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Refinishing a 500 Barrel

S.R. Crawford

.270 WIN
Good day,

I'm in the market for an 18.5" barrel for my 500, and I'm seeing a lot of the ones available used are the older blued finish. My gun is parkerized matte black. Are there any techniques you all recommend for finishing the barrel to match? I think a rattlecan will hold up fine if I give it a good sanding first but I want a second opinion.
 
S.R., doubt this will specifically answer your question but hopefully provide some food for thought.

I've always view weapons in two categories. The first being "working" ones which get used often, many times on a daily basis, and likely will get tossed into the back of a pickup or an ATV, spend their life on a horse, or be found laying on the ground while working or hunting. These guns are typically exposed to the elements most of the time. The other category are "closet or safe" guns which rarely see the light of day and many owners worry more about scratches or dings than actual use. That said, this latter group does include weapons with either sentimental or collector value.

A true working gun gets banged around and IMO rattle can paint is probably the best choice because an occasional touch up to new wear marks or scratches maintains a tough finish and prevents rust. Many of these guns don't get the best treatment thus a "working" finish is the best choice.

The other category is typically maintained to exacting standards and in many cases these guns are treated more as a display piece and rarely fired. I've seen owners that even worry about finger prints.

Nothing wrong with having guns in both categories but IMO the intended use tends to drive the finish of choice.

Regards
 
S.R., doubt this will specifically answer your question but hopefully provide some food for thought.

I've always view weapons in two categories. The first being "working" ones which get used often, many times on a daily basis, and likely will get tossed into the back of a pickup or an ATV, spend their life on a horse, or be found laying on the ground while working or hunting. These guns are typically exposed to the elements most of the time. The other category are "closet or safe" guns which rarely see the light of day and many owners worry more about scratches or dings than actual use. That said, this latter group does include weapons with either sentimental or collector value.

A true working gun gets banged around and IMO rattle can paint is probably the best choice because an occasional touch up to new wear marks or scratches maintains a tough finish and prevents rust. Many of these guns don't get the best treatment thus a "working" finish is the best choice.

The other category is typically maintained to exacting standards and in many cases these guns are treated more as a display piece and rarely fired. I've seen owners that even worry about finger prints.

Nothing wrong with having guns in both categories but IMO the intended use tends to drive the finish of choice.

Regards
It's a working gun by far, that's why I'm so concerned about having a durable finish. Thank you for the input.
 
This is probably the closest match to parkerizing that I know of short of buying the chemicals to do parkerizing. It's what I put on my Delisle build that I did last year.

You do have to have an airbrush and bake it in the oven at ~300 for an hour after it sits overnight after painting it (at least overnight) to keep the fumes down.

It's not bomb proof (though nothing is). But it does hold up a lot better than paint. There's a lot of tech info on their website about salt water and acid corrosion testing and stuff that was done before they could sell it to the DOD/navy seals, but it's what I use for myself.

This is a grey black (old school Colt grey anodizing). They have other shades as well. If you want a matte finish, heat the part up to about 100 or 105*F just prior to spraying.

FWIW, this is a matte finish that I wanted on this old gun because of historical preference. If you've never heard of a Delisle, that's OK a lot of people haven't. And even a lot of unfortunate Germans never "heard it" either.

https://molyresin.com/shop/8oz/

WABNXgO.jpg


Here's their socom black on another silencer build that I did.

I had to remove the anodizing in order to do the electro-etch engraving and then refinished it in socom black.

2rEICjK.png


I did colorfill the .45 text with white, but you can't really tell the difference in the black.

gey4kq0.jpg


Come to think of it, I did the lower receiver in it as well. Here it is raw/in the white

FgwYfOO.jpg


After sitting all night airing out and flash curing, before baking:
Otq66gj.jpg
 
This is probably the closest match to parkerizing that I know of short of buying the chemicals to do parkerizing. It's what I put on my Delisle build that I did last year.

You do have to have an airbrush and bake it in the oven at ~300 for an hour after it sits overnight after painting it (at least overnight) to keep the fumes down.

It's not bomb proof (though nothing is). But it does hold up a lot better than paint. There's a lot of tech info on their website about salt water and acid corrosion testing and stuff that was done before they could sell it to the DOD/navy seals, but it's what I use for myself.

This is a grey black (old school Colt grey anodizing). They have other shades as well. If you want a matte finish, heat the part up to about 100 or 105*F just prior to spraying.

FWIW, this is a matte finish that I wanted on this old gun because of historical preference. If you've never heard of a Delisle, that's OK a lot of people haven't. And even a lot of unfortunate Germans never "heard it" either.

https://molyresin.com/shop/8oz/

WABNXgO.jpg


Here's their socom black on another silencer build that I did.

I had to remove the anodizing in order to do the electro-etch engraving and then refinished it in socom black.

2rEICjK.png


I did colorfill the .45 text with white, but you can't really tell the difference in the black.

gey4kq0.jpg


Come to think of it, I did the lower receiver in it as well. Here it is raw/in the white

FgwYfOO.jpg


After sitting all night airing out and flash curing, before baking:
Otq66gj.jpg
I actually do know about the DeLisle Carbine, I discovered it playing Battlefield V as the "Commando Carbine" and did a bit more research on it from there. One of the most interesting firearms I can name. Unfortunately I do not own an airbrush, but thank you.
 
Without an airbrush, I guess you're stuck with spray or brush paint or finger paints regardless.

My Delisle project was a labor of love. I've wanted one for decades. Sadly, the 220 or so that were actually made, are all spoken for, or gone at this point other than a few in Royal Museums. And if there were an original that came up for auction, would surely be well above my means.

So, I did the next best thing and made my own.

Here's my first test shots with it. Yes, I made the internals based on the original design. Many people told me that I should use more modern baffles, but the silencer is the heart of the system and I couldn't bring myself to do it. I wanted it as close to the original prints as possible.

Very few alive today have heard what a real one sounded like. Since this was made off the original prints as closely as I could and with the help of a dear friend from New Zealand that is an author and written books about it and was fortunate enough to be able to go through the originals in London Museum, this is about as close as humanly possible to copy one as you'll see.

 
Without an airbrush, I guess you're stuck with spray or brush paint or finger paints regardless.

My Delisle project was a labor of love. I've wanted one for decades. Sadly, the 220 or so that were actually made, are all spoken for, or gone at this point other than a few in Royal Museums. And if there were an original that came up for auction, would surely be well above my means.

So, I did the next best thing and made my own.

Here's my first test shots with it. Yes, I made the internals based on the original design. Many people told me that I should use more modern baffles, but the silencer is the heart of the system and I couldn't bring myself to do it. I wanted it as close to the original prints as possible.

Very few alive today have heard what a real one sounded like. Since this was made off the original prints as closely as I could and with the help of a dear friend from New Zealand that is an author and written books about it and was fortunate enough to be able to go through the originals in London Museum, this is about as close as humanly possible to copy one as you'll see.

I actually read your entire build thread a while back
 
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