1.) bluecat - 03/20/2014

Just curious. Do you need to strip a firearm down to bare metal when you reblue it?

I see guns with a little bluing wear and wonder if you could reblue those areas without stripping everything.

Is it a shading issue, i.e. you would need to match the existing blueing exactly or it would not blend, or is it a chemical issue
of the bluing not adhearing to gun metal surface?

2.) OKY - 03/21/2014

You can do a decent job on small areas without stripping the entire gun but I have found it's very difficult to blend larger areas, especially if it's a higher end gun. Cold bluing just doesn't seem to have the same depth and color as hot salts. Cold bluing just doesn't seem to be as deep and rich.

3.) Deerminator - 03/21/2014

If it's not a big area there are blueing pens out there. Kinda like a paint pen but with blueing.