock finishing |
| For example, when it comes to polishing metal, the | | | | kit. Birchwood-Casey offers both, and they are well |
| professional places a premium on the use of belt | | | | thought out, reasonably priced and readily available. |
| sanders, buffing wheels, abrasive compounds of all | | | | The Birchwood-Casey kits contain all the necessary |
| types, and with great skill, turns out a first class job. | | | | chemicals, application supplies and instructions. |
| On the other hand, an amateur can accomplish the | | | | Just as an example, their bluing kit contains bottles of |
| same end with only his hands, using nothing more | | | | a blue and rust remover, cleaner-degreaser, and |
| than files, stones, abrasive papers, possibly a Dremel | | | | bluing solution plus steel wool, wet/dry sandpaper, |
| tool, and time. | | | | sponge, bluing daubers, service cloth, Sheath (a fine |
| Even professionals will readily agree that polishing | | | | preservative) and an instructional guide. The stock |
| parts by hand is the most positive way to insure that | | | | finishing kit is similarly complete. Birchwood-Casey's |
| corners remain square and sharp, lettering crisp and | | | | instructional guides are detailed, clear, well illustrated |
| legible, and screw holes clean and not dished out. | | | | and easy to follow. |
| When you see custom rifles costing thousands and | | | | As complete as these kits are, I would recommend |
| possibly tens of thousands of dollars, you can bet | | | | supplementing them with a few items that have |
| the professionals who crafted them spent countless | | | | proven invaluable over the years. |
| hours at the bench polishing parts by hand, and their | | | | One of the lessons you quickly learn when using cold |
| time is reflected in the quality and cost of their | | | | blues is that all steels are not the same and react |
| product. | | | | quite differently to various formulas of cold blue. |
| What has revolutionized the realm of refinishing is | | | | Similarly, when you are retouching worn spots on |
| modern chemistry. No longer do we have to deal | | | | areas like floor plates, frames or barrels, the color of |
| with hot bluing or boiled linseed oil. Cold blues have | | | | the original bluing can vary greatly. |
| improved to the degree that they can be used to | | | | To handle these variations, I would recommend |
| blend imperceptibly into existing finishes or even blue | | | | adding three great bluing solutions from Brownells to |
| a complete firearm. There are now hard, durable, | | | | your basic kit. They are 44-40, Oxpho-Blue and |
| epoxy and teflon/moly metal finishes that can be | | | | Dicropan T-4. Solution 44-40 has been around for |
| sprayed on and bake hardened in the kitchen oven. | | | | decades and was originally sold by Numrich Arms. It |
| Off-the-shelf stock finishes now range from fast | | | | has the reputation of being the most aggressive cold |
| drying linseed oil based products to spray-on epoxies. | | | | blue on the market. It will blue steels other solutions |
| There are even ready-formulated oil finishes that | | | | won't touch. |
| duplicate the warm red-brown hues found on pre-'64 | | | | Most of the bluing you will be doing is by nature |
| Winchester Model 70 stocks. If you can imagine it, | | | | "touch-up" work, and having an assortment of |
| you can find it. | | | | solutions ready at hand will eliminate frustration and |
| Sources Of Materials And Instruction | | | | insure a quality outcome. |
| The bible of the gunsmithing trade and the wish-book | | | | |