Birchwood and Casey Aluma Black Review/Overview [230Grain.com Repost]

Yet another blatantly ripped off posted from 230Grain.com

While milling through my favorite sporting goods store’s shooting section I found a cute blue bottle from Birchwood and Casey. The contents of the bottle was called “Aluminum Black” and judging by the “Poison” and “Selenium Dioxide” warnings on the bottle; this was not some strange unrefrigerated energy supplement. According to the description on the bottle, “the room temperature chemical used by gunsmiths and industry to blacken aluminum parts,” and with some quick thinking on my part, would be perfect for fixing up the blemishes on my Sig P6/225′s aluminum frame.

Before doing any work on any firearm be sure to make sure that it is unloaded and clear before beginning any disassemble or work on it. If you shoot your face off because you didn’t clear your firearm, you have nobody to blame but yourself. Honestly. If you haven’t made a habit out of insuring that your guns are clear before doing ANY work to them then you shouldn’t be handling firearms, operating a motor vehicle, or doing anything even remotely dangerous.

From start to finish the entire process takes about 10 minutes to complete and has the same basic procedure as Birchwood and Casey’s “Super Blue” cold bluing. I highly suggest moving outdoors or into a large work area like a garage as the chemicals you will be using are toxic and Id prefer you stayed among the living. Lay out some newspaper on your work area and get your supplies ready for use.

Supplies:
Painters Tape
Birchwood and Casey's Aluminum Black
Cotton Swabs/Q-Tips
Laytex/Nitrile Gloves
0000 Steel Wool
Unfragranced  Acetone/degreaser
Access to cold running water
Paper Towels/Rags

Check your firearm to be sure it is clear and then proceed field strip your firearm. Take a piece of your 0000 steel wool and buff the areas you would like to blacken so we can remove any oxides that may have built up in the area. Once you’ve given the area a light buffing occlude the surrounding surfaces you dont want effected by the blackening agent as it may damage existing any existing finishes. Don your gloves prepare a cotton swab with your degreasing agent (Acetone) and proceed to clean the areas you just prepared with the steel wool to remove any residual oil that may be on your weapon.

Finally, a use for Q-Tips that doesn’t fill my otologist with rage.

After waiting until the degreaser has evaporated prepare a fresh cotton swab with the Aluminum Black and apply it to the bare aluminum. Allow the solution to set for 1 minute and proceed to rinse with cold water until all of the Aluminum Black compound has been cleaned off of the metal and dry your weapon. Buff the areas that have you just treated, remove the tape, and reassemble your weapon.

The finish takes about 24 hours to fully set to the aluminum so if it looks like trash you can always buff the finish off using steel wool and try again.

If I only would have been smart enough to grab my macro lens, you would be able to see this stuff bubbling.It might not be as pretty as when it came out of the factory but it sure beats the heck out of how it looked before.

The overall quality of the finished product is better than the standard “Sharpie” or “Nail Polish” treatment but it still isn’t going to make your gun look absolutely perfect again. The finish also seems to be somewhat less durable than the original annodizing so you may find yourself repeating this process in areas with a large amount of wear like the front of your dust cover.