Best protection from rust?

[hotfxr]

Hotfxr,, no sir this is a real deal,, I do not like the idea of  deliberately causing a barrel to form rust(browning) it just don't compute in my lil brain

Have you considered bluing? Most of the Spanish and Italian guns are blued. Three quarters of mine are blued. And since I re-blued all of them, I can tell you it is as easy as browning. And you can get a nice high polish with bluing (PM me I will walk you through it) and not have to worry about rusting out so quick. I don't know a lot in this life but I do know beyond a shadow of a doubt that unless you chrome, paint, or powder coat the bare barrel of any muzzleloader, the steel of that barrel will start rusting right after your first shot. Ah, what am I saying, you know that as well as anyone. That is the extent of my brain power on this one and I gave you all the things I could come up with to make it work, so like I said before, when you decide what you are going to do, do it and take pictures of it so we can ooh and aah and of course, nit pick and criticize. All things we do well. Good luck brother.

[Hanshi]

I once had a very nice early Va rifle that I specified an uncolored barrel.  It was not "bright" but looked like old steel, a very faint "gray".  It still acquired a patina and dots of surface rust were (not many, however) accumulated over the years.  I loved this finish.  It was not shiny at all but simply bare metal color.  I don't mind guns that acquire evidence of FW&T.  None of mine was abused and I don't abuse or like signs of abuse.  The rifle's finish looked natural; it could have been built 250 years ago.

[mtnmike]

Well as you can see in my avatar,I don't shave,so I didn't need a mirror finish either,,but that browning just ain't right

[De_LaLonde]

I recently got some barricade for a blued series 70 Colt I carry. I've been really impressed with it so I'm using it on my GPR now.  It penetrates and it doesn't make the blued surface look like its oily and shiny. 

[mtnmike]

River,,Yep, after several suggestions,I ordered the Barricade,just waiting for it to arrive

[Hanshi]

  Barricade is wonderful stuff and you won't regret using it. 

[Muley]

I don't think he wants a shiny finish as much as an old natural finish. I shot CAS for decades, and I wanted my guns to look like the originals. Cimarron sold guns with what they called the original finish. I liked it, and used it on all my guns. I'm thinking of doing it to my Pedersoli Frontier model gun.

Here's some pictures of the different finishes. The original finish at the bottom is the least shiny, but more bright than browning.

http://www.cimarron-firearms.com/percussion-revolvers-2/custom-finishes-hand-guns.html

[Papa]

I recently finished a fowler and put almost that same finish on the barrel and lock. It's easy to do, looks good and is easy too maintain. Can send pics if you want to see it.
Mark

[mtnmike]

Muley,,Thanks ,,Papa pictures would be nice & appreciated

[beowulf]

that browning although a form of rust is a controlled rust !  oiled and cared for properly it prevents further rusting . the same can be said about letting the barrel develop a patina over the years !  I think the latter looks better , and having owned several blued rifles , pistols and other odds and ends , I tend to think of blued as a more modern look !  lol yeah I know ! bluing goes back several hundred years , it`s just personal tastes ! go with what you like !

[Dogshirt]

A finish similar to that can be achieved with Naval Jelly. Turns out kind of flat grey. Experiment on scraps to get the timing right.

[Muley]

Now that we know the look some of us like. We need a detailed step by step method on how to achieve it.

I want to do my barrel, but I don't want to try without knowing what i'm doing. The Pedersoli came with what looks like black primer on the barrel, and is about as durable too. It has to go.

[Muley]

Nobody??

[hotfxr]

Nobody??

There is a thread in here somewhere that either explains how to do it, or leads to a link that explains how to do it. I used it to "grey" the barrel of my pirate pistol flintlock a year or so ago. Of course since then I polished it, bead blasted it, then browned it because I never liked the way it turned out and the browning protects it better against rust.IMHO

Here is a link to one of the conversations. http://traditionalmuzzleloadingcheap.com/forum/index.php?topic=7274.msg55709;topicseen#msg55709

[doggoner]

Muley

Go to www.laurelmountainforge.com/instructions.htm and click on the barrel browning instructions. Everything you never wanted to know about the process and more.

doggoner