whatever I do will have to be done with the barrel in place. I spent quite a bit of money to get them to true the action and install the barrel. Rather have an old looking action then have that messed up.
Well, bear in mind that stainless can’t be blued. So you’re looking at a synthetic coating of some sort. Also - bead blasting is waaaaay less than optimal (read wrong) for applying a coating like Duracoat or Cerakote.
Glass beads dimple the surface vs etching and the coating will not adhere - it WILL chip.
If you are considerinf SBN for the bbl, it’ll have to come off the recvr.
You have yourself a little bit of a conundrum.
My advice it to have it Cerakoted or Duracoated. Cerakote is a bit more durable, but Duracoat is no slouch either. The key is propper prep and application. With either, you’ll need to have the parts propperly masked and then blasted with a fairly coarse grit of aluminum oxide or comparable blasting media. (glass is a no no) It should be in the #100 - #120 range. The breach / lug area, crown and other sensitive areas need to be protected very well during blasting and during application.
Based on the fact that you sent your action to Bartlein - you’re sinking a good number of dead presidents into the project. Do yourself a favor and send it to a “certified” refinisher for Cerakote or Duracoat.
Just request that they coat it while they have it to save finding someone and shipping it. Call them, I had mine done by them when they did a build for me. I could be wrong, but I believe GAP does that portion for them or whoever GAP uses if not done themselves.
Blued in the typical sense no, they can’t be blued, however you can have a low temperature black oxide or high temperature melonite done to SS. The biggest issue is fitment to the action once the process is done.
I’m still curious why it has to be done with the barrel in place. You know it just unscrews, right? and any competent cerakote guy will have an action wrench and barrel vise to be able to pull the barrel off and put it back on without scratching the paint.
I don’t think it would be a problem if the Cerakoter is also a professional rifle-plumber with numerous match quaility rifles to his name and work. Someone who just does factory certified Cerakoting might not take the time and care to ensure the reinstall is done with the same headspace guages to the same tolerances that Bartlein set the barrel for.
You would probably be surprised. It’s easier than removing and reinstalling an AR15 barrel/barrel nut. The ‘tolerances’ are set when they machine it. Once machined, you can spin it off and back on and it will be in the same spot. and it is pretty trivial to put witness marks on it if you don’t believe me. I swap my own barrels all the time.
My only experience with re-barreling a bolt action is on a Savage with the barrel nut so I’m probably incorrect when it comes to uninstalling/re-installing a custom fitted barrel. In this I’ll defer to your own experience.
fwiw, i would do something to the bead blast. i kind of like it myself, but my experience was that it would get a bit of surface rust. when you shoot out barrels in 4-5 months, it’s not a big deal, but if this is something that’s going to spend a lot of time in the closet, i’d make sure to keep it oiled or throw some sort of protectant on there if you decide not to coat or paint it