Barrel and lock color

[lizz]

I'm looking at getting a gun in the white [either a fowler or a english trade gun]. I do not want the barrel or the lock browned or blued. I'm looking for the aged grey color but am not certain how to go about it. I have seen metals blued then steel wooled down to a grey color. Would this be the correct way to get grey coloring on these parts or is there a better way? Doc

 

Try Petroleum Jelly or onion slices. Put it on in a circular motion. Check it out on a piece of scrap to see if ya like it first.

Mustard does a fine job of it too.

 

[Capt. Jas.]

Cold blue, rubbed back real good with steel wool will give you the results you are after.

 

[lizz]

Onion slices! Is it the acid in the onion that colors the steel? I'll try it on a sample and see what happens. Thanks
Capt. I have seen the blue and removel before, it looks pretty good. Just looking for other ideas. Thanks

 

[Stumpkiller]

I had an "in the white" Bess I used to experiment on. The blessing of in the white is that you can always get it back to where it was. I noted the description of one product was "Plum Brown" and I thought "why not try it?" Sure enough, plums darken the steel. Apples work to, as does Clorox or Hydrogen Peroxide on a cotton rag. The latter two very slowly and I used then to "touch up" where I hard to buff out dark stains and tone it in to blend with the rest.

I actually found in the white to be very easy to keep ahead of.

My iron mounted Lehigh was over hot rust blued/browned (to the point of minor pitting) and then carded (wire brushed) back to a gray finish, repeated, then dipped in hot bear oil and baked. Sort of a deep weathered patina.

The bear oil coating has worn off the exposed metal but (I hope) it is protecting the hidden metal well enough.

 

[Ridge]

I left the lock on two of my rifles as they came from Chambers. After about a year or so of shooting they aged to a nice grey color.

 

[Old40Rod]

Cold blue, rubbed back real good with steel wool will give you the results you are after.

Yup, this works in a fairly controlled manner. I used OxPho Blue and brushed it back with 0000 steel well, and it seems to be holding up fairly well on a pistol I made.

 

[Vanderpool]

I have used Naval Jelly rust remover on bright metal to tone it down some - gives what used to be called "French Grey". I've also been told that Pilkington's American Classic "Logwood" stain will give a gray patina if the metal is boiled in it. It was also used to bring out the twist in Damascus barrels. I never tried Pilkington's.

 

[GobblerKnob]

The barrel and lock on this rifle was finished with Brownell's 44/40. I used 220 grit sandpaper to take it back to where it is now. Afterward, I gave them a bath in baking soda and water to neutralize it. I found if I did not, the metal would rust. Then, I heated them and applied some Johnson's paste wax to seal the surfaces. That's it. I understand if you want pitting, try some of the methods using clorox or rust browning.

This rifle is stained heavily with Cabot, "Onyx" oil-based stain and rubbed back to a charcoal gray. It has German silver furniture and now belongs to a soldier just returned from Iraq. The inscription on the patchbox is Latin for, "Fortune Favors the Brave." Kind of fitting, I thought.
Rick

 

[Mountainman56]

:hatsoff: That is a beautiful rifle Rick.

 

[lizz]

Rick; That is a very very nice looking rifle. This is what I'm looking for in the metal finish. I'll keep the wood finish in mind also. I've never seen that color on a stock and realy like it. Thanks Doc

 

[GobblerKnob]

Thanks all for your kind words. It was an honor to build this rifle for him. Here's another rifle for another soldier. The same finish to the barrel and lock. Rick

 

[mazo kid]

The upper pistol has the mustard finish on the barrel, the lower pistol has bleach finish on lock, side plate and barrel. Emery

 

[Ohioan]

I used naval jelly on a belt axe I made. I really like the finish. There are some dark spots on it where I let it sit on one side too long. But, those spots add to the appearance in my opinion. I'll post some picks when I get home.

I'm going to get some barrel drops from Rice to do some finish testing on. I'll do a write up.

 

[lizz]

I like the looks of these finishes. Several different way of doing this, all with good results.
One other question, what kind of mustard? Yellow hotdog mustard :hmm: ?

 

[Goldhunter]

Whatever you have in the fridge.

I used some spicy brown mustard, you know the kind with visible spices and kind of thicker. I used it on a couple of knives. The thicker, chunky mustard seems to, I guess, clump up(?) better. I smeered it one and then dabbed my finger all along the length. I kind of "pulled" up spots and gave the metal kind of a "spotted" appearance to the metal.

 

Any kind of mustard or acidic veggie or fruit like t'maters will work it.

 

[mazo kid]

Yeah, I think that is what I used too; altho any kind would work. I kinda brushed a heavy coat on in a spiral fashion and let it sit over night. Beauty of it is, if you don't like the looks you can steel wool/polish it off and do something different.

 

[FV Rago]

ttt