First attempt at "antiqueing" the 1858

I have seen folks doing the antique thing and thought I would try it myself. This one is still a work in progress, but so far it is turning out
Nice. I soaked it in vinegar for about 45 min, rinsed and re blued it with brownells liquid oxpho blue. The blue looked pretty darn good for a cold blue in my opinion. I was used to using some Birchwood Casey bluing and was used to it's lighter colors. After seeing how dark the oxpho blue was, I wasn't sure it was going to work for the desired outcome. I decided to hang it outside for three days in the humidity to try and get some of the rust color mixed in. I used a bronze brush and steel wool to remove the rust, but it wasn't what I hoped it would be. I decided I would strip it again and maybe dilute to bluing liquid to achieve a lighter, grayish color. However after putting it back in the vinegar for some time, it was obvious the cold blue was harder to remove than the original uberti finish. Instead of making it white again, it was now a light gray with a used appearance. I rinsed, hit it with steel wool and then rinsed again. I didn't dry it I let it hang over night to form some surface rust. I hit it with steel wool again then coated it liberally with strait Ballistol. Here are the results. I am happy with the outcome. Now
I need to do the screws and wood.

Anyone have ideas on how to antique this wood? I had already stripped the gloss off the grips and used several coats of boiled linseed oil on them previously.

Metal surfaces look pretty darn good, to me.

I once had an 1862 Colt Police that I had taken apart to replace the broken trigger spring. I placed the grip to the side on my work bench while waiting on a new spring from DGW. Days passed, then several weeks before I got back around to the spring and grip but without being aware of it the grip had come in contact with some motor oil and was darkened on one side. It didn’t look all that bad so I soaked the whole grip in some used motor oil for a few hours before I put the pistol back together. The walnut grip took on a nice dark antique color and turned out looking very nice. I was pleased with the results but it was something that happened completely by accident.

I’m not saying you should soak your grips in motor oil but I was very pleased with how mine turned out.

Wow, you did a hell of a nice job on that! The finish looks great.

A much better job than the average we see here!
Here is a rusty original that was disassembled and boiled in water the oiled then rubbed down with a rag. The grips got nothing and maybe a guide for your project.
IMG_0518 by Oliver Sudden, on Flickr

Your grips appear too pretty to mess up too much. Maybe give them a couple of dings, but don't overdo it. The metal looks really nice, and I think the wood is near perfect too.

Nice work.

Phil Coffins said:

A much better job than the average we see here!
Here is a rusty original that was disassembled and boiled in water the oiled then rubbed down with a rag. The grips got nothing and maybe a guide for your project.
IMG_0518 by Oliver Sudden, on Flickr

Click to expand...

So some had the cone front site and some the blade?

The early original ones (Army model)had the dovetail sight, later ones (New Model Army) called the “1858” now has a post sight that is flattened on the sides. To confuse us more the early one with the dovetailed post is called a 1861. I’m not sure any original Remington had a blade. But this isn’t my field of interest.

That turned out nice!

That’s looking great. Darken up that brass to match and you’re in great shape.

That came out great! I did something similar. I mixed permablue with water about 50/50, then applied to an area and wiped it off a second later with a wet rag. You have to do it several times. Then I did the same with laurel mountain browning solution. Then when done I rinsed and oiled for a day. It came out good, but I like the way yours came out more!

I like Secesh’s used motor oil method. Maybe some black leather dye then rub it back with steel wool?

The Birchwood comes in two different colors. The super blue is darker than the perma blue. The perma blue works good for the aged look. Just apply it and let it sit for a few hours. It will turn brown. Wipe it off with a wet cloth and oil it.

EXCELLENT results!!