Armory bright?

[mzloder]

Looking around at TOW I see a number of guns finished "armory bright". It is my understanding that the originals were produced this way, but my question is "Why?". Surely, browning or bluing would have offered more protection to the steel!

 

[TFoley]

Looking around at TOW I see a number of guns finished "armory bright". It is my understanding that the originals were produced this way, but my question is "Why?". Surely, browning or bluing would have offered more protection to the steel!

I can see that you may never have been a soldier.

Soldiers in those days had to have something to polish and keep nice and shiney - it could be brass [uniform fittings] or steel [bayonets, gun-barrels, gun furniture].

In camp it might be large stones arranged around the guard picket post - they had to be kept painted white. Or coal-piles - THEY had to be kept painted black [yes, true].

The old maxim was 'if it moves, salute it, and if it stands still, either paint or polish it'.

tac
Supporter of the Cape Meares Lighthouse Restoration Fund

PS - Remember that bluing also cost money. Gun barrels had to be bright-finished before blueing. So why not miss out the blueing and let the soldier carry on the keeping bright?

 

[Dphar]

Looking around at TOW I see a number of guns finished "armory bright". It is my understanding that the originals were produced this way, but my question is "Why?". Surely, browning or bluing would have offered more protection to the steel!

Some were produced this way.
Many had the iron parts browned or heat blued or charcoal blued.
Locks were often case hardened and then either polished or not.
Most original American rifles of the 18th century saw very heavy use, often to 50 or even 100 years. Expecting to find any remaining original finish, the bore size to be unchanged or even the original lock still in place, is unrealistic at least fro the average gun. Guns of the 1820s-50s are a different matter and are often in better shape but the finish on the iron is still often gone.
Even the Indian trade guns were blued or browned.

Dan

 

[JV Puleo]

Its a military finish... National Armory Brown and National Armory Bright. The terms date from the introduction of browned metal on military arms, I suspect with the Hall Rifles (but am not certain about that). 1817 Common Rifles were also brown or bright. Prior to this all military arms were bright. The dull finish was considered appropriate for rifleman and light infantry... regular infantry had bright weapons. This was still the era of linear tactics with bright uniforms and arms designed to present a martial image. Also, a polished surface could be maintained by men in the field while renewing the browned finish required sending the gun back to the armory.

The brown finish was actually a laquer and did not prove to be terribly durable or to prevent rust from forming in storage. It was eventually dropped because it was difficult to maintain uniformity of appearance and many brown arms were eventually polished.

 

[mzloder]

OK, so if I buy a gun with a bright finish, am I to be flogged if I disassemble it and brown it? :nono: My main use would be for hunting.

 

[Tumblernotch]

Most military shoulder arms were finished "armory bright" in this country up to and including the Civil War. Like tac said, that was one of the soldier's jobs, keep 'em shiny. Rifles were an exception. Riflemen were a special group as skirmishers, sharpshooters, scouts, &c. and the purpose of browning their rifles is obvious; reducing the chance of sunlight reflecting off of the barrels. It didn't matter much to them whether it reflected from the muskets of line troops, although it is recorded that the glint off of barrels did on several occasions tip off the adversary to their presence at awkward times. So, generally all rifles (including the Hall) were browned originally. There was one model of musket that received the same treatment. This was the M1816 (1821 variant). The '16 was until 1821 finished bright. (Though in one 1818 contract, the maker was told to brown his arms). In August 1821 it was directed that the barrels and bayonets be finished in a brown color and the locks were to be finished without polishing. This wording leads me to believe that the locks were left unbrowned and unpolished. In 1831, the armories were ordered to revert to the former practice and finishing them "in the bright".

The "browning" mixture used was in fact acid based and not a lacquer. The materials used were:

1 1/2 oz. Spirits of Wine

1 1/2 oz. Tincture of Steel

1/2 oz. Corrosive Sublimate

1 1/2 oz. Sweet Spirits Nitre

1 oz. Blue Vitriol

3/4 oz. Nitric Acid

To be mixed and dissolved in one quart of soft water and kept in glass bottles and not in earthen jugs.

 

[Tumblernotch]

OK, so if I buy a gun with a bright finish, am I to be flogged if I disassemble it and brown it? :nono: My main use would be for hunting.

I wouldn't worry about it. Unless you are in a reenactment unit that is strict about such things, you can do about whatever you want to. I have a rifled musket here that I used to keep very bright. But I've allowed it to develop a patina (which I believe looks better than browning) over the years. I have no rust issues and it doesn't reflect light so it works just fine for hunting.

 

[Norinco]

Polishing also helped prevent rust, both by the smooth surface and the regular action.

 

[Dphar]

Polishing also helped prevent rust, both by the smooth surface and the regular action.

It was probably more valuable as "busy" work to keep the troops from having too much idle time.

Dan

 

[Bill Hall]

Yep. Years ago I was reading through a book I believe was called "Guns of the West", and it told of garrisoned troops with no active campaigns going on and too much time on their hands. To keep the soliers busy, they were subjected to constant inspections, where their arms were checked for "shineyness". If the troops were issued flintlocks, they would actually soften the frizzens in a fire so they could polish them up easier. This of course rendered the guns mostly useless, but at least they looked "military". Bill