So one of the faux pas that I've seen is folks who don't remove the excess metal nor polish the lock before the antique finish is applied. I guess they think that the rough surface left by casting looks "old", but for those of us who have seen well preserve antique guns, the surface looks like just what it is..., a sand cast part that was machined, but was not polished before it was browned. (You see this on some semi-custom guns) Sometimes the same is true for the barrel..., depending if the barrel has some telltale marks left over from machining.
You can also stain a barrel and then polish it back, the lock too. You apply a mild acid, like vinegar, but you use mustard to do it. The stuff for hotdogs, goes on like a thin paste. You apply a thin but mostly even coat to degreased metal, and allow it to dry and go brown. This takes a day or two. Then you take an old toothbrush to brush it off and remove it, and see how well it discolored the metal. Repeat until you've gone a bit more discolored than you want, THEN you polish it back some. IF you use plain vinegar, it will bead, and you will end up with a barrel or lock with brown spots like a case of measles (personal experience)
@The Appalachian above has a really nice finish shown in his comment, and it's very uniform, and I like it very much. What the mustard gives you is much more variation but no pitting..., as though over time in various amounts the metal started to rust, and was polished back when the owner had time. (He's also correct about the steel. I have something modern that is two-tone because the barrel was very different steel than the action. But that's a discussion for a different forum.
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The mustard is also non-toxic. Which was why I started using it for metal, because my young son was into everything and had a nickname of "danger boy" as a small child.
Don't use bleach as sometimes is seen on knives to give an antique look. I think it's obvious as the pitting is rather unique to bleach. That's just my opinion though.
LD
