My dad gave me my great grandpas Stevens 22-410. He use to carry it on his saddle working at the ranch.Well in the process of it be passed down and passed down and being kept in a barn, it kinda went to hell. It still works but just looks like crap....excuse me I mean antique.

I bought a blueing-restoring kit from academy and spent 3 hours last night removing the rust and the the blueing and almost have it down to a nice silver base. The only big thing i lack is the break open switch and the hammer. The gun uses pins not screws to keep all the triger mechanism in.

Anyone know of anyone around Bryan/College Station I can take it to help me open it and clean it.

I kicked myself at the end last night for not taking a before pic, but I'll share the finished product with yall later.

Don't waste your time trying the bluing kit you got from Academy. It will look like crap. Trust me, I tried this route on an old Winchester 9422 that sat under my mom's bed for 15 years, and the results almost made me cry.

You have a couple of options for getting a good, durable finish on your firearm. The first is to have it professionally reblued.

http://www.canyonsportingarms.com/


I have no personal experience with this company, but they came recommended on Texas CHL Forum. IF you really want it to look like it did coming from the factory, and money is not an object, this is the route I'd take. As you can see, rebluing is pretty pricey.

OTOH, if you want a durable finish that will protect your firearm and not cost as much, I'd recommend Durakote or Cerakote. I ended up having my 9422 Durakoted by Dale Honicutt at www.gripreductions.com
Dale did an excellent job, refinishing all of the metal on my rifle with a durable and attractive semigloss black. I highly recommend his work.


[This message has been edited by maverick2076 (edited 1/21/2011 12:08p).]

Call Jerry Mosley - a Bryan Gunsmth...979-822-4819

I used the Duracote on an old 10/22 that I have and it was easy. I went the re-bluing route on two other guns and will not do that again. I have enough Duracote left to do another gun if you are interested in it.

A good bluing job could cost FAR more than the shotgun is worth. I looked into it for my Stevens 16ga SxS, and decided...f--- it, now I don't have to worry about it near as much.

I would imagine a professional blueing will cost somewhere between $200-$300.

If that gun is as important to you as some of my inherited guns were to me, the $$$ don't matter. Just do it.

But I agree, those kits you by at Academy aren't worth it. I tried it a couple of times and it looked OK for a short while, then went SOUTH quickly.

The one thing I can commend Carter's Country on is their prices to get firearms refinished.

I had my old 1911 reparked and went through the gunsmith they used. Reasonably priced and the work was very good.

If you don't mind driving to Houston, you can use them and know that you will get a good job done for a price that won't kill you.

Or you could go through their gunsmith directly:

Gary Lucario
281-847-5732

I will be taking a couple of rifles and a shotty to him one of these days when I find the spare cash. I think he charges under $200 for shotguns, but don't quote me on that, for a standard finish. Obviously the more frills you want, the higher the price goes. I know that for my old Rem 1917 he quoted me $165 for a military grade re-blue.

You should be able to open the barrel by removing the butt stock and pressing the locking bolt to the rear with a pin punch or a screwdriver. If you are trying to make a shooter out of it check the barrel condition before going further.

That being said, decide how much money you want to spend to get it shootable and looking new. Parts alone will probably run you 50-100 dollars. If you can find them, a hammer may cost $25-$30 and the top snap another $10-$15. Blueing is very expensive (although I don't know why).

I whould be interested what you decide.

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Blueing is very expensive (although I don't know why).

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Equipment, materials and labor intensive to get the job done right. That's why it's not cheap.

Having blued literally hundreds of guns I know the process. That's why I said what I did

Didn't know that. But I figure that it takes a minimum of a couple of hours in labor in the process between taking the gun apart, cleaning, blueing, polishing and reassembling.

$50 per hour is not an unreasonable charge for time. The rest is in materials and overhead.

quote:

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between taking the gun apart, cleaning, blueing, polishing and reassembling.

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except that many of the owners wanting a rebluing can do all but one of these steps themselves at no time-cost to the bluer