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Post by Twowithone on Jan 28, 2013 18:30:54 GMT -4
brown a muzzleloader barrel and if so how did you go about it.
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Post by zimmerstutzen on Dec 18, 2013 17:00:56 GMT -4
Browning is actually rather easy, just a little time consuming. There are several methods. Some hot, some cold, and some warm. All require that the steel be clean as in polished and then wiped good with alcohol to remove any grease.
1. the one I like, Birchwood Casey makes a plum brown solution that is swabbed on a hot barrel. I lay the barrel without tennons or sights across the wood stove in winter. It needs to get almost up to the point of boiling. 180 degrees will do. Use a swab, q-tips will work but are really too small and rub the solution on the barrel until the entire thing has been coated. Then use oooo steel wool to rub off the scale and residue from the solution. If there are any bare spots or light spots repeat. This process gives a smooth polished brown that really shines when given a coat of oil.
2. there is also a cold browning preparation that is more like a jelly that is rubbed on. it gives a purple-ish brown and like wise must be scrubbed off with 0000 steel wool. Then repeat when and where necessary. When happy, scrub it off finally and coat with oil.
3. the old timers used a rust browning. The barrel would be cleaned, the bore plugged with a greased plug, as well as the touch hole. Then the barrel was scrubbed with a swab or brush with salt water that had a few drops of soap added to make the solution stick to the metal. The barrel would then be placed in a warm moist place to develop a layer of light rust. The light rust would be rubbed off with the steel wool and the process repeated until the exterior of the barrel had a uniform brown color. The surface almost looks like a parkerized surface, but instead of gray, brown. When you are satisfied with the coverage, scrub and rinse the barrel off to remove the salt, dry it wll and give it a coat of good gun oil.
The process may sound a bit difficult, but all of them are quite easy, although the rust method takes a week or two.
A few folks have experimented with various cloths and vinegar or salt water to obtain a false damascus finish on the steel. The cloth is wrapped tightly around the exterior in a spiral and then soaked with the corrosive (vinegar or salt water) when the weave is in contact with the metal the rust pits a few thousandths deeper than in between the threads. If done with some planning, the result leaves the surface with a pattern looking like fine damascus steel. I have seen a few stunning jobs and some real flubs. I haven't yet given it a try, although I have been meaning too.
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Post by Twowithone on Dec 19, 2013 9:48:26 GMT -4
Thanks zimmer was reading about sweat boxes where you hang your barrel and the likes.Thinking about going this route. Cold brown using LMF solutions. This will be done after the muzzleloader season. Any more input would be appreciated.
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madirishjack
lodge member
250 Years later...I'm still here.
Posts: 34
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Post by madirishjack on Feb 26, 2014 18:15:56 GMT -4
zimmerstutzen gave about the best advise there is. My added advise would be to get a piece of flat steel scrap to practice on. That way you'll get the hang of how to do it and be able to try all methods that you are considering. I also brown some knife blades. They look great when sharpened and you can visually inspect the edges better.
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