The Oxpho Blue experience

[gewehrfreund]

Originally Posted by DroopyBassets75

I got the liquid and wish I had bought the cream instead. The liquid has been so-so at best. I had to use SO many coats of it to get the desired color. It just would not blend well and half the time the bluing didn't set in at all no matter how I tried. Yes, I followed the directions.

The Birchwood Casey paste has given me much better results, though I am positive the Oxpho Blue cream would be awesome and probably a improvement on the BC product.

I used an old bottle of the liquid and that's one of the reasons I was concerned about the results. I'd like to try the paste, but not sure I'll ever have enough need from here on out to justify the purchase.


I've never had very good luck with any of the Birchwood Casey bluing products. Funny how different people can have different experiences with the same product.

Originally Posted by BobSc

I've been using the 44-40 on mine and had great luck. I actually tried the 44-40 because of the inconsistent reviews I keep hearing about the Oxpho Blue on different sites.

Bob

I love 44/40 for small parts and quick jobs. It's always given me excellent results. Not sure I'd want to try rebluing a while gun with it though.

[BobSc]

I've done two whole rifles with it now and they both turned out great.

Bob

[wmrike]

Like other blues, a good Oxpho job is dependent on good surface prep. It has a phosphate component to it, like Parkerizing, so it is naturally very rust resistant, way more so than other bottle blues. At the end of the day I just wipe it down with RIG or CLP.

[Rod Blackburn]

I have used the Oxypho blue cream on a few rifles. I find it works best when the barrel or other part is heated. I use a heat gun, it works well

[Al the Infidel]

Originally Posted by Rod Blackburn

I have used the Oxypho blue cream on a few rifles. I find it works best when the barrel or other part is heated. I use a heat gun, it works well

Good to know about employing a heat gun.

[gewehrfreund]

Originally Posted by Rod Blackburn

I have used the Oxypho blue cream on a few rifles. I find it works best when the barrel or other part is heated. I use a heat gun, it works well

Originally Posted by Al the Infidel

Good to know about employing a heat gun.

^ The same reason I use hot water. It provides uniform heat quickly, has some cleaning effect (the universal solvent) and the water evaporates quickly from the heated metal.

[Bradical]

It came out looking great. With results this good coming from "cold" bluing products it makes bringing back some questionable guns financially more in reach. Often a refinish "reduces the value," but, on guns in that condition, the value has already taken a hit. So the real value is in there intended use.

Now, at a much lower cost than a professional hot blue, you have a really nice and good-looking shooter. Very nice.

[gewehrfreund]

Originally Posted by Bradical

It came out looking great. With results this good coming from "cold" bluing products it makes bringing back some questionable guns financially more in reach. Often a refinish "reduces the value," but, on guns in that condition, the value has already taken a hit. So the real value is in there intended use.

Now, at a much lower cost than a professional hot blue, you have a really nice and good-looking shooter. Very nice.

And shoot it does!


First time out with an old Weaver K10 scope last week in less than ideal conditions here in the Great White North at 100 yds:


Wolf Match Target - 1 fouler, next four into 13/16"
Eley 10X old lot - 5 shots into 1"

[luna3]

I've done two rifles now with Oxpho. The first was a new Lyman blackpowder and I used the liquid type. Came out great, but I went through two small bottles before I was happy. The second rifle, I just finished it yesterday actually, is a Mossberg 22 That was a complete mess. This time I started with the liquid, a couple of coats, followed by a good half dozen of the paste type. Very nice.

The two barrels did not exactly match and I attribute this mostly to the steel. The Italian made barrel finished much darker...blacker; the Mossy is very blue. In my opinion the paste is a better product. It is very heavy bodied, maybe next time I'll thin it a bit with the liquid.

[Flintlock28]

Different Steels will react differently, to cold bluing. I generally find that oxpho-Blue is one of the best, but sometimes something like Van's instant Gun Blue, will work better. Recently a Friend asked me to touch up a Mosin-nagant, and whatever Steel makeup it is, it just didn't like to darken up hardly at all.

Heating up the Steel is also a good way of opening up the Steel's pores, and this tends to speed up the darkening process.

[luna3]

Right on the steel. The trigger on the Mossberg was originally bright...simply polished, not blued. I tried both of the Oxpho products on it in an attempt to match the barrel and receiver but it absolutely would not color up.

So I polished the hell out it 'till it shined up like chrome! Bling!