Aging a Pietta 1860

[Loyalist Dave]

How do you get around removing the serial numbers from a modern firearm? I thought that was a federal offence/offence.

Feds do not consider them firearms, but each state is different.

You don't want to remove serial number because if it get stolen, the ONLY way for it to get back to you is by the serial number still being there.
Badguys will take these a at first glance; they don't know the difference, and victims will comply when robbed by one of these even when it's not loaded since they don't know either.

LD

 

[hawkeye2]

Insurance companies generally won't cover a gun without a serial number and law enforcement doesn't like them because it's hard to prove the recovered gun is the actual one. Unless you have detailed photos one may be out of luck. While they are free from regulation by the Feds and in most states currently I expect we will see an end to that and not too far down the road either. I won't remove a serial number or proof marks. In the N-SSA all reproduction and custom arms and/or barrels must show the manufacturer's name to be used in competition.

 

[GYJ]

I wish a moderator would delete all this talk about removing serial numbers.

 

[CyrusP]

How do you get around removing the serial numbers from a modern firearm? I thought that was a federal offence/offence.

I suggested removing the advertising billboards on the barrel, not the serial number.

 

[GYJ]

I suggested removing the advertising billboards on the barrel, not the serial number.

Exactly! Huge difference.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

I wish a moderator would delete all this talk about removing serial numbers.

Why?

It happens a lot when folks "defarb" or "antique" a piece, be it cap-n-ball revolver, or long gun, and thus happens to be an important point to the aging and antique process. Some states like NJ (iirc) will be very upset if you remove it. As pointed out by @hawkeye2 insurance companies don't like it either, as it generally guarantees they will never recover the piece, and as I pointed out that's because there is no number for a LEO to use to track it when it's recovered.

You already made it clear that you have not done this on your piece.

LD

 

[GYJ]

Talking about removing serial numbers gives me the freaking willies. I've already had to deal with the ATF on a similar issue where some dummy used the number on the bolt of a guild-sporterized 98 Mauser that was shipped to me, when the serial number had been removed. It showed up any my local dealer and they called the police. Blackpowder or not, I don't want ANY discussion that could be misconstrued as committing a federal crime in my thread, about modifying MY gun. It shouldn't have come up in the first place and the person who did it should have had the courtesy to remove it. You've got media and political uproar over "ghost guns", legislation pending to eliminate them and corrupt alphabet agencies that are out to get us. I don't care if it sounds paranoid, I don't need the ulcer. If you want to discuss it, start your own.

 

[TDM]

I banged up the grips a little bit and darkened the dings with black dye, before photographing a new holster.

GYJ, I keep coming back to this thread just to admire your holster. About the neatest one I've ever seen. Did you make this one or acquire it?

 

[ord sgt]

Back to the main point of the thread........age your revolver by using it. Honest patina is much more desirable than a fake patina. That's my $0.02 worth of advice.

 

[Bad Karma]

I haven’t aged any of mine except what comes from use… but I can see why some might want it. A neighbor of ours sold his home place and 40 acres to a wealthy investment banker from New York. He built a home for his “ranch” manager, and I’m told the architect had modeled it after a log cabin that might have existed here in the 1890’s. Never seen so much “antiquities“ in one place and it looked nothing like an 1890’s homestead… but the owners were tickled pink.

 

[GYJ]

GYJ, I keep coming back to this thread just to admire your holster. About the neatest one I've ever seen. Did you make this one or acquire it?

Thank you! I made it and posted a thread about it in The Craftsman.

https://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/...-little-rawhide-and-a-little-beadwork.149859/

Back to the main point of the thread........age your revolver by using it. Honest patina is much more desirable than a fake patina. That's my $0.02 worth of advice.

I don't have that kind of time. I'm nearly 48yrs old. I"ve got over 200 guns, 99 of which are revolvers. I've never made one look like that from use, so it's just as hell not gonna happen now. I'm sure none of us have the time or the opportunity to carry a cap `n ball revolver the way they did back then. So if you want something that looks like a relic of the blackpowder era, you either pay the bloated collector premium for an original in questionable condition, or you take something new and affordable and make it look old. You get 99% of the appeal at a fraction of the cost and it's something you can use with impunity.

Plus it looks kinda dumb to spend all that time making your leatherwork look old, only to photograph it with a brand new and shiny sixgun. Aging doesn't make sense to you. NOT aging doesn't make sense to me. Some things I want to look old, some I do not. In the world of blackpowder, a lot of folks seem to agree.

 

[ord sgt]

I don't have that kind of time. I'm nearly 48yrs old. I"ve got over 200 guns, 99 of which are revolvers.

I don't have nearly as many firearms as you, and I didn't get started until I was in my mid 30's. Right now, I just turned 75 and I finished my last build this past winter. That rifle was purpose built for teaching women to shoot muzzleloaders. It got a workout last weekend. 52 women went through the NRA Women on Target course at my local R/P club. That is honest wear.
The sig picture is another build from 35 years ago. The brass covers an honest repair of a broken wrist. More honest wear and patina. None of my firearms, BP or modern are safe queens. I built many to shoot and enjoy.
Some days I have a tough time trying to decide which to do, shoot or ride my motorcycle. Sometimes both. Ride to the range, shoot, and then ride home. Haven't figured a way to carry the Lancaster style longrifle (42" barrel) on the M/C. Again, my $0.02 worth.