How and Why To Brown Finish Your Hawken Muzzleloader Barrel: Muzzleloader Build: Episode 3

[@stevenfairless4931]

This worked on my old style wood stove ... it was rusting after one season so I steel wooled it with coconut oil which spread the rust evenly then fired up the stove. The house smelled like smokey coconut and the stove came out a nice brown and has lasted two seasons without further rust. I browned my CVA Hawken in the early 70's ... still has a nice finish ... Thanks Nate 🙂

[@dont4143]

Thanks for the browning tips. I am restoring a 1830 trade rifle with the original browning. History shows the men that came from Penna., Ohio, Kentucky, Virginia etc. brought their flintlock long rifles with them to the mountains and never got a short Hawken rifle or a percussion rifle. They never ran out of caps and flint was easier to come by than caps that got damp and misfired.

[@ratoneJR]

Built my first kit in 1976, a shorter Kentucky rifle. Browned it like you did. The browning has character, like yours. I still own the rifle. Never rusted, browning looks the same. That Birchwood Casey stuff works well and has lasted me 44 years... and still going.

[@edwardgreenaway1808]

I built a .45 cal TC Hawken back in high school.Now I'm building a CVA Kentucky pistol kit from the 1980's. I think that is when we got it for my dad.

[@oldwarmonger8750]

I use mr coffee pots and vinegar with salt. Pour vinegar and water in three coffee pots mist your barrel with light salt water Put barrel and the three coffee pots under a trash can be sure to leave tops of coffe pots cracked so the steam can escape and just leave it over night.Plug your barrel.And it’s reusable I have done it countless times over the years to plum brown a gun metal.

[@craigcook1571]

Another way to patina your brass, is to take a dirty cleaning patch with BP fouling on it and wipe your brass with it. You will have to sand your brass 1st to get that protective coating that they put on it off 1st but it’s an easy way ( and looks the best and most authentic in my opinion) to do it

[@TheLifeOutdoorz]

Thats really cool! I'll try that on the next one.

[@308dad8]

The old school way is to actually rust the surface and card the loose flaky rust, until you achieve the color you want and uniformity. My understanding of Plum Brown is it’s not rusting the barrel. You don’t need browning solution if you have rust blue solution it’s all the same except the end where you boil it you neutralize the solution for browning by soaking in baking soda water then rinse and card one last time then you smother it in oil for 24 hours. Doesn’t matter what oil, can use motor oil, can use ATF, can use anything you like.

[@chieff4284]

Love the videos, not really concerned about a camera being backwards. Cheers Nate ty for keeping the great content coming!

[@poncoolride]

I've done a lot of research and I hate to say it, but according to the experts Hawken barrels were actually blued. I agree that the brown finish lookes great though if done right.

[@charlesharper7292]

Thanks for explaining the Hawken. Personally I'm drawn toward the old long flintlocks. But I don't plan on hunting anything larger than deer and wild pigs. Great video.

[@erikwilson7622]

Thanks great vid. Figure you can put putty in the screw holes to protect.

[@jackblackpowderprepper4940]

I googled original Hawken rifles and the first 6 I saw were browned barrels and full stocks. Just saying. I finished a Traditions Shenandoah a few months ago and browned the barrel. It is an art brown. Make sure you use 100% cotton applicators, temp is perfect and put the flat with the sight dovetails bottom dead center. Do the entire barrel at once. Long even strocks.

[@ivancrews4361]

Another way to brown a barrel is to mix equal amounts of gun blue and muratic acid... This mixture gets hot... Wear gloves and do this outside and don't breathe the fumes... Rub the barrel and let it dry... Apply 2 or 3 more coats drying each time... Apply a good coat of animal fat such as lard... This Browning is rather deep and permanent... The saltwater works but takes a week or a little longer versus 1 to 2 hours doing it how I described... Come to think of it before all the gun oils we have available nowadays want around back then... Animal fat was used in oiling muzzleloaders and that was usually bear fat but any rendered animal fat will work...

[@ivancrews4361]

If you clean out the barrel through the clean out bolster screw as i do , you may replace the screw with a good wing screw from a hardware store... Make sure the thread and diameter is the correct one for your bolster... Its ok if its too long because it can be cut to length and a angle filed at the starting threads of your but wing screw... Just make sued the screw is not brass or aluminum... Use grade a or hardened steel... The wing screw makes for easy removal of the bolster screw for field cleaning without having to have a screwdriver and no worries about stripping the screw screwdriver slot...

[@jackblackpowderprepper4940]

Rendered Bear grease works good on work boots and makes the lightest pie crust.

[@TheLifeOutdoorz]

Yes sir, and spring bear is coming

[@snarshmallow]

Thanks for the tip! I like the song too, who’s the artist?

[@kirkethridge2500]

boil it & it will turn black,,, (the Hawken brothers did this).. also, use cleaned steel wool,, (take oil out of it with acetone)

[@johnduffant9694]

Really enjoyed the video do you think a heat gun would work as well as torch. Thanks

[@geraldtakala1721]

This looks great on mine

[@wildrangeringreen]

brown is just oiled rust, bluing is one step further: you boil the part in water and it reacts with the red iron oxide an turns it black. Both treatments go back to at least Medieval times as a decorative way to protect steel. Either creates a superior finish when compared to "cold" processes, as they penetrate the steel more than just at the surface and create a porous layer that holds oil (similar to why Parkerizing was developed, which is a similar idea, just more industrialized).

[@thepenultimateninja5797]

Another advantage of traditional browning and rust bluing over cold blue is that they don't have that horrible smell.

[@tomallen6073]

I guess browning is an acquired taste, lol. Love the Hawkins rifles but having trouble warming up to a brown barrel. Lol.

[@jackson4861]

Yeah for sure. It’s not gonna happen with mine, think I’ll just clear coat the silver look.

[@corneliusmakin-bird7540]

What type of oil did you use on it for the finished product?

[@strangleholdoutdoors]

Should I blue or brown mine and Should I do cold or hot applications?

[@charlesharper7292]

You mentioned, browning rusts the barrel. Asking cause I don't know. How dose browning protect the metal?

[@TheLifeOutdoorz]

Actually Browning and Blueing are both just controlled rusting. If done right it forms a protective layer that won't allow pitting.

[@randyscott9034]

You can build that kit in a couple of days max

[@jodykennamer6147]

What is the best way to clean it? Mine is very rusty. Acetone and scotch bad to get down to the base and then start?

[@Man_Cave]

It's not exactly the old school way. The original browning method had mercury in it which made the browning more durable, but is no longer legal to sell.

[@darrenhimmelspach5591]

Dumb question.. Would it be possible to nickel plate the barrel ?

[@TheLifeOutdoorz]

There are several revolvers that are nickel, I haven't seen a nickle muzzleloader

[@Dylbo_Baggins]

Can you use 0000 steel wool to buff it down?

[@TheLifeOutdoorz]

Yes

[@jackson4861]

My barrel tang doesn’t snap onto the barrel, do you have to sand the meta joint ? I can’t find where you showed this?

[@Rick_Sanchez_C137_]

Use ink to see where it is being blocked.

[@EssentialXL]

I take it this is your first time at browning/bluing, only heat the metal the first time (with a heat gun preferably) so the solution can bite into the metal, apply the solution with a small piece of cotton, use sparingly, long even strokes, don't go over a spot again, you can go back over strokes only the first time, leave for a reasonable amount of time, buff, repeat untill the desired color depth, rinse with filtered water to remove residue of the rusting solution, air-blow it, submerge in a mixture of acetone and engine oil overnight.

[@johnwWogan]

So heating the barrel with heat gun? How long to get hot i?

[@nervousstranger]

So this how to brown a barrel with a store bought browning solution.

[@mazmorbid5840]

I don't know why you put screws in your holes, it makes it so much harder to get a nice even finish, just clean the holes out afterwards is best imo

[@johnpublic168]

Why not nickle plate.

[@kcstott]

Not craping on your video. But that rifle is not a Hawken replica. There is only one know example of a single barrel wedge Hawken rifle. All others had two barrel wedges. They also had iron furniture not brass. The rifle you have is a prime example of what CVA marketed as a Hawken in the 60 and 70's

[@Baltihunter]

Why? Is it just cosmetic?

[@TheLifeOutdoorz]

It actually keeps it from pitting

[@gtd-sq2pj]

Sloppy. Never wet the patch from the bottle

[@jackson4861]

Yeah, never gonna happen .

[@panchoboots]

Next time please put the rifle down before filming. You're rubbing that thing way too much. Otherwise good stuff.

[@jewsrbad]

0000 steel wool. Youre welcome