OXYNATE® No. 84 INSTRUCTIONS & EQUIPMENT
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
800-741-0015 • brownells.com 200 SOUTH FRONT STREET MONTEZUMA, IA 50171 OXYNATE® No. 84 INSTRUCTIONS & EQUIPMENT By well, for most of the stainless steels used in guns will hold a magnet. BOB BROWNELL In fact, we have not yet found one that didn’t! So, more than one gunsmith has tried and failed to hot blue one of these barrels in the and the Crew at Brownells usual way without realizing that it was stainless steel - and, that it was not going to blue! Stainless steel has been used to a limited extent for many years In operation, Oxynate No. 84 is not as easy as Oxynate No. 7 - but by American firearms manufacturers. Winchester, for example, used almost! You do have to vary the temperature between 240° F. and 270° stainless steel in some rifles prior to World War II. However, it has F.; you may have to pull the part out and give it a good Hydrochloric only been within the last ten years or so that it has gained such Acid etch (until it gasses well), before the part will turn blue. And, wide popularity with the gunmakers and shooters who were greatly you will have to spend a variable amount of time at the tank depend- attracted to its great corrosion resistance and ease of maintenance. ing upon which temperature finally “kicks” the part over to blue. These factors are particularly important for duty guns, any wetland Sometimes the blue is incredibly jet black; other times, depending on hunting guns and many personal-protection guns. the stainless alloy you are working with, it may not be as deep and Often the stainless steel was blued at the factory (as in the case of rich a color. But, even at the very worst, we’ve always come up with a the Remington and Winchester barrels); but more frequently, it has good enough color to match satisfactorily with parts blued in Oxynate been left “natural color” often with a bead-blasted, or sand-blasted, No. 7. Because Oxynate No. 84 is compatible with Oxynate No. 7, it is matte finish. possible to blue an action or frame with a stainless barrel in Oxynate While many shooters and gun owners are attracted by the rust- No. 84 first, then go into the Oxynate No. 7 tank to blue the action or and wear-resistant qualities of stainless steel, they are unhappy with frame. The Oxynate No. 7 turns the stainless steel blue color a little its bright, silver appearance. For instance, natural stainless (in the darker, while doing its usual excellent job on the chrome moly steels, white), is highly reflective and causes game-spooking “flashing”. In and seems to blend it all together nicely. the case of duty guns, many departments and law enforcement agen- (Actually, bluing with Oxynate No 84 is essentially mighty simple, cies recognize the need for a dark, non-reflective finish to permit the just stabilize the tank at 240° F., put the parts in and let the tempera- officer and his gun to more easily fade into the background. As for ture rise slowly until they turn blue, then hold that temperature for target shooters and hunters, the light reflection of the white stain- about 15 minutes more for maximum penetration and color. The parts less can dramatically affect sight picture - a serious detraction when may turn at 245° F. - or not until 264° F. If they are going to turn - accuracy and target pickup really count. And, lastly, there are many including cast iron - they will do so below 270° F., because above 270° gun owners who just want their firearms to have a more “traditional” F. you start to heat-kill the bath). blue or black finish. We highly recommend you use Oxynate No. 84 for the stainless Stainless steel has been blued by various means in a limited num- guns and cast iron gun parts you need to blue. But - we don’t recom- ber of specialty shops over the years, but, it was almost impossible mend it for the shops where a little experimentation and trial-and- for the general gunsmithing or bluing shop to blue these stainless error aren’t acceptable; we don’t recommend it for your only bluing steel guns successfully. The bluing products had been developed for tank - it just takes too much messing around to replace good, old, industry some years ago, but they were very critical to use, requiring reliable Oxynate No. 7. We do recommend it for bluing stainless steel constant monitoring, absolute temperature control and laboratory and cast iron. It’s a great product - the first stainless blue we have back-up - with a different formulation for each different stainless found that will do the job you want... repeatedly and profitably! It alloy or group of alloys. We have been working on trying to bring does require a certain amount of bluing experience and talent before Stainless Steel Bluing to the Trade since the early '70’s... and never you will get the best results it can give you - and the great results you could make a solution work repeatedly, predictably and reliably over want. Firearms manufacturers use many different types of stainless a wide assortment of stainless parts and alloys. steel alloy. Some can be given an attractive, durable, blue-black fin- Now, with Oxynate No. 84, Bob Brownell and the Crew at Brownells ish very easily. Other types require experimentation with operating have brought you a superior new formulation for stainless bluing that temperature, salts concentration, the sequence of operation, or the has met and passed all of our demands and requirements. It has use of a pickling bath. worked on all the popular guns (S&W’s, Rugers, and virtually every Oxynate No. 84 has worked on virtually all the stainless steel alloys type of stainless we could find), and even does a mighty good job on and cast iron pieces we have tried...and we’ve blued many types of cast irons. It is predictable, repeatable, reliable and easy to operate. stainless steel, including parts and barrels made by Ruger, Smith & Oxynate No. 84 will enable you, the gunsmith, to better serve your Wesson, Shilen, Pachmayr, Clark and others. And, among the cast customers by being able to blue the newer stainless steel firearms iron pieces that we blued successfully was a Savage 311 receiver right in your own shop. No more hassles of shipping guns out, con- which is cast iron and case colored, and as you may know, normally cerns about loss or damage, and long waits while someone else does is very difficult - if not impossible - to blue! In the vast majority of your work. In addition, Oxynate No. 84 can be a real lifesaver when cases we were very successful and pleased with the color and finish. you encounter rarer variations of some of the early production rifles In a couple of instances, we could get a “blue” color that was adequate such as the Winchester Model 54 and 70 which were made with stain- - but not really what we preferred, and then only after some “fiddling less steel barrels. Unfortunately, the old trick of testing the metal around” to make it come out. it is quite possible and probable that at with a magnet to see if it is stainless steel or not, doesn’t work too some point you will encounter a type of stainless steel or cast iron All rights reserved. Any reproduction or other usage of form or content of these instruction, either in whole or in part, is expressly prohibited without the prior consent of copyright holder. 076-200-165 R715 © 2015 BROWNELLS, INC. Page 1 of 4 that simply will not blue. Oxynate No. 84 is mixed with water at the ratio of 4 pounds of Frankly, this is a new area for all of us in the Trade, and there are salts to 1 gallon of water. The proper way to do this is as follows: going to be some “unknowns” crop up. So... you must be willing to (1) Calculate the volume capacity in gallons of your bluing tank. To experiment and develop some new procedures as you go along that determine this, multiply the inside length x inside width x desired work for you and the alloy you are working on. We would love to have depth of the solution and divide the answer by 231 ( the number of you tell us about your successes and failures so we can incorporate all cubic inches in a gallon.) The number you get will be the capacity the information learned into the next revision of these instructions. It in gallons. For example: if your tank has an inside length of 40", an will be a great pleasure to work with you in any way we can. inside width of 6" which equals 960" divided by 231", equals 4.1 gal- lons. OXYNATE No. 84 COMPARED TO OXYNATE No. 7 (2) Fill your tank with the desired number of gallons of water. Do not turn on your burner at this point. While Oxynate No. 84 is used in the same basic manner as Oxynate (3) Weigh out the proper amount of salts (4 lbs. of salts per gallon No. 7, there are several VERY important DIFFERENCES that you of water used) and add the salts slowly to the water in approximately should keep in mind. two pound increments. (1) Oxynate No. 84 is used at the rate of 4 pounds of salts to 1 gal- (4) Stir the solution as the salts are added to help the salts dissolve.