Todays Bluing

[Waltercat]

Probably an age old question but why don't gun makers do the deep bluing that look sooo nice?
I'd be willing to pay a bit more. I have a CZ457 arriving today and the only thing I'm a bit concerned about is the bluing.
Of course I should have done my home work but here I am.

 

[retrieverman]

My pre64 Winchester 70‘s and 1985 Ruger 77 have better blueing than any gun I’ve seen produced lately with the exception of high end European rifles.

 

[sklfco]

I would think it’s is a side effect of the bean counters work to “reduce production costs”.
It is difficult to find skilled folks to work for cheap.

 

[Hangfire]

Probably an age old question but why don't gun makers do the deep bluing that look sooo nice?

It's all about metal prep, extra steps and more labor time.....how the bare metal parts look prior to going in the tanks is pretty much how they're going look after they come out of the tanks.

I've worked part time for two gunsmiths that did hot bluing and to get a matte finish just requires sandblasting prior to going in the tanks.

A finish that looks like most off the rack guns nowadays just requires extra fine wire wheeling everything and maybe some wheel buffing before going in the tanks.

To get a bit better richer looking blue requires wheel buffing all the parts.

Then if you want a glossy, deep, rich looking blue that you see your reflection and almost shave in like on an old school Python it requires buffing and then hand polishing each part with wet extra super fine emery cloth wrapped around various sizes of small wooden blocks to fit all the nooks and crannies and for that type of finish the bare gun metal has to be almost mirror like prior to going in the tanks and takes several hours to accomplish.

 

[OK Corgi Rancher]

People balk at paying the prices of guns as it is. If people had to pay for the amount of labor involved in getting the quality of bluing from the glory days of Colt and S&W, they'd really b**ch about the prices.

 

[mr ed]

Most people use Black oxide cause it's cheap and easy. People don't want to pay for true bluing. It's very labor intensive. Compared to dunking in a tank 30 minutes and moving on.

 

[red dirt shootist]

I'm also a sucker for a nice blue. I just bought a springfield Garrison on GB, had never seen one in person, but took a chance. It was way beyond my expectations. beautiful blue, nicely polished, laser engraved instead of roll marks. And tight. The Garrison is not an expensive pistol, has some mim parts, but it's not a pistol that has to be 100% reliable for me. So if Springfield can do it, and make money, it's not over.