Artificial Ageing of Steel

[Russ T Frizzen]

I'm in the process of rebuilding a Colt Sig Series 1860 Army and I need to age the metal. I've decided to make it look like it went through the War Between the States and then found its way out West where it was well used, but cared for. Any suggestions/concoctions are welcome. Thanks.

 

[44-henry]

Most attempts at aging tend to look overdone, the exceptions are the results of lots of testing (research) and considerable skill. Since your only talking about a period that would span about 10 years why not just use it. If it was well cared for it would have been cleaned after every use, and oiled on a regular basis when not in use. If it was carried a lot it would accumulate holster wear. I would suggest doing this, wear it often in a holster, even store it in there, don't baby it, treat it with respect, but don't treat it like a safe ornament and you will probably get the effect you would like within a reasonable time frame.

 

[bob1961]

i had an old .22 mag revoler that i striped the blue off and reblued it with B C perma blue in light coats so that it came out all blue gray blotchy like it was older then it was....i think i have a picture some where....when found i'll post it........bob

 

[Russ T Frizzen]

Thanks, Bob. I may have to do that. This a Signature Series revolver and it has that goofy "Sam Colt" signature on the back strap. Everytime I look at it, I wonder whatever were they thinking? The polishing marks are visible and run in forty different directions. It looks like a drunken chimp did the work. At midnight. In a closet with no light. Using a disc grinder. This is probably the least valuable revolver that I own--definitely the least valuable Colt.

Still, this isn't something I have to do. This is a just for the heck of it project. On a gun that I wouldn't shed a tear over if I lost it. In fact, if it didn't shoot so well, it already would be gone, swapped for another gun or, in this case, maybe a cup of coffee. And a donut. If the guy I traded with was a bit naive.

 

[Husky]

I've had pretty good luck with Birchwood Casey browning solution to age steel. You can apply as little or as much as you like depending on the degree of ageing that you want. I did a 58 Remington repop like that several years ago and from a distance was hard to tell from an original.

 

[Zonie]

I would post a picture of my replica Schnider & Glassic, but the photos I have make it look worse than it is.

Also, I wanted the exterior on it to look like it had been in a farmers field for a year or so, so the rusting and pitting are a lot worse than the gun you say you want.

I agree with the post above. If you want a gun that looks "well used" for 10 years, holster wear, a few small dings in the grips and a few small rust pits are about the only thing that would be noticable.

No sooner had I posted this than I thought of all of the really Crappy guns I see at the local gun shows. I don't know how they do it, but perhaps you could lone you gun to one of the idiots that screwed up some nice 15 year old guns to the point that I wouldn't even want to own them. :: ::

Oh, what the heck. You guys know my ego...

Although it's overdone, it is still interesting to me.
The Schnider and Glassic was one of the few Confederate copies of the '51 Colt that actually had an octagon barrel. The others used round barrels, according to some, because they were easier to make.
Last I heard, there are only a few of the original Schnider and Glassic's known to exist.

 

[Russ T Frizzen]

I like it, Zonie. It has a bit more wear and tear than I wanted, but it gives me some ideas for my Griswold & Gunnison. I went ahead and aged the Sig Series today and made a wonderful discovery. It is possible to draw file the signature off the gun and still maintain the backstrap's profile. Yee Haw! The gun is still too shiny, but it now looks like a well used gun, one that saw a lot of use in the war and then on the plains. And the patchy polishing job that Colt Blackpowder inflicted on it is no more. I like it a whole lot better now. And it still is a fine shooter. But best of all is never having to look at that *%+#$%! signature ever again!

 

If you want a dull grey metal finish, dunk the steel parts in "Naval Jelly".

Just :m2c:

 

About 10 years ago I had a fellow bring a 36 Navy Colt into my shop. He had it in a paper bag and all I could see was the butt sticking out of the brown wrapper. (he also had its baby brother in .31 in there and a near mint condition Metropolotin .36 completely disassembled).

The man wanted them fixed so he could shoot them.

I returned all of them to working order using parts from my repro-pistol-repair-box. (Yep, Uberti parts fit the Metro)

In order to make sure they functioned properly I was forced to take them to the range and shoot the manure out of them.

(yep, the origional guns shot high too! And they had the same floppy lose wear that repros get!)

The Colt had not one trace of the origional finish and very distinctive wear patterns due to untold years of being carried on a daily basis. No holster ever coddled this gun!

There was distinctive pitting on the cylender and barrel lug due to exposure to sweat while the gun was shoved in someone's belt. The left side of the grip showed smooth wear and the right side was chipped and scared. The cylinder carried a Z shaped scar that ran from end to end as if made by a belt buckle when the wearer was thrown from a frisky horse.

God that gun had character!

The owner traced his family to Midland, TX after the CW and had the normal G-G-dad in the Rangers etc. Normally I do not believe those tales but this gun had seen regular hard use/care/cleaning/wear that gives credenace to such tales.

Sell you signature Colt to someone that will sock it away as an investment. That's why they invented internet auctions. Use the money to buy a repro for your purposeful abuses.

Anyone can make metal rust in rapid fasion. Artifially aging a gun into a normal wear pattern is an art in itself. A gun that has been caried for ten years on a daily basis develops character unknown to a gun that has been shot a few times and returned to the sock drawer. You have to know what those rounded lines should look like before you can duplicate them.

Strip the blue with reguler rust removers. Wrap a sheet of wet/dry 600 grit auto body sandpaper around the gun and stick it in your belt while you mow the yard/work in the garden/ride the ATV and it will take on the normal wear patterns you seek.

The new Clorox jell-bleaches will pit the outer surfaces without running into the action and fouling the insides of the frame. Dishwashers and dish water are great for artificially aging wood.

:results:

You can have that repro looking like manure in no time flat!

I have confidence in you!

:front:

 

[Russ T Frizzen]

Ghost, your confidence is not misplaced. In a few hours I had my trusty but poorly finished Signature Series looking like a beater. Best of all, it no longer has that signature on it. Now it looks like a well-worn "F" Series gun. I like it a whole lot better now. I posted a photo at www.msnusers.com/fotosbyruss I've even refurbished an old walnut case for it. With its own flask an mold and such. Before, it lived in an oily rag inside an old shooting box. It has come up in the world.

I think you'll find it under documents, but it's on the site somewhere.

 

[fatboy]

One of the guys bought a L. Day swivel breech action some 10 yrs ago and built himself a nice unit one .45 rifled barrel and a the other smooth . He had it at a shoot and some one made the comment that are you gonna shoot that original ! He did the barrels with blueing first and then soaked in fresh clorox for 15 or so seconds and then rubbed down with old dirty motor oil it looked great in my eyes wish I had a pic to post.

 

[Russ T Frizzen]

I've been using Van's gun blue for years. It does everything from a finish blue job to giving a touchup. I used it to put an distressed finish on my '60 Army yesterday, and it did that well too. Great stuff! Might give the clorox treatment a try though.