I have a Jap Type 99 I want to refinish, and I'm up in the air about using  DuraCoat gun metal blue or try my hand at rust bluing. Has anyone tried this method of bluing, and is it worth it or is it just another horror story.

THANKS

it's not the easiest to do and to get perfect but it's one of my favorite finishes by far because the work you put into the gun makes it seem more alive to me.

it helps to be incredibly OCD during the entire process.

Rust bluing works, though it is too labor intensive for most modern folk.  I have done a couple of pistol slides in rust blue, and would consider it again for a period piece.

Otherwise, I use Duracoat or Gunkote these days.  Prior to 1937, the vast majority of blued long guns were rust blued.  Most pistols were nitre, heat, or temper blued.  (3 ways of basically saying the same thing, though not exactly).


I am not sure what finish they applied to your rifle originally.  I do know it was not Duracoat.  

I'll let some one else explain the economic consequences of re-finishing a collectible piece.

If it is reasonably close to original configuration I would probably rust blue it.  If it was hopelessly butchered, then I might use Duracoat.  

Forgot to mention, you will feel a moment of horror the first time you see your rust covered gun.  Don't worry, most of it is carded off, and the rest turns blue in steam or boiling water.



It is actually quite attractive.  You will get a matte looking finish, not the highly polished blue people have become accustomed to.  I kind of like it.

The top slide in this pic is rust blued, the bottom is Colt's modern day factory hot salts blue.  

I think I will give rust bluing a shot, I'm not particularly fond of painting an older gun that wasn't originally painted to begin with. It's just a run of the mill Type 99 with anti aircraft sights, bright bore, but mum was ground. To a collector it's worth nothing, but not to me. I'll just take my sweet old time with it, this will be a learning experience for me, and hopefully I could achieve the results you got with your slide, which came out beautiful by the way.

THANK YOU