Barrels Left Unfinished?

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N.Y. Yankee

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How often or how common was it in 18th and 19th centuries for guns to be built with barrels that had been left "in the white", maybe just greased and left for the elements to provide the finish for them?
 
How often or how common was it in 18th and 19th centuries for guns to be built with barrels that had been left "in the white", maybe just greased and left for the elements to provide the finish for them?
OFTEN for sure as bear grease or (SUBS) were often used (barrels/bores )-and donuts!!!/Ed
 
Based on what I've learned on this forum and on the American Long Rifles site: Typical pre-1800 American finishes were white or French gray, with polished bright being an option. Bluing was expensive and generally only found on high-end English guns. Browning was not done on American guns in this period (what looks like a browned finish is actually just natural aging.)
 
I only blue/brown them to cut down on reflections while hunting. They look quite nice in the white and were probably left that way by the smiths from what I've read.
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There is no denying that there is a certain appeal to rifles left in the white. However, in my area they go from in the white to pitted overnight! So, I usually rely on good old browning to preserve the metal.

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LMAO !! Ok .... Wow ! Hey ...if you like your barrel bright and shiney ....go for it . Military arms were often left in the white , for inspection , licks were too ...but ....my personal N.W. gun is two years old and its not " naturally browned " , no where near ! so dont believe that , I havent oiled it once ...just havent browned it yet as I been busy , but I will . The letters going to gun builders of N.W. trade gun from the Hudson's Bay Co. 1780s , ask the builders to make half the order browned barrel and half blued ....N.W. Trade guns were the lowest quality guns coming out of England , made specifically for native in the fur trade ....so .....
 
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