Is there a market for!

[G.T.]

Hi to all, in my many repair efforts I find what ever I accomplish, there is always, still, a ton of work still needed for proper function and appearance. Now, right off the get go, I'm not talking about a professional rust blue and correction of rust and corrosion issues. Just a nice re-blue and re-straw... I have noticed that even a salt blue job has become relatively hard to find, and still expensive to boot! I just completed a re-barreling of a 1920 commercial receiver, and I also re-strawed the small parts on the receiver and frame... wow! It really looks nice... Question is, is it worth offering this service to customers? Not necessarily correct, just nice? You know, prep as well as you can, repair the chipped grip, and re-blue and re-straw. Fire blue springs and pins, etc. etc. Kind of a middle of the road service so to speak...
I have neither the skills, or the patience to do a correct museum quality restoration... and the cost would reflect the service provided... Now, keep in mind, this would not be to boost value, or make anyone guess whether is it right or wrong? It would simply be an attempt to make a nice shooter....nicer? Keep in mind, my strong suit is making them work right, and this would just be an extension of that effort... This query is not an attempt to compete with the restoration crowd, I have neither their skills or time do do so... Most of what I would provide would involve
effort from other forum craftsman as well... Just a thought, let me know what you think... best to all, til...lat'r....GT

[G.T.]

Wow! I'm now assuming that most of the members must already have a nice shooter, or have gone thru the stage of wanting to build one?...
At any rate the lack of enthusiasm probably shows the overall desire of the project has little to no attraction to current collectors and shooters alike?... Soooo, never mind! best to all, til...lat'r...GT.....

[HerrKaiser]

In fairness, I still have the shooter you built for me a few years ago and it still works amazingly.

[G.T.]

Hi Quintin! Yes, that was a fun project and I was happy to be a part of that quest! I think that most members realize that the extra spent can never be recouped? I've always been a bit of a sucker for just nice... Or, I just like it? Thanks for posting and also the strong support! Best to you, til....lat'r....GT.....

[HerrKaiser]

G.T., you are very welcome. It’s the least I can do after all you have done to help me get started! That pistol included (it’s the middle one in my avatar photo)

[sheepherder]

Gerry, are you limiting yourself to just Lugers??? I have long been an advocate of 'dip bluing'; no buffing, just an acid wash and bluing. No buffing, ever.

Just asking...I have nothing definite in mind.

But I would say there is a definite market.

[G.T.]

Hi Rich, I'm not sure but I would suspect mostly Lugers. Sometimes just the cleaning up of a part or two will improve looks quite a bit, other times the whole gun needs some loving? I agree on the acid strip / dip blue idea. It takes forever in my world, to sand and polish parts, large or small. I would have to experiment a little. I would have an outside source do the bluing... I can do the niter blue and straw... To make it work I'd have to be able to offer some type of quantity to make it worth while overall, for anyone... That's why i was posting the thought, just to get some feedback on feasibility?... Best to you Rich, til....lat'r....GT....

[lugerholsterrepair]

Gerald, This query is not an attempt to compete with the restoration crowd. I don't think you have to worry about that! In the last 6 months I have had many a collector ask me about the restoration crowd and apparently it's shrinking down to nothing. If I am not mistaken Ted Green started his business re strawing. Then moved in to rust bluing.

I would have an outside source do the bluing. Yeah? Finding someone to do that would be a first priority cause it gonna be hard to find.


The only way to discover interest is to offer the service. You run out of drums to work on?

[Lugerdoc]

GT, I wish you the best, should you decide to get into the refinishing biz. With your skills, I'm sure that you would do it right. I learn long ago, when I refinished my first shooter grade luger, that I don't have the patience for polishing. LOL, Tom

[sheepherder]

Seriously, Gerry, I think you should get into bluing yourself. Back when I was into the Retro Black Rifle craze, I started Parkerizing. Basically just because I was shortening and turning down barrels, but there were also other parts that needed it (making XM605 buttplates from scratch, fr'instance).

It wasn't that difficult. I don't expect bluing to be much different.

[DonVoigt]

Good idea- but maybe After you finish all the drum reworking?

Personally I'm happy with a shooter that is not refinished, maybe even prefer one that way; but-
many folks do like their pistol to look "nice" and pretty.

Getting the surface prep correct for "just" a dip hot blue will be near impossible, you really have to do more than an acid dip to get a reasonably even hot blue finish- I know from experience as I blued a lot of firearms in the 1970s. I did it for extra money and I needed $$ then- but now you could not pay me enough money to go into "bluing" of any type!!! JMHO.

[jeb111]

I definitely think that there is a market for what you’re considering because there are lots of collectors or just plain gun owners that have beat up looking shooters that just want to freshen up the look of their pistol not needing a high end restoration. If you put the word out and with your reputation I think you will have more work you can handle.
Good luck
Jim

[4 Scale]

The late Charles Danner would if asked 'improve' shooters (his words), by doing whatever was within his skill set to make them look better. I sent him a '38 P08 shooter with significant marring; he said he did not really have the capability to restore it but he could improve it and give it a new rust blue finish. His work was excellent, the pistol is just lovely although some of the marring remained. His standards were quite high, he seemed to see himself more as a rust-bluing specialist than a metal-restoration person.

Especially now that Charles has left us, I would think there would be some market for such a service.

[G.T.]

Thanks to all on the feedback to my question on, "freshening up" Luger shooters!
As for the actual bluing itself, I am hesitant to get too far into it as you very soon come under the scrutiny of the EPA, and I have already had some past dust ups with them when I managed a Mobil gas service station? And, long story short, all of us together haven't the resources to battle them guys, especially if you're going to be an example to others. But, I have been in touch with a vendor on the west coast that does and excellent job for a very reasonable fee. Especially when I send him pre-prepped parts... Again, the straw, I can do myself, the fire blue I can do as well... Welding is always trouble, but I have some very good sources for that as well, both TIG and Micro....
Last but not least... time? Jerry and Don are correct, the drum magazines keep my schedule full... even at night... I am thinking about taking on one shooter and just see what is involved logistically and final expense?... best to all, and thanks again for the feedback, til.....lat'r.....GT

[ithacaartist]

If anyone is in need of salt bluing, I'll give Gunblack of Interlaken NY a plug. The founder used to rust blue all of Ithacagun's stuff. They don't do much--if any--rust bluing these days, but his son, Steve, now runs the show, and he is knowledgeable and skilled. He really knows his chemistry, and can successfully refinish the post-'64 Winchester guns that gave everybody so much trouble, with a two-step process that results in a finish that won't flake off the receiver. Consider asking them for a price list or quote. You can get stuff done at "gunsmith" rate if you're able to prep the parts beforehand.

I've used them for my reproduction Erma front toggle links and various odd projects like slides and small parts for small frame Llamas. My 1907 Savage .32 will be making a visit there pretty soon. The front of the slide had been cut off by a previous owner--not even a square cut-- and replaced with a washer that was soft-soldered on, so we gave it a new nose, and a dovetailed fiber optic front sight in lieu of an original style. The gun arrived with no finish, but the bare metal is without damage, so a good candidate for a lick and a promise of prep for the parts.

As for a need for rust bluing, I have a couple of candidates. G.T., do you remember installing the 6" barrel on my '06 AE? I believe it was one of your first. It still needs the raw barrel caught up with the rest of the gun, and the frame could also do with some work after I get a couple of its discrepancies addressed by micro or TIG welding. Then there's the stock lug restoration for my Artillery...and another '06 AE's grip safety lever that needs someone's bad repair re-done, and maybe a small tapped hole at the lower end of the back-strap filled and the finish reapplied in that area.

[G.T.]

Hi David, yes, my early efforts were pretty much all in the white?...
I'm going to see what i can and can't do when my blue guy is ready to take orders?... More soon, best to you David, til.....lat'r....GT