rust, damage, repair, blue, barrelI have a blued rifle that’s had damage to it. Not a lot of damage, just to the outside of the barrel. The rifle is a .22 Winchester Wildcat (if I remember right, it’s an import from a Russian TZ-78). It’s had some damage to the outside of its heavy barrel and while currently it is only cosmetic, I neither want it to spread nor get rust forming.
As with all other guns, I keep as good of care of them as I can. I’m not worried about rust, but a friend that borrowed it was not as careful and there is a SMALL pit where some rust DID form. Is there a way to potentially fill the pit in and reblue it?
With this being a .22, it’s not as big of a deal. It does not affect the accuracy and the pit is less than a millimeter deep.
If you clean out the pit you really don’t need to refill it. Just treat the metal to prevent further rusting and carry on.
There are many treatments such as Duracoat and Cerakote that will allow you to recover metal parts of a firearm. You can apply these as needed and they are easier to deal with than rebluing or reanodizing metal parts.
If you truly want to restore the original finish of a firearm with bluing, you can find gunsmiths who will do this for you. It is a labor-intensive process, and can be quite expensive. The coating mentioned earlier can be applied by you in your home, and even the bake-on ones can be baked on in your own kitchen oven.
From the site of a gunsmith who does rebluing:
Rebluing is more than restoring the color of your gun. It is a complete overhaul. We start by completely disassembling the gun. Then the gun is buffed completely to remove any scratches or rust pits and restoring all corners and edges to “factory new” sharpness. Then it is polished to a bright luster for better appearance. The gun is then boiled in a special solution which removes every trace of dirt, and blued to a deep black color. Finally we reassemble and function test the gun. The result is a gun which in most cases looks “better than new”.
Not all gunsmiths may take the pride in their work that this particular one does. They may not do the polishing prior to bluing, or the resharpening of edges to remove signs of wear. And if you’re not worried about a new-gun look that may be fine. But be aware that truly restoring the bluing to a firearm is an intensive process.
I personally have had anodized parts that needed machining (AR15 lowers), and after machining I simply covered them with duracoat and they’ve had no issues. It may be that these will be the easiest way to restore the appearance and protection to the metal.
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