Reblueing my old Stevens 94

[John A.]

As I mentioned in the trigger guard repair thread, I had intentions of stripping off the junky alumahyde spray paint and reblueing my trusty old 16 gauge.

The fastest and easiest way to accomplish that was with a brass wire wheel brush and electric drill. Not only did it make quick work out of removing the paint, but as you can see, it gave the metal a nice smooth, polished look that makes it much easier to apply a good blue job.

I didn't have a lot of Birchwood Casey Perma Blue Paste left over from other work I've done and ran out after the first coat, which didn't give me the deep wet black look I was going for, but luckily I had enough to cover the entire receiver and barrel, which will prevent it from rusting in the meantime waiting for more to come in.

Here is a quick picture of the receiver and barrel before rinsing and oiling it down

After I get another tube of the blue paste, I plan to do probably at least 2 more coats so there won't be any lighter color blue pigments.

Until then, I threw everything back together so I don't lose any parts, and to get a rough idea of how it's going to look when I am done.

 

[LAZY EYED SNIPER]

Nice work John! It's coming along nicely...

 

[OldMan]

Looking good John!
I did a Stevens M94 in 12 gauge a few months ago. It turned out nicely, shoots good but kicks like a mule.

The nice thing about the 94 is it can be opened by either a left or right hand shooter. The lever operates in either direction.

You can put a coat of oil on it until you get some more bluing to finish it with. The oil will give you a better preview of what it will look like when finished.

When you run out of the cleaner/degreaser (if you're using that), switch over to acetone which can be picked up from Wally World. The acetone cleans better and doesn't have to be rinsed like the cleaner/degreaser.

The receiver on my Iver Johnson 16 gauge which isn't blued so I used a cloth buffing wheel with some polishing compound to put a nice finish on it.

 

[John A.]

Thanks for the compliments gentlemen. I have enjoyed redoing this gun. It's been on my mind to do for a while.

Old Man, As far as I know, this shotgun can take either 12, 16, or 20 gauge barrels, provided that you have the correct forend for the shell size.

To be completely honest, I would actually like to pick up a 12 gauge barrel for it if I could find one.

But I know what you mean about this gun kicking. It does pretty good with 16 gauge too.

As for cleaner/degreaser, it wasn't necessary. I took it down to the bare metal. The first picture doesn't do it justice, but the receiver is silver in that picture.