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Should I reblue my damaged new Trails End .45LC?

2K views 5 replies 5 participants last post by  ironhead7544 
#1 ·
My 3-year old Model 94 Trails End .45LC fell over against an AK-47 in my overcrowded gun safe and received some minor scratches on the receiver (bare metal showing). :( Don't worry... the AK wasn't harmed :D.

Anyway... being excessive compulsive, I immediately went out and purchased another gun safe, but I'm am now consumed with guilt. Should I bother having the 94 sent somewhere for a professional rebluing to restore its value? If so, where is a good place to do this to the same standards of the factory finish. Maybe after I see the price tag for such a repair, I might loose some of my OCD and just live with it. But I would like to know my options first.
 
#2 ·
You could try to touch it up with one of the cold blues, but I have doubts that it would work. The last info that I have is that since 1964 Winchester has used something called "graphitic steel" for the receivers and they blue by literally plating iron onto the surface, then blueing. When this surface gets damaged or worn most blues won't take properly. Brownells has a hot blueing compound that supposedly will work on this type of steel but I have no personal experience. Good luck. Goatwhiskers the Elder
 
#3 ·
I had tried applying a little Birch's cold blue but it is definitely a different color, and you can still see that the scratches are actual slight grooves in the steel. I was hoping to have someone grind/polish the scratches in the the receiver to match the original "grain" again, and then reblue the whole receiver to match the barrel (assuming the barrel is removed first). But if Winchester used the process you descibed of adding an electroplated layer of different iron, I doubt there's any body that can replicate that . So, I may just have to learn to live with its imperfections and flaws now. :(
 
#5 ·
I believe the iron plating process went away quite a few years ago....maybe late 80s.....At least from the ones that i have restored. I would probably not go to the effort of disassembly and refinishing as the cost is fairly high. To protect from rusting, try and apply some black hobby paint using a toothpick as your brush. You'd be surprised how good the outcome is. BTW, the iron plated receivers can be redone by black oxide finishing, but the glossy look is not quite the same as original. FWIW.........
 
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