Les Jones

Guns > Things That Destroy Bluing

In The High Road gunsmithing section someone asked for suggestions for household products to remove a gun's bluing. (I'm guessing the guy wanted to strip the gun to bare metal before applying an all-new finish.)

Color me surprised at all of the things mentioned in that thread that would remove bluing from a gun.

- Ammonia
- White vinegar
- Comet
- Naval jelly
- Muric acid
- Lime Away

Apparently even mild acids will remove bluing. Now this makes it sound like bluing dissolves if you make a joke at its expense. Bluing is more durable than that list suggests as long as you don't store it in the pickle jar, but I do like stainless steel and the new, improved finishes for carbon steel.

Bonus!- Glock's highly durable and corrosion-resistant Tenifer finish, BTW, is a form of case-hardening. There's an entire Web site called Finishing.com devoted to metal finishes, firearms and otherwise.