Queen Ann pistol kit

[Captainkirk]

Hi, the Queen Ann barrel was nitre blued at 600 Deg F on my kitchen stovetop. The bluing came out real nice and will darken some more in 24 hours after putting on Ballistol to cure the bluing.

Regards,
Richard

Looks terrific! Nitre bluing is the cream of the crop IMHO.

[mazo kid]

Richard, regarding the nitre salts....do they "melt" to a liquid when heated? Solidify when cooled? Maybe next time Brownells has a sale with free shipping I will get some salts just to try out.  Or some stump remover salts to try.

[Miguel Loco]

Hi Mick, niter bluing is an easy process to learn. You need a Lee lead pot for small parts and niter salts. If you find the Brownell's salts too expensive you can use stump remover:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004GVYXKC/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

You will also need a lead thermometer:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001TQ8Y6Q/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I found that 600 Deg F works best. When I first started doing nitre bluing I wore safety glasses, hat, gloves, and face shield. Now experienced I only use a hat and safety glasses. You need to keep water far away from the hot salts. I degrease with acetone and let dry thoroughly before bluing. Iron wire is used to support the parts. A little ball of steelwool held by a needlenose pliers is used to cart the parts. Don't nitre blue springs or other hardened parts like the frizzen since it tempers the part. You can also harden steel parts by dunking the part in water after removing from the salt bath. This is a good video showing the process:



Regards,
Richard

Thanks Richard!!! Great info there. I have a friend that is sending his screws out to get it done by Turnbull and they are charging him a fortune. He has most of his guns nickel plated and his prep work is flawless. I may have get it set up so I can try it, just to help him out. ....now if I could just figure out an easy way to get a good color case hardening.

[ssb73q]

Hi Emery, the salts begin to melt at ~350 Deg F and are fully melted at ~400 Deg F. The melted mass then solidify when cooled down. Since I use dedicated containers, I just cover the container with Saran wrap held down with rubber bands. That keeps the salts clean and minimizes moisture absorption of the salts. Any water in the salts is dangerous when the container with salts is reheated. Any water in the salts can cause hot salt splatter when reheated. Nitre bluing salts left in closed containers can last years.

I have all the chemicals, hot plate and iron tanks for doing hot bluing, but a hot lye solution has safety issue that I have been reluctant to entertain. Maybe my next bluing job will be a real hot blue.

Regards,
Richard

[mazo kid]

Hot bluing not only scares me, but the set-up is pretty expensive. Also, how do you dispose of the used ingredients? I have done slow blue, cold blue and fire blue for small parts.

[ssb73q]

Hi, the Queen Ann stock has been sanded and now comes the finishing. A first coat of boiled linseed oil was sanded in with #220 grit sandpaper. I'm not sure whether to continue with linseed oil or go to Tru-Oil to finish this pistol stock. While the linseed oil is drying the brass parts will be polished. This kit is moving ahead much faster than expected.

Regards,
Richard

[Len]

It's nice that the fibers seem to follow the curve of the stock

[ssb73q]

Hi, the Queen Ann brass has been polished.

That end cap kind of looks like me. 

Regards,
Richard

[Len]

Looks more like those horse shoe Chines bats that started this ordeal

[ssb73q]

Hi, the Pedersoli Queen Anne kit stock now has five coats of boiled linseed oil. Have at least another five coats to go.

Regards,
Richard

[mazo kid]

Good thing about BLO is that if it is scratched, you can just sand it a bit and put another coat on.

[ssb73q]

Hi, the Pedersoli Queen Anne kit has been completed. There are only eight coats of boiled linseed oil on the stock. Even after a couple of days drying, the stock surface still felt slightly tacky so I stopped doing new boiled linseed oil coats. The finished stock has been given a coat of paste wax that minimizes the tacky feeling of the stock. All the work on the lock paid off, the trigger pull is light and this lock is my best sparker by far. 

I expect in time that the linseed oil will finally dry out, even under the paste wax. I had a similar issue with the Brown Bess linseed oil finish. Even under paste wax the Brown Bess linseed oil eventually dried completely.

I  think that this kit came out fairly well.

Regards,
Richard

[ShotgunDave]

"fairly well"

You're too modest Richard. That is a beautiful gun, by any standard.

Fantastic job as always.

[mazo kid]

Yep, I don't know why you put off building kits!

[AntiqueSledMan]

Richard,

For a guy who doesn't like kits, all I can say is "wow".

AntiqueSledMan.