[07Jim]

Used birchwood casey aluminum black on the charging handle. the material did not take on all sections of the handle, what it adhered to was a nice deep black but the sectios it did't work on stayed bright aluminium. since it didn't take on the whole handle it doesn't look too good so I would recommend not using it.

 

[onebohemian]

I used the same product to try to blacken Bushman's handle as well. I used a scotchbrite pad to try to even out the brighter spots so that the aluminum black would take more evenly. It ended up kind of spotty on the edges regardless. I have mine saturated in gun oil now, hoping that once she cures by morning, the aluminum black coating looks a little better. I'll post again in the morning with results. When I've cold blued metals in the past, leaving it sit with gun oil on it really ends up with a nice cured finish. I'm hopeful that the oil will have the same effect on the aluminum black.

Note that the stuff wouldn't take whatsoever to Bushman's ring that he sells to hold down the front tab of the barrel rail when the stock front sight is removed. I think I'd need to really sand away on the ring to remove all the shiny parts before aluminum black would have any effect. That's too much work. I need to figure out some other way to make that ring black. (Thinking about trying a sharpie.)

 

[autosurgeon]

You have to really clean the aluminum before trying the aluminum black! Also it takes several treatments to get it deep black all over.

I wash parts in dish soap and hot water and rinse with cold water in between treatments with aluminum black... take a look at my post about my 995 + new additions to see a large aluminum part treated with aluminum black... it took 5 treatments before it was evenly black!

Again the process is as follows clean well .. wear cotten or rubber gloves when handeling the part ( hand oils ruin the take ) Apply Aluminum black to the parts with a cotten ball or q-tip and get it uniformly wet. let it set for 1 min and rinse with cold water.. dry and apply again the same way ... do this as many times as needed for the look you want..

Also note beadblasting the part before treatment can help too esp if you want a parkerized look!