Old gun needs some lovin

bravestar

So guys, my Remington 870 Express has seen better days, her insides are fine but the receiver and barrel are very worn and the original finish is pretty much gone. Im currently keeping small amounts of rust at bay and starting to worry.

Bluing, parkerizing, duracoat etc etc. Anyone have any opinions on what is best, where i can get it done and for how much? Im in the Dublin 13 area.

poulo6.5

bravestar wrote: »

So guys, my Remington 870 Express has seen better days, her insides are fine but the receiver and barrel are very worn and the original finish is pretty much gone. Im currently keeping small amounts of rust at bay and starting to worry.

Bluing, parkerizing, duracoat etc etc. Anyone have any opinions on what is best, where i can get it done and for how much? Im in the Dublin 13 area.

i am thinking about buying a second hand 870 express magnum that needs some tlc. i look forward to seeing how you get on..

i believe you can buy plenty of replacement/upgrade parts for them but i havent looked into it fully yet.

best of luck

bravestar

poulo6.5 wrote: »

i am thinking about buying a second hand 870 express magnum that needs some tlc. i look forward to seeing how you get on..

i believe you can buy plenty of replacement/upgrade parts for them but i havent looked into it fully yet.

best of luck

It's a great gun and yes, there's plenty of ways to pimp it out if you want, mine's had a makeover recently . The only downside is the finish on the Express model has a reputation for being pretty crap.

FISMA

bravestar wrote: »

So guys, my Remington 870 Express has seen better days, her insides are fine but the receiver and barrel are very worn and the original finish is pretty much gone. Im currently keeping small amounts of rust at bay and starting to worry.

Bluing, parkerizing, duracoat etc etc. Anyone have any opinions on what is best, where i can get it done and for how much? Im in the Dublin 13 area.

Bravestar,
I think you should try and do it yourself: q cold bluing, sand paper, and rubbed oil should do.

If there is pitting, even the nicest bluing will show defects. I bet you're going to pay a lot and not get the satisfaction you expected.

Has anyone ever tried to case color a firearm? Any details/instructions?

bravestar

FISMA wrote: »

Bravestar,
I think you should try and do it yourself: q cold bluing, sand paper, and rubbed oil should do.

If there is pitting, even the nicest bluing will show defects. I bet you're going to pay a lot and not get the satisfaction you expected.

Yes there is pitting, nothing major, but there none the less. I may attempt bluing it myself as a last resort but to be honest I would prefare it parkerized or coated in some way.

Sika98k

I tried cold blueing a pair of barrels some years ago. It came out absolutely s***e !

So bite the bullet,dig into yer credit card and send it to the UK to someone like Elderkins to do a proper job. AFAIK no gunsmith on this Island undertakes this kind of work.

Export licence required to send it to the UK.Import licence into Uk. 200Euro I think should cover shipping and blueing.

rowa

FISMA wrote: »

Bravestar,
I think you should try and do it yourself: q cold bluing, sand paper, and rubbed oil should do.

If there is pitting, even the nicest bluing will show defects. I bet you're going to pay a lot and not get the satisfaction you expected.

Has anyone ever tried to case color a firearm? Any details/instructions?

Case colouring involves heating up the article to a very high temperature and burying it in something like crushed bone to cool slowly , this was done years ago to case harden action bodys etc to give a very tough core with a hard wear resistant outer skin. Ruger uses a transfer to imitate colour case hardening on some of its revolver actions :rolleyes:

Tackleberrywho

bravestar wrote: »

So guys, my Remington 870 Express has seen better days, her insides are fine but the receiver and barrel are very worn and the original finish is pretty much gone. Im currently keeping small amounts of rust at bay and starting to worry.

Bluing, parkerizing, duracoat etc etc. Anyone have any opinions on what is best, where i can get it done and for how much? Im in the Dublin 13 area.

Get Gunhappy.ie to Duracoat it.
I think vegeta has at least one firearm that he did and it looks well.

now this is seeeeeeeeeeeeeeeexy!
http://www.riflemanconsulting.com/files/RC_870_Paint.jpg

http://www.riflemanconsulting.com/files/RC_870_Paint.jpg

http://www.riflemanconsulting.com/RCCustomFinishes.html

FISMA

bravestar wrote: »

Yes there is pitting, nothing major, but there none the less. I may attempt bluing it myself as a last resort but to be honest I would prefare it parkerized or coated in some way.

The parkerizing should hide imperfections more than the bluing. I would check out that dura coat before anything else.

I just don't see spending a lot of money on a shooter, especially when you may be disappointed with the results.

There's nothing quite like a case colored firearm. I have two case colored guns with rubbed oil wood - my favorite combo.

Check out this thread I started about bluing. Should be getting around to it any day now, any day...

bravestar

Tackleberrywho wrote: »

Get Gunhappy.ie to Duracoat it.
I think vegeta has at least one firearm that he did and it looks well.

now this is seeeeeeeeeeeeeeeexy!
http://www.riflemanconsulting.com/files/RC_870_Paint.jpg

http://www.riflemanconsulting.com/files/RC_870_Paint.jpg

http://www.riflemanconsulting.com/RCCustomFinishes.html

Cheers Tack, just fired him a PM. Yea those camo jobs are nice alright, dont know if I would prefare something like that or a flat black/OD green and keep it tacti-cool

gunhappy_ie

As far as bluing goes, IMO cold bluing at am amature level or kits you buy for cover up are just that, amature at best. The finish will never equal a hot blue (unless your going to send 1000s on different chemicals) and these kits are only good for touching up a small scrape or 2. If an area is to be covered it will become very clear that it has been redone.

Parkerizing is a electrochemical reaction that metals containing carbon (iron and steel) are dipped into either near boiling manganese or zinc phospate (parkerizing is also known as Phospating) The chemical used depends on the finish desired other than that they are pertty simular. Alot of military service rifles are or were phospated as its a hard wearing and after coating a parkerized part can be dipped in oil, which the parkerising will obsorb.

Both bluing and parkerizing isnt available because of the small shooting community that we have and the cost/dangerous chemicals that are involved in the process. At one stage the army used to Parkerize but it was scrapped over the cost.

As a hobby Ive been tinkering in Duracoat for a while now (Ive also got the applicators course done).

Tac.... Vegattas rifle was a long time ago and since then Ive done (as a hobby) 1 or 2 more :P

Since its mine ill post up a pic but heres my last job.... Duracoated the reciever Duracoat Tactical Black and the foregrip OD Green to match the OD green Magpul stock.....



While the Duracoat matched the OD Green of the magpul it is considerable flatter with little to no sheen.




Having said all that about parkerising though.... it is something that Im looking into and experimenting with (as a hobby) as I want to return 1 of my classic rifles to its origional state and parkerizing it is excellent base for duracoat (it obsorbes it to make it tougher)

GH

Longranger

Hi gunhappy,just wondering if DURACOAT can be used on synthetic parts,like the stock and foregrip? I have a Mossberg pump and i'd love to change it from black to maybe olive green or something similar. It'd go better with the camo gear when we're out after duck or hiding for greys and mags. How much do you think i'd be looking at and would i be better off trying to do it myself? Cheers. Lr.

gunhappy_ie

Longranger wrote: »

Hi gunhappy,just wondering if DURACOAT can be used on synthetic parts,like the stock and foregrip? I have a Mossberg pump and i'd love to change it from black to maybe olive green or something similar. It'd go better with the camo gear when we're out after duck or hiding for greys and mags. How much do you think i'd be looking at and would i be better off trying to do it myself? Cheers. Lr.

PM inbound

FISMA

poulo6.5 wrote: »

i believe you can buy plenty of replacement/upgrade parts for them but i havent looked into it fully yet.
best of luck

Poulo,

The 870 is very well supported. Have a look here to see some of the parts that are readily available. Unfortunately, they do not ship internationally.

I just picked up a cantilever barrel for mine. Looking to shoot some sabots or slugs. Should be fun putting a scope on a shotgun.

The 870 is a workhorse of a shotgun. Tried and true.