I have been eagerly awaiting the long weekend for a few weeks now, since I had been preparing the barrels of my recently acquired used SxS for slow rust blueing over the past few days. I always wanted a SxS
and could not resist buying a used Merkel late last year - Blueing was worn off with some pitting at the muzzle and underneath the forearm. Took the gun to LGS and was quoted just under a grand for a decent slow rust blueing job. I knew I had over gone my budget (got the chokes opened up as well) and there was no way I could spend that much on cosmetics but again I could not see this elegant firearm in its current condition. Hence started doing a bit of research on rust blueing. After several videos and online articles I decided to do it myself. started working on the matel about a month ago, removed pitting by drawing a file, removed old blueing with a blue removing solution, sanded with 120,180, 240 and final polish with a 320 grit sand paper, couple of baths in acetone followed by hot bath in soap water and then final degreasing with acetone.
Applied the first coat of blueing solution on Saturday morning and hung the barrel in the bathroom (shower door) with room steamer kept at a distance. Primed the matel with one more coat in an hour and let it rust for few hours, once the matel developed decent rust, off it went into a steam apparatus I build from PVC pipe for 15 mins (I was quite nervous at this stage
) and to my relief the rust had turned into black oxidise 
. Let the barrel cool down and gave it a light polish with a stainless steel wire wheel. Repeated the cycle 5 more times over the next couple of days, carding with steel wool and wire wheel until I got the colour i was happy with. Concluded the project last night by soaking the barrel in gun oil to neutralise the rusting. Can't wait to get back home tonight to see how it turns out once the oil is wiped off.I push buttons all day for a bank and not having done anything like this in the past, I am quite happy with the outcome.
Next project is the stock and forearm.
