OT PERMA BLUE Liquid Gun Blue Kit

A few questions on this product.
First off we have a few old pistols/firearms that over the years some of the factory blueing has started to come off,no rust,just blueing gone. We searched the Internet for some kits, and called some places for prices of shipping, the cost was equal to or greater than the cost of the product. So today we went to a L&M store, that handles tractor parts,lawn equip. almost like Farm & Fleet store and they had this kit.

So we picked it up and was going to try it on a small pistol first to see if it works good.Then got to thinking maybe some of you on here tried it and had some ideas on this product. We would appreciate any ideas or tips you may have found that works for you that we might be able to try.
Regards, LOU

Well assuming these old guns are not collectable or valuable cause refinishing them will actually hurt there value Ive used it on a couple shotgun barrels and on one of my pistols. It works pretty good. Not as good as sending it to a gunsmith but not to bad. Make sure you get it really good and clean and the old finish off and when your re blueing that you cover every nook and cranny really good or it will rust where you dont get covered. Be patient and take your time or youll not like the end result. Pretty well follow the directions and youll be ok.

Lou, with bluing preparation is the key. What you ahve to do is to remove ANY trace of oils, vanish, grease, anything that will get between the metal and the bluing. The way we cold blued guns at the shop was to degrease with mineral spirits and a scrub brush followed by a second rub down with either clean mineral spirits or a spray with ether. (BE CAREFUL! FLAMABLE!!!) Then we would take fresh 4/0 steel wool and degrease that thoroughly. Steel wool comes with preservative oils on it. Get it really clean and rub the metal down with the SW lubed with fresh mineral spirits or acetone. (Don't worry about the 4/0 steel wool hurting the finish, It's what the gunsmith uses to polish the barrel before he blues it.) Then we'd immediately start applying the cold blue with a fresh cotton ball or even a paper towel. Let the blue work for a few minutes and then start polishing the metal. Honest truth, either 4/0 steel wool or those coarse brown paper towels like you used to get in the mens room at a truck stop worked best. See if there are streaks or uneven spots to the blue. If there are, degrease some more and repeat. When you get an even blue/black appearance only then can you go to the oiling. All this has to be done fairly quickly because bluing is actually a form of rust and if you leave it unprotected over night you run a real good risk of having a rusty gun in the morning. You have the option of repeating the cold blue application several times.

Cold blue won't always last as well as hot blue, but if you keep it oiled it lasts surprisingly well. Getting it to match the factory blue is very difficult. Some cold blues will "freckle" when applied over factory and some will be several shades lighter or darker or more blue or purple or brown than black. I've never used the product you mention. My favorite was a Brownells product called Oxpho IIRC. THey had another called Dicropan or something that was good too.

Oh yeah, warm the metal with a blow drier before you apply the blue, it seems to make all kinds work a lot better.

I have used a blueing kit one time from Birchwood Casey. I reblued a Marlin Model 25. The barrel showed a lot of wear and had a light rust film on it. I had to do a lot of rubbing with steel wool. The kit I had had a jar of cleaner that took any oil and crud off of barrel.The barrel has to be clean and free of any oil. Then you put it in tray and cover it with the blueing solution. I for got how long it was in solution but it didn't turn out to bad. If I had real nice gun I think I would send it out and have a pro do it.