Recently I went through the process of browning a barrel for my Kibler Colonial rifle and I also blued a barrel for my Dimick rifle. There were similarities between the process and I thought I would review the processes while they were both fresh in my mind.

For both browning or bluing you start by browning. I used Laurel Mountain Barrel Browning and Degreaser and was very pleased with the results. The Dimick rifle was the first barrel that I started on with the help of my mentor.

Step 1 – Plugging the ends of the barrel to prevent any liquids from getting inside the barrel.

Step 2 – Wiping down the barrel with alcohol to remove any oil from fingerprints or other sources. The Laurel Mountain product says that you don’t have to do this, but it definitely can’t hurt.

Step 3 – Apply the Laurel Mountain Browning in long smooth strokes over the entire surface of the barrel. Be sure not to touch the barrel with bare fingers. Use gloves or use the plugs at the ends of the barrel to handle the barrel while applying.

Step 4 – Hang the barrel in a humid room so that the rust can form. The rust is what results in the brown color. I used the shower area to hang my barrel on the shower curtain rod. I also filled the tub with water to raise the humidity level in the room and kept the door shut. Let it hang for 24 hours.

Step 5 – Rub the entire barrel surface with denim or very lightly with steel wool. I preferred the denim since it’s nearly impossible to rub it too hard.

Step 6 – Repeat steps 3 to 5 but reduce the time to 12 hours between coats. The denim smooths the color out and prevents pitting.

(If bluing, skip step 7, browning)

Step 7 – Browning – I choose to use steel wool on the barrel at the end to get a smooth finish and remove the heavier surface rust. Once the color desired is achieved, you can stop the rusting process by wiping the barrel down with a baking soda and water mixture. Then rinse the barrel with clean water and dry. Use a hair dryer or heat gun to dry the barrel out. Finally add a coat of oil to the barrel and let sit. Motor oil will produce a dark brown color.

Step 7 – Bluing – Once the browning color that you desire is achieved, then its time to start the bluing process. This requires boiling the barrel in distilled water for 20 minutes. My mentor had a barrel tub used just for boiling barrels. (See Video)

Step 8 – After removing the barrel from the boiling water, allow to cool. Once you can touch the barrel, use a soft wire brush wheel over the entire barrel to remove anything off the surface. At this point the barrel should look a nice smooth almost black color. (See Video) Note: The boiling of the barrel in distilled water causes a chemical reaction with the rust causing it to turn dark blue, or almost black.

Step 9 – Apply oil to the barrel and allow to soak in. Over the next couple days continue to apply oil and wipe off excess oil until the black color stops wiping off.

The above process also works on other steel parts, such as the lock. Check out pictures below of my lock browned.

If have included the following pictures and videos of this process: