doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion Classic & Custom Single Barreled Sporting Rifles @ doublegunshop.com Little John's Auction integrity

Looking good. I have a question concerning the Rustoleum. The one time I used it, nongun related, I thought it etched the metal. This was on a large 4"+ diameter x 12" piece of hex stock. Have you had any problems with that? Do you dilute it? I haven't tried it on a gun because of that and formulas may have changed since that was in 1980.

I've use Rustoleum jelly in brush on and spray on containers, and not seen any etching. I've actually preferred it for stripping vs. sanding the old bluing off,as sanding removes more metal than chemical stripping. It saves me time, effort, and makes the final polishing much easier.
As you might see in the pics after, there is no etching I can see. The receivers I'v done come out slightly dull, as compared to the blued finish, but not etched at all.
If I'd gone after this bluing with emery paper I'd never have known there was any case colors left under it.

I'd think etching of the metal with any acid based blue or rust remover would depend upon the concentration of the acid, time, and temperature. Rustoleum rust remover appears to contain phosphoric acid, which would account for the gray coloration and slight frosting effect. This product probably would have removed any remaining case colors if left on the surface long enough, or at a higher temperature. It would have been very easy to walk away and let it work longer, and never know there were remaining case colors under the blue. It would probably etch the surface if left on too long as well. But the success of this is very interesting, and makes me wonder if the results for salvaging old case colors hidden under rebluing might be even better with a different acid.

The instructions say to leave this product on for 15-20 minutes. I never leave it on that long normally. I was impatient when I started using it years ago, and rinsed it after 10 minutes. I found it had done most of it's work, and only had to spot remove patches of bluing.
So now I check it about 10 minutes in, and if I wipe some off and if it's not done I simply cover the spot I wiped clean, and let it continue.
I have no idea why this worked so well, but I'm certainly glad it did.

This is a public forum if Little John's wanted to respond I dont think anyone would deny them the opportunity and a dialog has to start somewhere. I have never used their service so have nothing to add to the specifics.