Post by Lee Martin on Mar 30, 2022 19:21:42 GMT -5
Here’s an old build I finally completed last weekend. Like many of my projects, there’s a backstory. This one starts in 1997 when my dad let me shoot one of his Winchester 71’s. I immediately had to have a .348. Not long thereafter I found a pristine Browning 71 rifle. That lead to talk of converting a bolt action to the cartridge. A Siamese Mauser is the logical choice, but dad wasn’t willing to part with any of his actions. I checked Century Arms and other places which carried old Mausers. However, there weren’t any. Remember, the gun auction sites were in their infancy in the late 90's. I did have a Mauser 98 action and asked him if he could make it work with a rimmed shell. Never one to pass up a challenge, he dove in. And sure enough, he made it work. Beyond opening the bolt face and grinding the extractor, he spent a lot of time on the feed rails. When done, it cycled perfectly. The magazine holds three. The barrel is a chrome moly Douglas and all of this was bolted into a Butler Creek synthetic stock. I shot it a fair amount with both cast and jacketed bullets. Fast forward 23 years. Last month, dad said he was bluing a .338-06 and asked if I had anything to finish. My old .348 came to mind. Before doing so, I bought a brown laminate stock from Boyds. Blued steel against black plastic doesn’t do much to show off the metal. I think it turned out pretty well.
We’ve used Herter's Belgian Blue since the 1980’s. It yields a very deep, dark tone. The steps involved:
1) The metal is sanded to remove pits.
2) The parts are belt sanded then polished
3) Oils are removed with acetone followed by brake cleaner
4) Parts are then boiled in a heated detergent bath (Dawn dish soap & water)
5) They’re rinsed with water, then boiled again in water
6) Bluing solvent is swabbed on and re-submerged in the heated bath
7) After 10 minutes of ‘cooking’, they’re pulled and lightly rubbed with fine steel wool
8) Steps 6 & 7 are repeated 6 to 8 times
9) The parts are pulled and hosed with WD-40 to displace leftover moisture
10) Everything is then coated with Rustlick 631
Our stainless steel bluing tank and propane burner:
Boiling the parts in detergent:
Dad swabbing the lower metal with Belgian Blue:
Boiling post swabbing:
Close up of the final finish:
-Lee
www.singleactions.com
"Chasing perfection five shots at a time"
We’ve used Herter's Belgian Blue since the 1980’s. It yields a very deep, dark tone. The steps involved:
1) The metal is sanded to remove pits.
2) The parts are belt sanded then polished
3) Oils are removed with acetone followed by brake cleaner
4) Parts are then boiled in a heated detergent bath (Dawn dish soap & water)
5) They’re rinsed with water, then boiled again in water
6) Bluing solvent is swabbed on and re-submerged in the heated bath
7) After 10 minutes of ‘cooking’, they’re pulled and lightly rubbed with fine steel wool
8) Steps 6 & 7 are repeated 6 to 8 times
9) The parts are pulled and hosed with WD-40 to displace leftover moisture
10) Everything is then coated with Rustlick 631
Our stainless steel bluing tank and propane burner:
Boiling the parts in detergent:
Dad swabbing the lower metal with Belgian Blue:
Boiling post swabbing:
Close up of the final finish:
-Lee
www.singleactions.com
"Chasing perfection five shots at a time"
