Anybody Know what type bluing

[Ben_Rumson]

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So I got into this 99H for way way cheeeep... I need to know what type of bluing Savage used on this 1936 352XXX version.. Was it rust bluing or hot bluing? I might want to doll her up... I usually like them as is but ...

[Mainehunter]

I really don't know what Savage used back then but I've rust blued a couple of older Savage and Marlin rifles. They really came out great! I think hot blue salts is quicker but the setup is expensive.

Mainehunter

[Pete44ru]

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Rust bluing should turn out "blue"; and hot bluing usually turns out a much darker blue-black.

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[M. M. Wright]

I too do not know what Marlin used but rust bluing is much easier for the hobbiest and it doesn't rust everything else in the shop like hot salts do. Unibath is the easiest to use of the hot blues but I found it to be too expensive for just a few pieces.

I have done a few things with Brownells' rust blue formula. One tank long enough for your rifle is all you need for boiling the parts after rusting. I've only used the hand brushes but plan on buying a wheel for my future endeavors. I keep Zep caustic soda for my hot degreasing tank in my auto machine shop so I set up a tank with some of it to degrease in although I did a few parts by cleaning with carb/choke cleaner and starting fluid. It worked fine.

Was it here that we had the long discussion on rust bluing? Some chap in England who does doubles for many of the big makers there chimed in with his formula and method which I found very helpful. I found that I like to polish my parts to a shinier finish than he recommended but I must admit that the resulting blue is highly durable.

Keep us posted on what you end up doing. We are a curious bunch.

[Griff]

And PICTURES while you're doing it for us Neanderthal types what don't understand plain English written directions... Besides, it sure helps add to the appreciation to see where you started and the steps along way.

[Mike Hunter]

Savage used several types of bluing on each rifle: More than likely the frame was blued via "Machine Bluing" aka Carbonia blue, barrel would have been rust blued, and the small parts Nitre blued.

I don't know of any American gun company that rust blued the frames

V/R

Mike

[Ben_Rumson]

Thank you Mike! That's some hard info to come by... Did searches every way I could think of with zilch results... Have Murray's book... No help... Again, Many thanks

[marlinman93]

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Rust bluing should turn out "blue"; and hot bluing usually turns out a much darker blue-black.

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In the hands of a good restoration gunsmith, rust bluing does turn out black. I've seen a lot of rust blued barrels that weren't, but just as many done by people with great reputations, that look black.