Were guns browned in the time period?

Were guns actually browned or is it strictly someonething we do now to muzzleloaders as an old timey thing? Reason I ask, this winter I am thinking of tearing my production great plains rifle apart and browing the barrel, the hardware, and redoing the stock. I should note, I'm not strickly trying to make it into a pc hawken, just wandering if browning was still done around that era? Just curious.

Guns were often browned during the percussion era. They were also blued and left in the white.
During the flintlock era a lot of rifles in the US were left in the white, presumably to follow in the fashion of military arms of the day.
This included locks, where after case hardening the plate any colors were carded away leaving a bright finish.

Uncle Miltie said:

Guns were often browned during the percussion era. They were also blued and left in the white.
During the flintlock era a lot of rifles in the US were left in the white, presumably to follow in the fashion of military arms of the day.
This included locks, where after case hardening the plate any colors were carded away leaving a bright finish.

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Thanks a bunch for that bit of info

If you want a some what Hawken look for your Great Plains rifle a blued barrel with case colored lock and breech would be more typical. But you do as you please as we all do, after all browning is still being done today.

Hi
Rust browning barrels began to be popular in Britain during the 1770s. Here is a painting of an English gentleman with his sporting gun from 1784:




Clearly, the barrel is browned. However, rust browning was not common or popular in the US until the 19th century. Before then, barrels and locks were usually left bright or occasionally temper or charcoal blued. It is important to consider that locks and other iron and steel hardware were not cast as they are today. They were forged so browning a modern lock that shows the cast texture on the surface is dead give away it is a modern product. If you want browning to look authentic, the metal surface should be filed and sanded smooth.

dave

I don’t recall the exact date or source, but there is a newspaper add from the late 1780’s or early 1790’s that advertises browning barrels. Think it was a Virginia newspaper. I believe this is something Wallace uncovered.