MARK LEE 4 OZ. EXPRESS BLUE #1

I have been using this since 2012. I have rust blued four 1911's over the past five years, and the finish on all of them has held up very well. It is simple and straight forward to use, and the finish is extremely durable. It's very satisfying to me when I see the finished product. The more rusting cycles you do, the better it works.



I'm still using solution from the original bottle I bought five years ago, so the solution has a very good shelf life too.



It amazes me that I can get the results I do working in my kitchen. It's an amazing product that produces amazing results. If I can do it, anyone can!

I have blues 3 shotguns and plan to do 3 more

Great product, I use a 3" pcv pipe with cap to fill with the boiling water and then drop the barrels in, for the receivers I took a short 4" pvc pipe and heated it up in the oven and scwished it into an oval, I sealed the bottom with plastic and duck tape. I card off with steel wool.

use as instructions,distilled water is very impornant,gets a dark blue color

I love this stuff. Depending on the time you put into metal prep, you can achieve different results, and although the recommended grit finish is 400, I have successfully used everything from a high polish to draw filed only.

The solution takes quicker the coarser the finish, and when I quit after draw filing, (cruddy single-shot shotguns, etc.) the process goes much quicker than with a high polish. Every carding sequence actually burnishes the finish a little more, resulting in a good "sheen".

For a high polish finish, it is a little more difficult, and the soft wire wheel can sometimes rub through, but even though it takes more applications, it eventually comes out bright.

After metal prep, I like to keep applying it until it reaches a rich milk chocolate brown color. Heat gun works nicely. At that point, it can be boiled in water.

If there are lighter areas that need more, the entire part needs another application, otherwise it may become lighter in the boiling water, or even begin to rust.

As a final procedure, Johnson's Wax will help prevent rust, and it goes on good with the heat gun also. When it melts on, the moisture goes out of it. Then when cool, buff with a soft rag.

For the most part, I don't even use the hot oxide bluing solution anymore.

I did the frame of my Star 9mm last month. Prep'd with 320 sandpaper. I attached a steel piece to the magazine well so I could handle with a few vice grips. cleaned with acetone and heated in a convection oven. I just repeated the proscribed cycle until I used up the entire 4 oz's., ( 9 cycles) I used many cotton balls and wasted quite a bit of the product. I didn't care because this was more of a test than anything. SUSPENDED the frame in boiling water. and carded with 0000 steel wool and the dandy little carding brush from Brownells. I'm delighted with the results. The completely even finish is more of a satin compared to what you would get from Oxpho Blue using the same prep. The color is not a coal black but it's because of the alloy. (noticed a totally black spot and it turned out to be the pin for the extractor that I didn't know was even there. DUH) The entire inside of the frame got blued as well because I'm sloppy. No problem with dimensions. I will continue to use Oxpo Blue for small parts. I can say that at last I have a finish, on the frame, that seems to wear just like a factory finish. Yay

When the instructions are followed to the tee, this stuff will give excellent results. Degrease parts THOROUGHLY to avoid any bare spots. Avoid oversaturating the cottonball used to apply the solution, and also apply in even strokes in one direction to avoid streaking. The solution should never be applied heavily enough to run, but rather a thin coating that evaporates within a few seconds each pass.
Also, degrease your steel wool thoroughly before starting - new steel wool has quite a bit of oil in it, believe it or not.
Use distilled water when boiling parts.

I've never refinished a gun ever before. I was recommended Express Blue and it is a great way to refinish your firearm. I blued a 1933 Colt Government 1911 that I had received in a very bad state. In two days I have a gun that looks like a professional did it, but at a quarter of the cost. I would recommend Express Blue to anyone without hesitation. All you have to do is follow the instructions step by step and you will have amazing results. Just make sure your gun is properly degreased, that's as important as anything. Great product that really works!!!

used this to re-blue an oldie....worked great, but when they say to heat it first - that's important. I tried to heat a bunch of smaller pieces all at once, but the last few cooled down too much by the time I got to them...doesn't get too dark when it's not hot. But everything looked beautiful, once I did it again with all the pieces hot.

Product works very well you just have to follow directions let me tell ya. First you polish the parts with course paper about 80 grit, then 400 grit papper to finish. Soke in aceton for a few minutes then scrub with small wire brush like in your gun cleaning kit or cotton swab or cloth, Then put in Hot water 150 degreas is best with a good squirt of PalmOlive soap and let soak for a few minutes, rinse in hot clean water tap is Ok. dry off metal make sure to have some cotton or vinal gloves even as you clean them, you dont want to touch with bare hands, and use some thin wire for a handle when boiling. Heat metal with propane torch to 150 200 degrease just the right tempeture so it does not flash off to fast, Heat again and add another layer,use only enough solution to berly wet the metal a little goes a long way and use the cotton ball only once per coat. Be sure to let it dry for 30 sec inbetween layers and befor boiling. Boil parts, use only filtered or distiled water, boil for five minutes Dry off with paper towl and card off with steel wool make sure you degrease it useing the same methoud as above for the parts, then wipe off with clean papper towl and heat with torch and repeat proces until disierd color is reached. Make sure you use only distiled or filterd water, and you fully degrease the steelwool in acetone and hot soapy water, you will be amazed at the gunk that comes off in the soapy water, other wise it will turn the color of the metal into a Bronze color, and not blue. and only use dry heat from a torch and not the water you boil it in or it wont color as dark do to premature activation in the water. hope this is helpful. Ps Not fully degreasing the steelwool and the parts and not using distilled or filterd water is the couse of many a frustration.

This is the first bluing product I have ever used, but I did my research and decided to go with a rust-bluing solution instead of a cold blue product. From the reviews I read it just seems that cold blue solutions are adequate at best, and are most often disappointing. Plus, I understand a bit about metalurgy and can't accept that a "cold" blue application suffices. Mark Lee makes the process fairly easy, yet it is still time consuming, requires the right tools, and patience. With that said, I blued the metal on an old mauser and must say that it looks great. After 6 applications I have a shining dark blue finish. Mind you, it's not that deep blue-black you find on a new "hot" blued gun, but it looks great. In fact, it really fits older firearms. I wholeheartedly recommend this product!

Easy to follow instructions. Very forgiving formula. Excellent results.
this product requires no damp box. A good choice for shops or individuals with limited space and equipment. Heat gun was a good substitute to the suggested propane torch.