Dip a clean toothbrush into the bluing and rub it into the area that needs it.  Rub it in well since it cannot hurt the existing bluing.  Every molecule of steel that is white or gray is chemically active and will absorb the bluing.  Everything else repels it like water!  So, it only penetrates the metal where the bluing is missing and does not damage or overlap the existing bluing. 

       BLUING SCRATCHES AND HOLSTER WEAR

Garry Buchanan  -  Distributor  -  812-738-9994

​​​​​                                                                          APPLYING BLUE

Applying the bluing correctly is somewhat different than you may be used to, but, it absolutely works! 

After thoroughly degreasing, finishing the texture of the metal, and deciding whether to repair or restore, it is best that you pour a little bit of bluing into a cup or small plastic container so that you don’t accidentally contaminate the bluing in the bottle. 

This next point is CRITICAL!  Do NOT use cotton balls or Q-tips to apply the bluing.  Do not use cotton swabs since these have lanolin and other softeners to keep them from drying out.  Do not use paper towels or toilet paper since these have inks, softeners, bleach, and a host of other contaminants in them.  Do not use cloth because it has detergent and sizing in it from the manufacturer.  Bluing tends to streak and spot up when using these products.

The BEST APPLICATOR for Van’s Instant Gun Blue is a soft-bristle toothbrush. 

Now, keep it wet with the bluing for the next five (5) minutes.  Rub it in with the toothbrush, back and forth, to keep the area wet with the bluing.  The longer you keep it wet, the farther it soaks in and the darker it gets.  It may take more or less time to soak in to match the original blue based on the hardness and porosity of the metal.  Just take your time; you cannot over do it.  Van’s Instant Gun Blue cannot soak into the metal farther than the original hot-bluing did.  So, it cannot get too dark.  When it is dark enough, wipe it dry with a paper towel and wipe it down with a petroleum based oil to neutralize the acid….and you are done!

If you cannot seem to get the metal dark enough, here are the three most common solutions:

Number 1 – Heat up the metal to between 90 and 150 degrees F - just warm to the touch.  This expands the pores, which allows deeper penetration and darker color.  Rub in some fresh bluing while the metal is warm.  Do not overheat.  If the bluing dries or sizzles when you apply it, you have the metal too hot.  This product is only working when it is wet.

Number 2 – If the texture is slightly rougher that the surrounding territory, it will not only look slightly duller, but slightly grayer as well.  This is because the microscopic ridges in the rougher metal reflect light back toward you, while the smoother areas bounce light away from your eye.  To achieve a perfect match, the texture of the metal must be perfect as well.

Number 3 – Sometimes the bluing does not get dark enough because the metal is not clean enough.  Clean with a different degreaser and then re-blue.

It might be helpful if you checked the metal with a magnet.  First check the barrel which is always good steel, and then check the receiver or trigger strap.  If the magnet does no grab the metal as strongly on the receiver as it did on the barrel, it is probably an alloy and will take some tricks to get it dark enough.  This bluing reacts EXCLUSIVELY to ferrous metals.  If it can rust, it can be blued.  This product will NOT work on stainless steel, aluminum, or on pot-metal, but, it will work on everything from cast-iron to carbide steel.

Always neutralize with petroleum based oil after bluing.  Petroleum based oils range from transmission fluid, to gun oil, to sewing machine oil, and hundreds of others.  DO NOT try to neutralize with a synthetic product like “Rig”, WD-40”, silicone, Teflon, etc.  They are neutral and the bluing is acidic.  You kill off acid with alkali and all oils are mildly alkaline.  Wiping it down with anything else just buries the acid rather than killing it off (neutralizing it).

Do not let the bluing dry out by itself.  Always WIPE it dry.  There is always some precipitation of bluing salts that leaves a gray film on the newly blued area.  OIL REMOVES the precipitation.  But, if you wait, those salts get hard (like hard-water marks on your sink) and the oil won’t remove them.

Here is a scenario that may help. Let's say you fixed a small spot on the top of a barrel and when you were applying the bluing, some of it drooled down under the barrel at that point. You wipe the top of the barrel with oil and everything looks great. The next day you notice a white mark under the barrel, and it looks like the bluing has been removed. Even if you wipe it with oil, it doesn't go away. Here is what you do. Since the bluing has dissolved that salt in the bottle, it can certainly dissolve it again. (Here is where we use steel wool as I mentioned above.) Dip a piece of #0000 steel wool into the bluing (not into the bottle - steel wool has oil in it and can contaminate the bottle.) and now wash that white mark with the bluing and steel wool. The minor abrasion of the fine steel wool, and the mild acidity of the bluing, dissolves the white (bluing salts) mark. Wipe it dry with a paper towel, and oil right away.    

 Advanced  tips, tricks and techniques for specific problems and to achieve different results.

 Restoration (as mentioned before) is usually preferable to outright repair if the firearm has any collector value or you have a personal connection to its history.  So unless there is an absolute need for returning the condition to perfect, I always restore.  When the metal has an aged grayer finish from wear, it can be hard to blend in the new bluing because it will get too dark.  The prime temperature for this bluing is between 90 and 150 degrees.  But the opposite also holds true.  To slow down the bluing process - get the metal cold.  A refrigerator is about the right temperature to slow the bluing down.  Example: A Civil War musket with an old gray finish with some rust on it.  If I use the bluing with some #0000 steel wool to remove the rust, I would then get the metal cold, and blue it at about 40-50 degrees.  This makes the bluing slow down and I can stop it (by wiping it off and applying oil) while it is still gray, which more accurately matches the rest of the gun.

ALLOY Receivers are more difficult to blue, seeing that they have less ferrous (steel) content.  Here is another technique to enhance the darkening process.  I call it a modified "cold-rust blue" technique. Following all the rules already mentioned to get it as dark as possible is where you start.  However, we finish differently.  Instead of oiling the metal right after bluing, wipe it dry, and then put the firearm in an area that is humid or damp.  If you don't have a sweatbox, the laundry room is a great place to do this.  Let the metal sit (un-oiled) until light rust forms.  This rust layer should be so light that you can rub it off with your fingers.  Each area is different, but once you have determined about how long that rusting process takes, you can usually count on it being nearly the same time for your next coat.  Wipe the rust off with a cloth and blue the metal again.  Wipe that dry, and don't oil it.  Let it rust again.  Each time, the bluing gets to soak in farther and will deepen the color.  When it looks right, oil it and go shooting!

Here is another thing to do using the method above.  In the stage where you are allowing it to form a light rust, let it rust just a little more than the dusty stuff you can easily wipe off.  Now just quench the metal with oil and you will have a blued gun with some of the brown patina that marks it as an older gun in great shape (and apparently un-"repaired").

Aluminum and stainless steel will not blue because bluing is a "rusting" process and they can't rust.  So what do you do with that aluminum receiver or trigger strap that is scratched or worn?  I've tested virtually every "aluminum black" that is out there, and they don't work very well!  What really works is "high-temperature engine paint".  You can get it at NAPA, Auto Zone, Champion, etc.  This paint is designed to hold onto an aluminum engine block on a NASCAR racing engine at 2000 degrees!  It holds up to high tech fuel spills and being sand-blasted at 200 mph as the car goes around the track ... it WILL hold up on your receiver!  The trick is to apply it the way we've all been taught to paint (but few of us actually DO).  Dust it on the degreased aluminum part as if you were air-brushing it.  Put it on so thin (by spraying it from a distance) that it barely turns gray.  Let it dry.  Do it again.  If it takes 3 or 4 coats to get it dark, you are doing it right.  The thinner you can get it and still achieve a black finish - the better.  If you want extra durability - after it is dry, bake it in an oven at the lowest temperature your oven goes to (about 150 degrees) for about 10 minutes.  Then let it cool.  It looks and wears as if you had it anodized!  Because you are just "dusting" it on, your texture will remain unchanged.  Parkerizing will look Parkerized, and shiny will stay shiny.

You can dip pieces into this bluing, but make sure they are thoroughly degreased, and only give them about 30 seconds in the bluing and then check them.  You can return the metal to the bluing to gain more darkness.  I do all of mine in 30 second chunks.  As the bluing loses strength, it will take longer to achieve a darker color.  What you DON'T want to do is to immerse the metal and then leave it for too long.  You are dealing with acids here ... too long in the tank, and you'll have pitting or surface damage.  You went to all that trouble to make the texture perfect, don't lose it by etching the metal by leaving it in the liquid too long.

For soldered or brazed joints that won't blue because they aren't steel - spray with the engine paint and wipe with a cloth around your finger tip (like smoothing silicone sealer on tile joints) so that only the solder keeps any paint on it.

If the firearm has been through a fire, the metal has a thin coat of a greasy alkaline residue from the smoke.  Because the metal was hot when the smoke damage occurred - there is an alkaline residue down into the pores of the metal.  Now that the metal is at room temperature, those pores have closed up.  Normal degreasing does not remove this deep seated film.  So, warm the metal with a hairdryer and while it is warm, wash it with a mild acid such as vinegar, or even muriatic acid (thinned way down with water).  Rinse that off with water, wipe dry and apply the bluing as normal.  This procedure neutralizes the alkali and allows the bluing (acid) to work.