gunrunner32

I used to be set up for hot salt bluing, but with how caustic it was to all my other equipment it started costing me money to run. Prep is entirely too labor intensive,  much like this was, in the controls of the 1911, slide and barrel there was 10 hours if not more to polish them. Also, there are other finish options that are easier and cheaper for both the end user and the applicator/gunsmith. I agree bluing is a lost art and unfortunately I blame my generation for a lot of the skilled labor jobs in this country being lost. The general knowledge of "kids" (18-30) for things like plumbing, electrical, welding, masonry and carpentry (let alone the "artistic" aspect of any of those fields) is drastically lacking in comparison to our fathers generation. Technology has ruined us....as I sit here and type on a computer...haha.

A lgs has a box of the .357 max on their wall of old calibers with about 20 rounds in it, they look crazy. I couldn't imagine finding that ammo anywhere now.

I wonder if anyone else out there has done any Nitre bluing. I've been messing with it to get the temperatures figured out. So far it's been a neat process. I search the Internet and see a bunch of old colts and 1911s with parts done. So who else has guns Nitre blued? Here are a few of my "projects", one is a CZ SP01 with the controls (ones that were steel, aluminum doesn't seem to react very well with the heat). Then I wanted to see about larger objects so I did the slide of a Colt Series 70 1911 and barrel. I get the blues around 590-625 degrees and the gold was done around 500 degrees. A lead smelting pot and the Nitre salts from brownells seem to be good for small parts, I had a friend make me a stainless box to get the slide done. I'll get pics up once my iPad figures out the site.

I went with a Savage Mark II FV-SR and put a Rifle Basix trigger, a Boyds stock, aftermarket bottom metal and a Nikon P-22 3-9x. I put a Huntertown Arms Guardian on it and it shoots Gemtech subs very accurately. You can't go wrong with a good bolt gun.   For pistols I go with either a Ruger 22/45 Lite or a Colt/Umarex 1911-22. Both are a blast to shoot. I had to buy another 1911-22 because dad took the first one I had.

I can agree, this isn't my thing either. I would have never done it had a guy my dad works with not desired to have one. I had mentioned it to dad in passing conversation, next thing I know I'm getting texts from a random number. I just figured I'd share since it's a bit out of the ordinary.

Ever seen The Jack lower from Spikes and wonder what a lower jaw may look like on it? I did, here was the final product. This was carved using a dremel and several engraving bits to get through the material. It was added to a 20 round Pmag. I also did a build up to fill in the gap left by the magazine release. If I decide to do another ill have to look at other products that would give a smoother look. What's your thoughts on it?

I'll have to agree. I had a trailer in Iraq that looked very similar to this. I got to digging around it one day and found 2 SA7s and a box of anti personnel mines.

I made one of these burnt bronze for a guy a while back. It wanna neat design and I appreciated the non-reciprocating charging handle. Not sure if they are any better than a standard upper but it was fun to run a few test fire rounds through. The piston design is far superior over the 2 Adams arms pistons I've broken.

This is a YHM direct thread stainless Phantom .30 cal on a Marlin 336 30-30. The other firearms the suppressor will get attached to is an AR and a Handi-Rifle, both in 300BO. This one is a Huntertown Arms Guardian .22 cal on a Savage Mark II FV-SR. Other firearms the suppressor will get mounted to is 2x 1911-22 Colts and a Ruger 10/22. Both are a blast to shoot, I've been stocking up on .22lr subs and reloading sub 300BO ever since I got them.

Well I had 4 months in TN this year before work sent me off again. In that my wife had my old house sold and a new one bought within a week of me getting home from my previous trip. With the new house came the new projects. First one up is a fire pit. I wasn't happy the new house was in the middle of a neighborhood, but I'm not home enough to make it a big deal. So I did something to make it a little more of what I wanted. It's 14' across with 14" garden border stones around the outside, the fire pit itself is 42" outer and has a 30" steel ring inside. It's got crushed slate for the base of the sitting area. My wife will be looking for some adirondack chairs for us and next year I'll be hitting up a lumber mill to get some rough cut stock to make benches out of. Next my wife put me on a few projects she wanted...butcher block. It was cheaper to make it than buy it and I could make it how I wanted. I made one that bolted to the wall in the kitchen in an open space my wife was unsure what to do with. So we threw some bar stools under it and now there's a spot to pile crap on and the kids to eat breakfast at. She saw an idea on Pintrest, (horrible place never let your wife know about it if she doesn't already, you'll never run out of projects) so I started on another to sit on the washer and dryer for more crap to get piled on and as she puts it "a place to fold clothes". I never saw that before I left. Again it was easier to make it than buy it so I could leave some space to access the water since I didn't get the chance to move the dryer vent line before I left, a project for next year. So I had a bunch of scrap left over and decided to make a reloading bench. I pulled out the acetylene torch and began to give it some character. My 6 year old daughter got curious so I let her try her hand at torching and after putting out a few fires she got the hang of keeping the flame moving. I threw some 4x4s under it with some support boards and the bench came to life. Now all I need to do is get some reloading equipment, it's hard when all that I do have is a co-use in my shop. So for now it's just a place for crap to get piled on in my gun room. Now what you all are really hoping for...some gun porn... A friend of mine was looking for the atacs and kryptek pattern for a couple of his Glocks (34 & 17). So here was what I came up with. There are 6 colors in total for each pattern and it wasn't based off anything either company makes. I like picking my own colors, artistic freedom is great when still working out the bugs in a new idea. Now prepare to have your mind blown...or hang your head in disgust...either way. You guessed it, it's a Marlin 336 30-30 pre-safety with a red dot on top, WWG large loop lever, XS long scope rail and RamLine stock set. It's been finished in a green kryptek inspired pattern on the stock set and an OD green on the metal. It's also had the mag tube and barrel shortened by 3.5", crowned and threaded 5/8x24. I strapped on my YHM stainless phantom (direct thread) and now factory loads are taken to ear safe firing. Before I left I had steel at 150m and was ringing it all day. I'll be working on some sub loads next year. This thing is already a blast to shoot even with factory loads. Why??? You may be asking? My reply: Why not? I've got 3 pre-safety's and one is getting turned into a 10.5" SBR. As a few friends and family have put it with my firearms, I'm all about the project and I've got a few months to think up the next one. I'm thinking a Henry Mare's Leg in .22lr would be fun with a suppressor.

Looks good to me for a rattle can job. If you want to save yourself some time on your next project let me know. I do all my Camo patterns with the help of a vinyl cutter. Saves a lot of time being behind an exacto knife, I started off the same way.

Haha. Yea but what I'm looking to do isn't nearly as bad as what Mossberg did to theirs. My other 2 lever actions are pretty standard, Rossi ranch hand in .45LC, Rossi M92 .454 Casull with 16" ported barrel. This 30-30 is just something different to throw a suppressor on.

I bought it with a Williams peep on it and removed it for the rail to go on. I'd love to get the RamLine plastic furniture since the existing stock has a crack in it. I've got a Nikon P-223 on my 300BO Handi Rifle and a P-22 on my Savage MKII, both with the BDC reticles. I like them both pretty well, the Bushnell Elite HD on my 300BO AR has clearer glass though, but it's also pretty bulky in comparison to the Nikons. I do like how low the scope is on your former lever actions Craig. The search still goes on...I'll wait and see what midsouthshootingssupply has for sale in the next few weeks.

I've been staring at my Marlin 336 for a while now wondering what to put on top of the XS rail. I've upgraded to a Wild West Guns big loop lever and put the XS long rail mount on it. Next in line will be to trim the barrel down to 16.5" and thread it (need more things to put a 30cal can on). While I'm waiting for the lathe at the shop to get freed up for personal projects, I'm in need of a scope/optic for this nice lever action. I don't forsee this being something I shoot past 100 yards with since subsonic 30-30 is about as long range as throwing a rock.   I put on an EOTech I had sitting around and it looked too goofy, couldn't take the rifle seriously anymore. Next I tried a Bushnell TRS-25 (Micro red dot), it looked good but I don't have any extras of those and pulled it from my 300BO to check out. I'm still leaning towards something with a bit of magnification though and I love mil-dots.    So my question is this; What are you running on your 30-30 lever action, why did you go with that and what reticle does it have?

Raasco does good work, I've got a set of diamond wood grips on my 1911.

Well for a tutorial, I didn't take any during pictures. For the pattern itself, it was created by using a couple images I found on the internet. The "veining" was found by searching for an irregular pattern, I can't find the original image again, but there are several that would work. Next for the splotches I dumbed down the ATACS pattern to 5 colors in a program called VectorMagic. I measured the parts for the veining to be coated and cut the vinyl to wrap the pieces. The splotches were just cut out of full sheets of vinyl to make sure I had enough pattern for coverage.   With the vinyl cut, I did a base of Magpul FDE faded with Desert Sand, then overlayed the veining with transfer tape as well as taping off the rails to keep them a single layer fade.. Next layer was Patriot Brown faded with Coyote Tan, I wanted a good contrast between the colors of each layer. I then flashed the cerakote, pulled all the veining and layed the slotchy pattern. I took OD Green, Forest Green and Desert Verde and faded them together. All this work is done with a HVLP spray gun.   From start to finish it took 2 hours for disassembly and prep work, 14 hours of spraying, vinyl laying/removal, baking and another 20 minutes to reassemble. All prep work was done on a Saturday, spraying was done all in 1 day (Sunday) and reassembly happened after work on a Monday. Sunday was a very long, cold and tiring day.   Now I'm taking on the fun task of load development, with a shortage of powders and primers out there, this probably won't be shooting good for another month or so.         -- BrokeEnthusiast-- This rifle used to have a Nikon P223 on it, the Magpul BUIS worked just fine under it, I went to the Bushnell since I was getting a good deal on it. The Bushnell TRS-25 is on a Daniel Defense offset rail. **For the Nikon scope that used to be on this rifle I had it in the Burris PEPR mount, now it sits on my 300BLK Handi Rifle in a set of Burris high mounts.

This is correct, although I have a Thunderbeast P30-1 direct thread suppressor on order. I'll hopefully get the paperwork in the next couple weeks. Decided to go direct thread because I can have most of my rifles threaded for a 5/8x24, if not I'll swap the barrel for one I can, that and AAC loves their stuff so much they price it so only the crazys will buy one of their products...like me.

All my other sunshades are for 40mm scopes...if I get another 44mm one I'll screw it into this one.   The scope will be changing color after I get some coyote hunting in. I'd like something other than my 300BLK Handi Rifle...that and it's boring old black.

I've been putting this AR together over the last few months...well before the Obama scare so I payed retail or below for everything, just been lazy about assembling it in it's current configuration. Some may have seen it when it was for sale with an LMT upper and lower, it's changed a bit since then. Here is what's in/on it: Sun Devil Lower DPMS parts kit MOE Riflestock Magpul trigger guard Rifle buffer Noveske VLTOR MUR-1A upper BCM medium charging handle WMD Nickel Boron BCG Troy 15" alpha rail CMMG 16" barrel AAC Brake Out Magpul AFG Magpul flip-up sights Magpul MOE+ grip Daniel Defense off-set rail Bushnell TRS-25 Burris PEPR QD rings Bushnell Legend Ultra-HD 4.5-14x44 scope I went a little nuts with my vinyl cutter and cerakote. I did an "irregular grid" pattern with some ATACS inspired blobs to achieve this mess. Let me know what you think, enjoy.

Here is the completed rifle from the camo one above. This one was a time consuming one, but I enjoyed doing this project especially with these results. Let me know what you think.

I think one big thing about pictures is where they are taken. I commented on another thread, and the best pictures are taken outside on sunny days. Most of the pictures you see above were taken inside under fluorescent lighting or in my living room with incandescent lights through a frosted cover. I know you weren't taking anything away from things being painted. There is a big difference between rattle can and Cerakote though. Some of the chemicals used in plating will outright kill you, if you ingest it. Next time I get a metallic gun ill be sure to take some pictures in better light so it'll show up better. Best way to tell metal type would be by weight or the materials should be listed on the manufacturers website.

I carried one in Afghanistan my last trip, I wasn't sure about it at first, but wanted something in .308 so it had some a$$ behind it at distance. I found it to be a lot easier to shoot standing out to 700m than my M24 (Remington 700) or my Barrett M107. Going to a prone situation I'd take the other 2 in a heartbeat, not that it's bad but have you ever tried to shoot a Barrett standing? If I could stomach the cost I'd get one, but it comes with more sticker shock than my wife will allow.

Looks good to me, good fades with a rattle can. As for pictures, I'm bad about doing them inside since its easier, but sunlight really helps the picture. I take a lot with my iPhone and most are inside, but the ones taken outside with my iPhone always turn out better and show off the true colors more.

Lester, I agree it does say paint, but as far as durability goes, it's right up there. If it wasn't, there wouldn't be numerous companies using it on their production models. One thing for comparison of "rounding" soft edges is the thickness of the material being applied. Powder coating goes on between .002-.005", Cerakote (when done right) is .001" and your electroless plating and anodizing is around .0005". While plating and anodizing are durable, they are extremely thin by comparison making the edges a more defined. The biggest thing about mixing metallic and non metallic colors is that it takes away from the metallic flake and some of the shadowing effects it gives, I probably could have achieved the same effect by mixing aluminum (bright silver metallic) and stainless (darker grey metallic), and this would have kept those shadowing properties of the metallic finishes. Also pictures can do a lot to play tricks on he mind, the "bronze" finished 1911 looks like a dirty gold in the picture, but in daylight in your hands it looks very close to a bronze and in certain angles it still has a hint of the effects of the shimmer gold. The 2 colors I used for it were shimmer gold and burnt bronze. Tus shimmer gold looks like those chameleon paints, it's gold in some angles but also looks kind of silver in others. The burnt bronze reminds me of something if get if I mixed FDE with Patriot Brown and threw in some orange and metallic flake. The metallic colors do a good job of giving that shadow on the edges. For someone to come back in to define the edges with an airbrush would not only cost more, but I don't think at certain angles would look right and would scream faux finish more so than just the base finish coat. As for durability of electroless nickel, I'm not sure. There have been guys that did it to 1911s and have had great results for a while now. My stuff has only been out there for a couple of months, but is still holding up fine. Electroless nickel is there for guys needing a DIY project. A small kit is around 150$ or so for electroless, where an electroplating kit of the same size is more than double that. A good anodizing set up can run a couple thousand. With the nickel and chrome plating you either need to be a chemist or really good at math and keeping time, because it involved a few smelly and sometimes hazardous chemicals and a lot of math to maintain ratios.

[quote name="Lester Weevils" post="857235" timestamp="1355070540"]Gunrunner32, those are handsome. Takes skill to make such fine finishes, and an artistic eye as well. Has anyone ever asked you to try to duplicate the surface appearance of Beretta Inox? I know nothing of paint. Dunno if a fella could "nail" inox with just paint. Maybe. I read one time that a few inox 92fs sneaked out of the factory with painted frames, which looked like any other inox til the finish started wrinkling. Maybe my inox 92's have some kind of paint but it sure looks anodized as best I can tell. Or would an inox color be closer approximated on steel by a "frosted" bead blasting covered by some kind of semi-gloss tough clear coat? Just curious. Inox Cheetahs are rare as hens teeth. In fact, maybe the few shiny ones were nickel rather than inox. But inox is so purty, if'n was eventually able to find a decent price on one of the older single-stack non-decock blue cheetahs, hadn't thought about it til right now, but maybe it could be "turned into" inox with some kind of paint or surface treatment?[/quote] The only thing I could think of after finally looking up an inox would be something that I've done for some friends who wanted their Sig SRT kits to match he original finish of their Equinox's, I did a bead blast with electroless nickel plate with a light bead blast again after a soak. It gave them a "frosted" nickel look, also just a blasted surface with electroless over top is kind of like what's on the inox. I got the kit from Caswell and was too easy to use.