Rust Conversion on Damascus Barrels

[@broncota2210]

I watch both Marks. Your shop is cleaner.

[@thecinnabar8442]

Thanks Traves. It's getting there, but I still have a long way to go to get it organized like I want it.

[@johnsaia9739]

Mr. Novak is very, very busy too.

[@jimmyvalhalla1939]

I stand by my earlier statement: This is the best channel on KZbin. A genuine working cowboy, showing the world the tools that helped to tame the American west. Time to do some bp reloading with the 1882 Winchester tool.

[@thecinnabar8442]

Thanks Jimmy! I have plans to do an episode on reloading with the old reloading tools, but I have to tread lightly around KZbin's ban on ammunition manufacturing content.

[@jimfrieze525]

Good job Mark. Once again I enjoyed watching.

[@thecinnabar8442]

Thanks Jim!

[@jeffstanfield5070]

I have watch Marks channel on all his videos, as I also watch all yours. I just purchased a Steven Favorite 22lr and getting ready to do this to it because of some surface rust on the barrel. Can't wait to see how it comes out. Thanks for the video.

[@giuseppe4909]

Glad to see you taking cues from Mark Novak. I’ve followed his channel a long time and have learned a ton about old guns and milsurps !

[@jamesweaver9636]

Nice way to preserve the original finish. Thanks for sharing. Always enjoy your videos. Look forward to the next.

[@thecinnabar8442]

Thanks for watching James!

[@munemrabadi809]

I guess this can be used to restore any old antiques made of steel. thanks for sharing

[@thecinnabar8442]

Yes, it should work on other types of steel as well.

[@jeffreygraf3358]

Love Anvil. Glad to see a connection.

[@SteveandSusiesHomestead]

I have been watching Mark for quite a while .. Thanks for the great video.

[@thecinnabar8442]

You're very welcome. Thanks for watching!

[@richardcernava4139]

Such an amazing channel. I do not say that lightly. Keep up the amazing work. Your knowledge is much appreciated!

[@thecinnabar8442]

Thank you very much Richard! I'm glad to hear you're enjoying our channel.

[@ricktaylor5744]

Thank you Mark for sharing your knowledge. That process is awesome.

[@jkalash762]

A few tips I've picked up from trial and error and very old books and documents I've come across learning to gunsmith with the traditional methods. I would go for an HR or more at a time boiling. The longer the better but after about 2hrs you hit deminishing returns. I like to flip parts over about half way through just to ensure that both sides convert at an even rate. With revolvers and any non Damascus really you'll get a lot of weirdness if you don't in a lot of cases. If you have an elevated grate or basket so the parts don't touch the bottom it does seem to help with this as well. With a really skanky piece just pull it out and use a piece of denim dampened with a little rottenstone and quickly rub it down just to knock the loose oxide layer off. Give it a wipe down with a clean rag to get the rottenstone residue to come off. Go straight back to boiling. The rest of the loose oxide will nearly wipe off usually and the polish the denim and rottenstone provide leaves a mirror shine if you give it a couple passes on the polishing wheel. Like I'm talking glass smooth depending on how much polishing you do with the rottenstone. Usually at this point is when the mark Lee Express blue comes in to darken up any light areas. In the end you'll have a gun that no one would ever know was touched up and preserved unless you take it past the factory's polishing standard. I've been using this method of saving the finish for some time and there's nothing that compares to the final result. It's pretty mind blowing taking a 1920s Winchester or 1st year wing master back through it's original finishing process and getting to see it coming back to life looking like it just was day one coming off the assembly line. Great video and I don't mean to criticize what you achieved, it came out great, just wanted to share what I've learned searching for all the info I could get my hands on for rust and charcoal bluing. Look for a copy of professional care & finishing of gunmetal by John E. Traister if you don't have one. This book is rarely every mentioned but goes well beyond any other source covering every form of fun finishing up to the modern spray coats. He walks you through every step and all the needed components for all processes and spills the beans on original manufacturer recipes and some other really interesting bits. His book on wood finishing is just as good and they are becoming very hard to find. Try to get the hardcover too, it's much higher quality print and photos and iirc the softcover had some things cut from it.

[@thecinnabar8442]

Thanks so much for taking the time to share these excellent tips! I'll be looking for those books by Traister.

[@jkalash762]

@@thecinnabar8442 my pleasure. Really enjoy your videos and figured it's the least I could do to repay you for all the entertainment.

[@52fordf1]

I've been watching Novak for a little bit now and stumbled upon your channel. Love seeing the work you do.

[@3ducs]

Some people are afraid of Damascus barrels but in their day they were considered premium. Just don't use high pressure shells in them, beware of barrels that have been rechambered to take the longer modern high pressure shells. RST sells correct ammo for old shotguns, use it and get those beautiful old guns out in the field or on the range.

[@jeffreyhershey5754]

I've got a old Damascus barreled double with external hammers and I have shot it quite a bit with low base shells with no problems and it still locks up good and tight

[@boduke455]

Thanks for sharing. Novak’s channel is great too.

[@thecinnabar8442]

You’re very welcome! I enjoy Mark’s channel a lot, too

[@garyjordan4735]

Very nice finish. Thanks again.

[@thecinnabar8442]

You're very welcome!

[@Untruthfulcake]

Great video, Mark! Heres hoping none of my guns ever reach that level of rust 😂

[@thecinnabar8442]

Thanks UTC! Keep your powder dry and your guns well oiled.😉

[@3ducs]

Today I brought home a good candidate for this process, a Remington Model of 1863 "Zouave" rifle. It is a pretty decent rifle, never sanded, good cartouches on the stock, but the barrel has a fair amount of pebbly rust. Rifling isn't too bad but there is plenty of rust there too. An interesting project, I have a few going right now, good winter projects.

[@thecinnabar8442]

Take it nice and slow on that Zouave rifle. It's doubtful you can convert all the rust. You will have to decide how far to go with it. You'll probably have to boil it more than once and then decide how far is enough. Rust with depth usually becomes a pit when removed completely. Good luck with your winter projects!

[@3ducs]

@@thecinnabar8442 Thanks! I have a Zoli reproduction, a side by side comparison is favorable to the Zoli except for the stock, the wood is too light, Remington used excellent black walnut. I've seen unissued Remingtons that look very nice indeed, my "new" one will never look like those but can look a bit better. The stock on my rifle is quite good, original unsanded surface with sharp cartouches and edges. I need to get the nipple out and clear the fire path. Too bad there wasn't a clean-out screw on those like on the Springfields.

[@SixRoundsStudio]

Interesting idea.

[@chrislang5659]

I recently acquired grandpa's 1880's Damascus side by side. Remington Arms Co. Ilion NY. is the only thing I can find on the receiver. The foregrip will not come off, however I didn't try very hard in fear of damaging anything. The barrels are no where near as bad as the ones in the video but you can't really see the pattern through and through. It has been kept indoors all of its life but never got the attention it deserved. Would you recommend that I try to clean it up or just enjoy it for what it is as a wall hanger. Probably not safe to shoot at this point however I would love to be able to get it back to that point. Very excited about getting it. I can tell it was beautiful in its time!

[@errolpoxleitner7901]

Damn good job.

[@johnsaia9739]

Novak is the man! He knows what he is doing.

[@dogbone1358]

Amazing!

[@thecinnabar8442]

Thanks!

[@Tex_I_Can]

Nice work! If this was a restoration to be used again, is there anything you would need to do to the interior of the barrels? Seems like I remember, from back in the day, my grandfather telling me to just shoot them until they clean up.

[@thecinnabar8442]

Surprisingly, the bores aren't terrible on this one. I'd just lightly polish them and shoot it.

[@broadstken]

@@thecinnabar8442 I take a cleaning rod and a bore brush, chuck it in my drill and just slowly run it in and out of the barrels until I'm happy with them, then swab them with some oil, of course that's only for smooth bore and shotgun barrels.

[@johntarvin2878]

I’ve done this on quite a few old guns, and as long as there is no obvious pitting on either the outside or inside of the barrel, it should be fine to rock and roll. If it’s a really old gun, you would need to get it checked professionally, obviously. This is true of the whole gun, especially the breech area. Prolonged rust exposure also wrecks any springs, so make sure those are spotless as well. As an example, the extractor spring on the gun in this video was obviously too far gone. As a general rule, excercise extreme caution in trying to use old gear, there’s usually a reason why it was abandoned

[@chrischiampo7647]

Nice Job Mark What Does Browning a Barrel Entail is It a Hot Type Bluing Process I’ve Got an Old Stevens Single Shot Falling Block 32Rimfire Takedown Rifle That Has A Brown Finish not Blued Would It Be Doable Or Should I Just Try The Anvil Mark Method You Just Did it’s Got Some Light Pitting on The Barrel But Receiver is Really Nice and Pitfree 😀 Love The Videos Mark Almost Time For a Pumpkin Shoot 😀👍🏼

[@3ducs]

Is there an app that capitalizes every word in a sentence? Why would one want to do that?

[@thecinnabar8442]

There are several products available for browning a barrel. Some are a slow rust blue solution, but that is a pretty involved process. Most are basically cold blues that can be applied repeatedly until you get the color you're looking for. The process I show here is primarily for guns that have rust present that can be converted to blue or brown finish. If your gun doesn't have surface rust, it wouldn't do you any good. If you are going to put a brown finish on the gun, you can draw file out the light pits first. I'm sure there are videos that show draw filing. I plan to show it on a future episode whenever I need to draw file something in the shop.

[@chrischiampo7647]

@@thecinnabar8442 Thanks Mark 😀👍🏼

[@Tammy-un3ql]

👍👍👍👍

[@kirkstinson7316]

The only problem I can see is with a double barrel you can still have active rust under the rib

[@MikeM10293]

Question for you or anyone else watching: I’m considering doing a rust boiling conversion in my Damascus barrels but I’m worried about the solder possibility melting. Might be a dumb question but I’d rather be safe than sorry! I know there are different types that all melt at different temperatures. Anyone have experience with doing many of these barrels?

[@robertbooth7396]

Take a look at this guy’s KZbins. The link is to one that might help. He also has a couple three KZbins about solder/resoldering side-by-sides. This is no gunsmith talking, but water boils at 210° F (100° C). Not even pure lead solder will melt at that point, and tin’s melting point is 450°. So it is very unlikely you have any solder that will melt in boiling water. But, if the solder is cracked, loose, otherwise degraded, the boiling water may cause pieces to fall off, sort of like how a filling in a tooth with fall out after 20 years or so.

[@WhatIfBrigade]

Wow!

[@rodsvintagesxschannel.3095]

I have a channel dedicated to old sxs Shotguns with damacsus barrels

[@thecinnabar8442]

I'll check it out. Thanks

[@criscross6591]

👍👍