How to Rust Blue a Rifle Presented by Larry Potterfield | MidwayUSA Gunsmithing 

I would NOT fart at all, if I could just spend an hour with Mr. Potterfield!

I agree. I wanna come too. Larry let’s make it happen. This was an awesome video.

Mr. Potterfield is certainly seems a man who was born for his profession. Anyone blessed enough to spend learning time around would be a man to be envious of

I caught one of these oily rag fires in a construction site while working at a busy mall. The site would have gone up like a matchbox if I hadn't seen the smoke that had already entered the hallways. Luckily the fire was small, and easily put out by the fire department. The amount of smoke caused by a couple of rags was immense!

Isn't that just amazing? How much it changes the tone and how much more possible it makes the process seem?

Larry used "The Yellow Rose of Texas on his Nitre Bluing video. I even added the history behind the old Texas song. This music is a lot more appropriate for using the great Phil Pinkerton's Classic American Rust Bluing. Especially on the Classic old Griffin & Howe 1903 Springfield. As a matter of fact, the gun they liked to use best was called an NRA Sporter. Many of them were converted by Griffin & Howe into custom rifles. However, on the British Double Rifle the rust finish in Great Britain would be called Blacked. Or Black the Barrels. I have had a couple of these fine old Shotguns. My present one was a trade along with $1000. in gunsmithing. While we decided to leave the chambers at 2 1/2 inches, the forcing cones were lengthened, the Barrels were Blacked and the short length of pull was fixed with a leather covered with an old English Pachmayr recoil pad. Larry has a great video of how to do that as well. If you are in the market for a fine Springfield Rifle an original 1903 NRA Sporter would be a good choice. But you have to know what they look like. Col William S Brophy's The Springfield 1903 Rifles is to me the best. But anybody with a love of the finest firearms should have a copy of General Julian S. Hatcher's great Hatcher's Notebook in their library as well. A wealth of information, Hatcher was in charge of The Springfield Armory in Massachusetts during the golden age of the 03 Springfield. He also shares his personal notes and thoughts on various other subject. Anybody who is in pursuit of making a rifle accurate should have a copy. I worked the Gun Counter at Cabela's with the goal of working in their Gun Library. But I scared them to death with my knowledge of firearms. And from time to time suggest that they get a copy of Hatcher's Notebook for the gun library there in Fort Worth. But I will tell anybody, even my dear acquaintance David Tubb. An Olympic and Camp Perry World Champion many times over. If anyone comes up to you and announces to you that they are a "Gun Expert", RUN!!! They maybe within their sphere of interest, but there is just too much to know for one individual to know. My old gun source and friend David Tubb may even give you his two cents worth on this subject. And he has already changed the Sniper Rifle World Single Handedly with his evolution of his Tubb Gun. Ask another acquaintance of mine, Kelly McMillian about their M40 rifles and the new Rifles based on David Tubbs design. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-6C7ZXS7MrKc.html Then Remington's new M40, (M40???). ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-lfw2YJeKn5E.html

This is the first video in this series where anyone has said in the comments that they understood the point of the music. I got so tired of the stupid negative comments that I wrote a long comment in the section of another video in this series trying to explain that it was supposed to be for an African safari. Sometimes I think people don't pay any attention to the world around them anymore, they are so unaware of anything!

@@slaughterhound8793 I went to Africa once but had to leave early cos everywhere i went you could hear that music. Just like here in the west where those harmonicas never stop.

WrigglingWorm *aggressive Zulu grunts*

What music?

Have you ever seen anyone shock a Zulu?

are you breathing copper?

I think the rust color depends on the solution used but im not totally sure

A friendly suggestion. You might want to check out Backyard Ballistics on RU-vid. He's an Italian gunsmith that does a lot of rust bluing in his gun restoration videos. And goes more in depth into the process than Mr. Potterfield.

That much moister is really bad for the closet, mildew factory. Do you have access to an old fridge, upright freezer, or large cooler?

Use an old gunsafe!

Bring it down to Florida unlimited sizes available.

John L Edward I live in Mississippi and was just thinking the same, I could save money on that damp box if I just walk outside.

Read my mind

PNS SHOGUN lol

Supposedly it fills micropores and helps water proof

Pilot McBride Whatever you do! Don't forget to fart my friend!

Had this happen in my shop once. Scary thing. Smelled oil smoke and looked behind to see burning rags in my WOOD shop.

My brother, years ago in junior/senior high school, was using linseed oil on a refinishing project and then went inside to change clothes to go out somewhere with me, leaving his clothes in a pile on his bed, apparently not realizing he’d spilled some linseed oil on his clothes. We came back home a few hours later to find his mattress in the yard soaked and with a sizable hole where it had burned. Mom had smelled smoke and called the fire department, who found the burning mattress, drug it downstairs and out into the yard, and hosed it down. Mom was rather upset about the situation and had plenty of time alone to stew about it before my brother and I returned; this was several decades before any of us had cell phones.

Absolutely, and he went into that. Use a carding brush and/or bronze wool.

Same with aluminum. Thin oxide coating passivates the surface from more damaging corrosion.

Or the green coating on copper, think of the statue of liberty.

Old pieces of iron have been out weathering for 100s of years without looking much worse than a rake you left in your garden a few months ago because the outter layer of rust is like a barrier. This process is creating artificial rust and then stopping the process.

Only option is to file them out (please don't) or add weld and fill them (don't do that either). Keep it as-is, oiled and go shoot it!

Yeah, you could weld the pits up and then smooth to the surrounding surface, then apply one of the paint finishes like Cerakote.

Robert Brandywine cerakoting a Python is like touching up a Picasso with kids fingerpaint

Hughes Enterprises Of course, but it would get rid of the pitting, which is what he asked about.

Coating it is not getting rid of the pitting. Its simply covering it up..the pitting will still be there. Could draw file it but you take a chance on thinning the metal to much witch could become dangerous

You're using heat energy to convert red rust into bluing. leaving it under boiling water is the quickest way, and even that takes 30+ minutes

Kerosene is much, much safer than linseed oil as it doesn't cause rags to spontaneously combust. (Note never confuse gasoline and kerosene gasoline is very dangerous due to vapors). Grocery store food/laxative grade mineral oil is actually a better choice than either for kitchen table work.

Well, this would be very time consuming for a factory producing military arms. I would imagine they would have used a process called hot bluing. It's very similar to this process, but instead of waiting for the parts to develope rust, the parts are submerged in a hot solution of potassium nitrate, sodium hydroxide, and water, followed by a rinse with water to remove excess bluing solution, then into boiling water just like this process.

Shit

BitterAmerican762 make them

I've done a lot of research on the subject lately, yet haven't done it yet. You won't lose your markings unless you sand/polish them out. Perhaps if you let the rusting process go too long they could be damaged. Do your own research and be confident you know what your getting into and it should work out great. It seems to be one of the finest finishes out there just requires a lot of work. I'll be trying it on a 1930-40 era smith revolver thats been bare metal for years and pitted beyond the point of not return. I'd suggest trying the method on an alternative before the main event! Best of luck!

Caleb Heddy I as planning on practicing anyway but thanks for the info. It alleviates a lot of the fears that I had.

Jason Tarpley What steel was it made from?

Zane Spain absolutely in every way

Yes, there is a gun blue remover product. Also, many different rust removing cleaners such as "Evapo-rust" will remove bluing.