sproulman

Don't know if this will help you any, i just finished blueing two one them that had lost a lot of the blueing the other was an GM barrel in white.

I wipe the whole barrel clean with alcohol, then I heat the barrel by pouring boiling water through the barrel and all over the barrel - boiling water removes all oil. My first duty after this is to get the bore dry then the barrel it will remain hot for along time. While the barrel is still hot I apply Birchwood Casey"s Super Blue. I put the blue on triple 0 steel wool and rub the blue in with the steel wool. I try to keep moving and keep the barrel pretty wet with a covering of blueing. When I am happy that I have applied on all sufaces. I will wipe it of as best I can with a soft rag. it may not appear equal at this time because of the heat of the barrel. When the barrel has cooled to the warm but not hot I then apply a second coat this time with a soft cotton rag that is damp with blueing. Then dry again with soft cotton cloth. At this point I usually wait about 15-20 minutes - the blueing is still working in the metal. Wipe it down again with a clean soft cotton rag. Them with a cotton ball and REALLY good oil wipe the whole thing down again, apply the oil liberally and let it sit- you may have to change cotton balls everyonce in awhile they are going stain and get dark. Finally wipe the whole thing down again. When everthing is dry I mean realy dry after sitting for a few hours do the oil thing again. You will need to continue liberally wipinga high quality oil on the blueing in the following day(s) until you quit getting dirty wiping rags. The blueing will continue to work very slowly until the oil neutralizes all of the applied blueing. The last step if you choose to do it and you want a polished finish - barrow a nylon from your wife and polish the barrel with the nylon. I normally leave the barrelin the low luster state instead of polishing it.

This process does not last as long as a hotblue bath but is does look good. It will need to be done again. each time you repeat the process it will get a little darker and a little deeper.

Here is a picture of the two that I just finished. The bottom one is an new GM fast twist barrel that came with. The process has been down three times. The one in the rack is a Traditions that a friend wanted re-blued. sorry I don't have a before after - didn't think anyone would be interested.