Corbinshell:

thanks for the very comprehensive reply! I am not doing the bluing myself, only the metal preparation but it will be a hot bluing process.

i am glad you told me of the buffing wheel cuz i definetly had it in mind.

the first person i spoke to told me that the metal should NOT be mirrior bright as the bluing "wouldnt take" i now know that this is bunk.

i stoned the parts with a 180 stone and then 220 paper 280 paper and then some worn 320 i see now that i am about half way to having the correct finish.

with the Christmas break soon upon us, i will have time to do a proper job.

the barrel has a few fairly deep pits on it so i will remove what i can without creating flats and then sand blast them to ensure that the pits are free of rust and debris.
do you use a contoured draw file as i fear that using a file (at least in my mitts)would again leave flats or at least vary from the barrles original profile.

i am thinking that this is a job that requires both experience and boot load of patience.

i am glad that the rifle i am doing isnt expensive in the event that it doesnt come out great but i am shooting for a quality job or it's just a waste of time and effort,,, the stock for the rifle has been re done already by a very compitant local stock maker here and after having seen his work, i want to do a good job on the metal work.

one last question if i may, do you ever use a lathe to assist in the polishing process?

i did a search for the cover photo of your gun but no luck thus far.... i will look some more

Thanks again for the help!

DT