Late 19th Century metal finish

[Shane Thomas]

Hi all, I am in the process of bring an 1880s Austrian SxS 12Ga back to life and need some info.

What metal finish was most commonly used in that time period? I'm talking about for the locks, action and trigger guard. I know the barrels would have been browned and lacquered/oiled and that's all in the works.

My first guess would be a light blacken brought back to a nice grey. This is a
upper middle/lower best quality gun.

[Jim Cate]

I would think the barrels and triggerguard were rust blued....not browned. The locks and action could have been casehardened or French gray. Is there no evidence of the finish remaining anywhere? Jim

[Shane Thomas]

There's enough of the finish, or what I believe is the finish on the barrels to make me think they were browned. The other metal is either lightly rusted or completely bare of finish. If they had been case hardened I think it would show on the backside of the lock plates. So I was thinking either a grey or just in the white.

[Jim Cate]

Slow rust blueing had been used long before 1880. I think the rusty areas are nothing more than patina on the steel where the blueing used to be. Case hardening was done by low temperature heat and a poisonious cyanide solution that developed a reaction on the steel causing a hardened surface to be the results. I have seen numerous case hardened locks that had no signs of heat on the backside of them. And it is possible the lock plates were colored using the French Gray process. Good luck in whatever you decide. JIM

[mike ford]

My gunsmith friend, Walter Grass was adament about not using acid for "French Grey". He would blue the action and lock plates, then lightly remove the bluing with worn 320 grit abrasive cloth(backed by a file), then dip steel wool in oil and abrasive powder (emery) and rub it in circular motion over the surface until the color satisfied him. I just use valve grinding compound (280 or finer grit) on the steel wool. He would have blued the small parts in hot caustic salts, and the barrels would be slow rust blued. In the old days, the small parts(screws,etc) may have been heat blued. Interior lock parts would have been finished bright. BTW boiling is what makes the slow rust turn black, if the barrels are not boiled before carding they will turn brown. At the end, they have to be oiled to stop the rusting. The muzzles would be polished bright, as would the chamber end including the barrel flats,sides of the lugs, and extractor.
Mike

[Jim Cate]

Hi Mike, I can assure you I have done more than my share of the old original rust blueing process on different firearms. I know the process very well. Why can't your friend, the gunsmith, heat temper blue the small parts like screws, etc.?

[mike ford]

Jim,
He can heat temper blue the small parts,and often did when he only one or two to blue and heating up the tanks would take longer. He taught me how to do this, as well as harden fireing pins so the rear is hard, and the tip is "spring" hard. I find the process useful when I need the part to be bright blue or "straw" colored. I'm computer illiterate and had to write the previous reply three times (this is the second for this one) to get it to work. In the final one, I forgot to explain why he would blue the action and then take it off. This makes the engraving really show up. I wasn't trying to insult you, I was just trying to give Shane another viewpoint.
Mike

[Shane Thomas]

Thanks guys. I got a nice grey on a longrifle I built by blueing and then buffing it back with 0000 steel wool. Turned out very nice and since the color comes in slowly you can get nicely matched parts.