4th July 2011

Thought I might add in some information about finishing of rifle steel in relation to my refurbishments.

I have pretty much reblued with cold blue for evrything I have done in the past, and with good results. Recently however I began looking at the Duracoat type paints for rifle steel but they were too expensive, I was unable to really get them into New Zealand and the process seemed a bit long winded.

I then began researching different paints for durability and made it down to two candidates. The first was Plastikote Spray paint and the second Hammerite. The reviews were good for both but in the end the Hammerite won through as it was simply more durable, self priming/etching and could be painted on with a brush. Then there was also the added dimension of the hammer finish if wanted.

I began the experiment on an old .303 I was doing up for a mate; he requested the finish as opposed to blue. Even though you can get gloss and satin flat finish he liked the hammer look. After sanding with 100 grit and cleaning down with methylated spirits I painted the barrel, action and bolt with the Hammerite in black hammer finish.

The cure time is recommended at 2-3 WEEKS; yes weeks for full hardening. I hung the parts for 2 weeks then placed them in my shed for a further week before putting it all back together. The rifle looked really good – gloss but not shiny as the defraction was pretty uniform due to the dimpling of the finish.

It has been about 2 months since it was painted and it had its first real test this weekend gone. And it performed brilliantly. Driving through dry brush, manuka and gorse as well as some good old bush bashing it came through looking like it hadn’t been through anything. Then theres the bonus of not having to oil it all the time although we did just in case of any hidden flaws in the paint surface.

All in all I am very impressed and am going to continue to use it; especially for rifle like a rebarrelled Spanish Mauser that has two types of steel in the reciever and barrel that don’t go the same colour when blued. I used it on a Jungle Carbine (shock horror say the purists) but they were painted originally anyway.

Will be adding pictures when I can especially the Mauser once finished.