refinish questionThis is a discussion on refinish question within the Gunsmithing forums, part of the Firearm Forum category; i recently picked up a single six that has quite a bit of pitting on the barrel from improper storage.my question is should i leave ...
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July 22nd, 2010, 11:36 AM
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#1 |
Join Date: Aug 2008
Posts: 45
| refinish question
i recently picked up a single six that has quite a bit of pitting on the barrel from improper storage.my question is should i leave it alone,cold blue ,duracoat it or rebarrel it. 
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July 22nd, 2010, 12:30 PM
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#2 | | Moderator
Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: San Diego
Posts: 3,671
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I believe I see more pitting than what’s on the barrel. If the gun is safe then what you have simply detracts from what would otherwise be a real nice looking firearm. Don’t get me wrong, it still looks nice; just not as sweet. What I see is what my 1911 looks like. It looks ugly to me but works fine and I use it for fun and sometimes have it loaded for HD. Can I assume that you are confident the firearm is safe to use? If so, that is entirely up to you, your comfort level and what the gun is intended to do. If the gun is safe and you got it for some fun shooting, then mechanical removal of the rust with copper, brass or bronze brushes (not bore brushes) followed by cold bluing and good care should allow you to maintain its current condition. That’s what I did with my RIA 1911. By the way, my 1911 had worse pitting than yours on the outer surfaces but the person from whom I got it had the sense the coat the internals well prior to storage so the gun looks great inside and is safe to use but looks like it was made in an eastern bloc country and stored on an ocean liner!
Having the firearm fully disassembled, stripped of finish and redone is expensive and, unless you polish the surface to remove the pitting, it will look only a little better. You can put other coatings on it but they will eventually degrade and leave you where you started. The pitting was caused by rust and coating over where rust was is not a good idea unless the rust is completely removed first. I painstakingly removed the rust from my 1911, cold blued it and now use CLP on the outer surfaces. It is stored in a desiccated safe when not relegated to HD and the corrosion is in check for the time being. It’s not pretty but it does the job.
I know I didn’t answer your question but I also think you are the only one that really can! If this helps, great! If not, sorry!
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July 22nd, 2010, 01:16 PM
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#3 |
Join Date: Aug 2008
Posts: 45
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i appreciate your straight forwardness and you are right.its like new inside and shoots great.i just like to tinker on abused ruger single actions a bit.thanks for your quick response
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February 3rd, 2011, 02:07 PM
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#4 |
Join Date: Aug 2008
Posts: 45
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here is the same gun duracoated in matte black  | |
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February 3rd, 2011, 02:12 PM
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#5 |
Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Alabama
Posts: 2,099
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That first picture almost made me want to cry. Looks good now!!!
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February 4th, 2011, 06:35 AM
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#6 |
Join Date: Aug 2008
Posts: 45
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wait till you see my next ruger save.its a blackhawk 357 that i will post before and after pics.in a h&k black
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February 4th, 2011, 06:40 AM
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#7 |
Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Arkansas
Posts: 71
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Wow that looks great. I love to see before and after pics! Have you got any more pics of it refinished?
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February 4th, 2011, 10:17 AM
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#8 |
Join Date: Aug 2008
Posts: 45
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Last edited by shotgun131313; February 4th, 2011 at 10:19 AM.
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February 4th, 2011, 04:43 PM
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#9 |
Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Arkansas
Posts: 71
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If you don't mind me asking, who did the duracoat and how much? I considered doing that on my security six. I sent it to Ruger to get reblued now they tell me the barrel is separated and unrepairable. They are offering me a GP-100 replacement for free, but others have stated that free means $320...I'm getting nervous about it. I wish I'd have just had someone shoot the duracoat finish on it now!
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February 4th, 2011, 04:44 PM
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#10 |
Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Arkansas
Posts: 71
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BTW, I think it looks really good. Thanks for the pictures.
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February 5th, 2011, 08:40 AM
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#11 |
Join Date: Aug 2008
Posts: 45
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thanks.i do all my own duracoating and it comes out great everytime.i get it on ebay
so its is enough to do about 6-8 handguns.if you try it i will help you anyway i can.its all in the preperations.here is a 49min video that will explane everything you need to know.
i use break cleaner instead of durastrip.it leaves no residual
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February 6th, 2011, 05:43 PM
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#12 | | The Shooterologist
Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Louisiana
Posts: 3,994
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Looks great!
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February 6th, 2011, 06:09 PM
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#13 |
Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Tahuya WA.
Posts: 1,006
| Quote:
Originally Posted by shuvel  Looks great! | +1 
Years ago I used some bake on finish from Brownell's for a OM blackhawk with a blued finish that had seen better days.
All went well, except that being a hard, bake on coating, the paint tended to
chip away in the area where the cylinder latch (bolt) made contact with the cylinder.
We are talking about very minor chipping that occured, verses the usual clean edged cylinder turn lines that I was used to seeing.
Could have been my metal prep. but who knows.
Overall, a durable and weather resistant finish that I wouldn't hesitate to use again if I felt the need.
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February 6th, 2011, 06:37 PM
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#14 |
Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Muscatine, Iowa
Posts: 1,226
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Looks really good , you do great work.
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February 6th, 2011, 06:42 PM
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#15 |
Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: at the gun range.
Posts: 4,131
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Nice! I've got an old H&R top break I may have to try this with!
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