How to tell if something is re-blued
How can you tell if a gun has been re-blued?
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I look at the sharp edges and the screw holes plus the markings. It is very easy to change a contour, drag out a screw hole or lose part of the marking such as the spear in the rampant colt's mouth when buffing to remove remaining blue, pits, scratches etc.
Tight areas such as inside trigger guard or next to the recoil lug usually receive little attention from bubba.
Having several examples of the same make, model and age helps. Hot salt blue color is dependent on the metal, the salt formula plus the conditions for applications.0 -
For old Winchesters, it is the color of the bluing that I can spot from halfway across the gunshow floor. There are many other more subtle hints as well, such as parts that were original case color hardened that have been incorrectly blued, or muzzle faces that were originally left in the "white" but are now blued. The list of stuff I look for is extensive. 0 -
Screw holes, stampings/lettering, edges that should be sharp are now rounded. I look at a lot of stuff, bolt face, small parts, small pits(from rust) that have been blued over, bolt faces, general polish job of whichever gun is in question. The age of the gun comes into play, if that gun is 75 years old, but looks like it was blued yesterday, that could be a warning sign also. 0 -
Another tell, tell sign is the pitting under the like new bluing.
I was at a gun auction in march & was looking a Remington 11 over for my dad. I saw how good the finish looked on this old gun, flag right there, and when I picked it up and looked close the bluing had pits under it.
The person who reblued it didn't bother getting all the rust pits off.0 -
Sometimes You can smell if its new bluing . 0 -
First you need to study what type of bluing was used by the factory duing the time frame that the serial number of the item you are looking at say for intance a Colt 1911 had at least 4 kinds of bluing German lugers had 2 different kinds. , With that said Doug Turnbull has made a name for himself. RESTORING guns he does a great job but his work does not come cheap sometimes $1000.00 or more. . Most collectors would rather have a Original even with very little finish then one that looks new but has a poor to good refinish 0
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