From: Doug White <gwhite@ll.mit.edu>
Subject: Re: darkening stainless steel?
Organization: MIT Lincoln Laboratory

In article <33c25k$cnu@hprcl192.mayfield.hp.com>, <ted@mayfield.hp.com> writes:

# I am attracted to the enhanced corrosion resistance of a stainless steel
# barrel (vs. a blued one), but don't like the light color.  Does anyone
# know of a method to "blue" (or otherwise darken) the outside of a
# stainless rifle barrel?
#
# Thanks!
#
# -Ted "want to have my cake and eat it too"

I haven't tried this on any SS guns, but Ferric Chloride solution (used for
etching copper printed circuit boards) did a very nice job of turning a
pair of my SS hemostats a nice dark grey/black.  I'm not sure how uniform a
color one could get, or how durable the finish is, but it's cheap and easy.
Ferric Chloride can be obtained at any Radio Shack.

Doug White
MIT Lincoln Laboratory