Oxpho Blue on 73?

[Bob Winchester]

I bought this gun a while back and some one had already bead blasted the rifle. It's mostly in the white and it's kill'n me that way. So I was thinking of using some Oxpho Blue and putting some color and protection back on the rife. The value is essentially gone so I don't think it's gong to wreck anything. So has anyone here used this on an older rife? What kind of results did you get? Would you do it to this rifle? It was made in 1907.

[kimwcook]

Bob, it's your rifle, do what you want. You said it has already been bead blasted and it has little to no collector value. I have no experience with blueing a bead blasted anything. I suspect you wont' like a blued bead blasted '73 either. I could be very wrong. Why not get after it with some sandpaper and do it right or have it done professional and CCH. Just my thoughts.

[olyinaz]

Oxpho will give you amazing results if you prep well and follow the directions, but it does not have the tenacity of a proper hot blue. The color can be very nice however. Like the other fellow said, it's your rifle so do what you wish.

The good news is that a bottle is not expensive and you can try it and see how you like it. If you do not like the results a professional hot blue is not terribly expensive. A proper restorative re-finish would be quite a bit more of course.

Best,
Oly

[Hobie]

Is it worth while to restore? Do you have any interest in that?

[J Miller]

My grandmother once had a minor fender bender with her 68 Impala. Put a big dent in the right front fender. I asked her why she didn't have it fixed and she said: "It's ugly, but it don't hurt the running of it." The next time I came to visit I brought my old rubber mallet and popped that dent out. It bugged me more than it did her.

Well, that's kind of like your 73. It's ugly, but it don't hurt the shooting of it.
Were it mine, I'd do one of three things.
a> Shoot the snot out of it and let it patina over time.
b> Save up the loot and have it professionally blued.
c> Shoot the snot out of it while I saved up the loot to have it professionally blued.

I'd do it like that cos I've never gotten anything worth while out of cold blue on anything more than a touch up. Just my results, if you do Mr. Ugly you might different results.

Joe

[jhrosier]

I used Oxphoblue on a muzzleloader barrel and the color suited me fine.
Afterwards, I gave the barrel a couple of good coats of Johnson's paste wax and it held up very well to handling.
I was careful to not use solvents to clean the barrel so as to not remove the wax. The gun was cleaned with mild detergent and lightly oiled after.

Jack

[adirondakjack]

I think it looks better the way it is than it will with a new blue.

[bgmkithaca]

I once bead blasted a barrel and used Oxpho Blue on it and got excellent results.
The finish still looks good after 14 years. It took a little experimenting to get what I
wanted. It came out as a blue/gray-more blue than gray. The only complaint is that
it took 5 years or so for the smell to fade away.

[Bob Winchester]

All good advise.