Gun bluing - differences

[coyotebgone]

When I look at Midway or Brownell I see tons of bluing methods. (Nitre, Cold, Hot etc).

Whats is the difference in them and what do the pros use, for whole gun bluing.

I have searched this on Yahoo without much success.

 

[fireman32]

Search YouTube, there are a couple of videos showing how to use oxpho-blue. I tried it myself and it turned out decent. I’ve never tried cold blue.

 

[trial&error]

sharps 40 did some good tutorials in the gunsmiths section. I'm not sure if they survived the forum conversion we went through awhile back. http://forum.gon.com/threads/bluing-with-drano-kitchen-crystals.823686/

 

[killerv]

rust bluing interests me, some good midwayusa videos on it. Looks doable for the average person at home.

 

[8pointduck]

Bluing , hot bluing, is done with bluing salts. That being said nitre bluing is also a salt , but is different than regular bluing salts . in that no water is used. It is a process. You have to have everything right or you will not get good results. With all you have to get ,it is much cheaper to let a gunsmith do the work. Oxfo Blue is considered a cold blue.Even though it works best if you warm the parts first. I use it in my shop and think it is the best I have tried. Rust bluing? Potterfield makes it look so easy in his Midway videos. It is a pain that can take forever.