Brass Shine

[SOLANCO]

I guess I will chime in here. I have a background in military archaeology, so this is the sort of thing I think about.
A military person would be expected to keep their gear in good service, which included their brass. There is plenty of evidence of this, especially from period correspondence.
I have a lot more old books than most other people, and there is one in particular that should answer this if I can find it. I just looked in the likely room, but don't see it. I will keep looking.
In the mean time, I just looked at a bunch of art depicting frontiersmen and pioneers, painted more or less contemporaneously to the time portrayed. What I saw was reasonably shiny, which is what I expected.
The Japanese have always been the best source I know for traditional coloring and patination of metals. But even a well darkened piece will become shiny again with heavy handling.
I do not believe that it was typical to use the sort of darkening processes common in Japan because it requires a great deal of work, and some practical chemistry. If our frontiersmen did this, they would have mentioned it. It is no trivial matter.

I expect that the polish used would typically be a mix of flour and vinegar, with a bit of fine salt added if needed. It would then be oiled. Brass or silver on a gun might not be kept military clean in the field, but I cannot see anyone whose lifestyle relied on such an expensive object to allow it to corrode.

" I just looked in the likely room, but don't see it. I will keep looking. "
The biggest room in our home must be called "someplace safe". It is chock full of things we can not find.

 

[SOLANCO]

I was the guy who was required to polish the threshold of the bays with Brasso polishing cotton. Small job but man it will teach you to focus. I also slept next to the house mouse(Air Force thing) which meant I was always right next to the guy the TI spent his first two minutes looking at and talking to. I keep a can of that polishing cotton around, but it only sees my rifle brass every few years.

I got to Brasso the copper plumbing.

 

[Artificer]

Folks, both original documentation and actual experimental archeology from using brick dust made from original, soft 17th and 18th century bricks shows brick dust was too course to polish brass - it was meant to polish Iron and Steel. Emory Powder was used to polish brass. They put it in sweet oil to make a paste to shine their brass.

Another thing, the oil used to finish early gun stocks often was applied right over the brass. That kept the brass from going green or black, at least until the oil was worn off. In higher quality guns, they used lacquer over the polished brass to keep it from corroding too soon.

Gus

 

[FishDFly]

No matter how good a marksman you were, the military didn't like snipers that wore glasses, Reflection?

Might be if they lost their glasses, they were not longer marksman.

 

[FishDFly]

" I just looked in the likely room, but don't see it. I will keep looking. "
The biggest room in our home must be called "someplace safe". It is chock full of things we can not find.

That room contains the missing sock that the dryer hid.

 

[LRB]

I believe the notion of shiny brass giving away a hunter is a myth. The angle of the sun would have to be just right and the brass dead flat and mirror-bright.

Also, tarnish is a result of neglect and the first step in corrosion and decay. Brass was expensive, it would not be allowed to tarnish for long, if at all.

I've had my brass mounted rifle over 20 years now. The brass has never been cleaned/polished. It is darkish in places, and lighter where it's handled. The brass parts are in perfect condition. Brass ain't going to rot in your life time, unless you use some serious corrosive chemical on it.

 

[LRB]

I believe I have read military rifles and brass were polished with brick dust, so there was a known way to polish brass. I tend to agree with FishDFly that it was probably a matter of the owners personal opinion and some cared about the rifles looks and cleaned and polished and some didn’t.

Even today, if you polish metal, you remove metal. Williamsburg polished their original Brown Bess's on a regular basis, until they discovered that.

 

[rich pierce]

The “shine” subject is like religion to many folks. I believe most today are influenced by the camouflage wave that started building in the 1969s. Before that folks wore red plaid Woolrich outfits when deer hunting, or their work clothes. Since then we’ve been marketed dull finishes and camouflage by gun makers and hunting clothing suppliers.
Movement, sound, and scent are far more likely to reveal one’s presence than shine.
Movie and TV dramas make it seem like folks stalking each other in the woods was practically an everyday occurrence for folks in the 1700s and 1800s. Hoeing corn or splitting firewood doesn’t fire up viewership.

 

[Auldjin]

None of my brass has been polished for at least 60 years. There is very little patina to be seen, is that because the firearms are never taken outside. They just get the occasional wipe over with a soft cloth.

 

[Cattywompuss]

The “shine” subject is like religion to many folks. I believe most today are influenced by the camouflage wave that started building in the 1969s. Before that folks wore red plaid Woolrich outfits when deer hunting, or their work clothes. Since then we’ve been marketed dull finishes and camouflage by gun makers and hunting clothing suppliers.
Movement, sound, and scent are far more likely to reveal one’s presence than shine.
Movie and TV dramas make it seem like folks stalking each other in the woods was practically an everyday occurrence for folks in the 1700s and 1800s. Hoeing corn or splitting firewood doesn’t fire up viewership.

On the other hand there are periods of time where it does seem to have mattered to very small segments of the population, such as Roger's Rangers, wearing green, following their rules, etc. But it definitely was not the wider population as a whole "skulking" as it was called.

 

[Cattywompuss]

None of my brass has been polished for at least 60 years. There is very little patina to be seen, is that because the firearms are never taken outside. They just get the occasional wipe over with a soft cloth.View attachment 105018View attachment 105019

Yeah, typically brass not exposed to corrosive rainwater, salt air, etc, just dulls out rather than corrode.

 

[DuncNZ]

I believe I have read military rifles and brass were polished with brick dust, so there was a known way to polish brass. I tend to agree with FishDFly that it was probably a matter of the owners personal opinion and some cared about the rifles looks and cleaned and polished and some didn’t.

Brown Bess's , and other firearms of the time , were polished using dust from old bricks which had started to "rot" away . It was known as Rottenstone and was mixed with neatsfoot oil and rubbed on with a piece of soft leather .It is still available , try google or Amazon .It is also a fine wood polisher , finer than pumice dust

 

[hanshi]

The best thing I've ever used to polish brass was the old "Blitz Cloth" back in the 1960s. Don't know if they even still exist. One cloth would last and polish brass for years. Don't recall them being at all abrasive, though.

 

[Cattywompuss]

The best thing I've ever used to polish brass was the old "Blitz Cloth" back in the 1960s. Don't know if they even still exist. One cloth would last and polish brass for years. Don't recall them being at all abrasive, though.

They still sell them. We use it to polish jewelry in the pawn shop. Many have two sides. The polishing side, which does contain abrasive, and another that is merely a buffing side. Either way, Blitz makes a heap of polishing products.

 

[nhmoose]

If folks want to ponder on things which make no real sense or brings value, why not ponder why is the brush used to clean your teeth called a "tooth" brush when you have teeth? Surely there is documentation from the 1800's on why is there not?

Invented in Portland Maine.

 

[Cattywompuss]

If folks want to ponder on things which make no real sense or brings value, why not ponder why is the brush used to clean your teeth called a "tooth" brush when you have teeth? Surely there is documentation from the 1800's on why is there not?

Obvious answer old son: it was invented by someone what only had one left and wanted to keep it.

 

[SOLANCO]

The best thing I've ever used to polish brass was the old "Blitz Cloth" back in the 1960s. Don't know if they even still exist. One cloth would last and polish brass for years. Don't recall them being at all abrasive, though.

Amazion lists Blitz cloths

 

[DuncNZ]

I believe I have read military rifles and brass were polished with brick dust, so there was a known way to polish brass. I tend to agree with FishDFly that it was probably a matter of the owners personal opinion and some cared about the rifles looks and cleaned and polished and some didn’t.

I never use a chemical /abrasive polish on my ML firearms , I let them age naturally with a little help from black powder residue from shooting . I rub the wood and the brass with my hands , usually clean but occasionally a little bees wax based paste . I sit watching TV of an evening and quietly rub the brass and stock , This gives a natural patina of age and use , the brass takes on a soft buttery glow and the wood a deep rich shine . If you want to age a new steel or iron part added to an old firearm , rub it down with cold blue then wrap it a cloth soaked in a strong bleach , after a short time ( more or less time depending on rust or pitting desired ) there will be a nice layer of rust , wash off the part then card the rust back with 0000 steel wool and oil . I once aged a big camp knife with this method , I used an old piece of corduroy cloth to apply the bleach , when I unwrapped it , the blade looked like it was Damascus with all the stripes on it .

 

[Fly Navy]

^ when you say a short time, more or less. How much time are you talking about with the part wrapped in the bleach soaked cloth? Hours, days?

 

[DuncNZ]

I guess it depends on the ambient temperature , the steel and the bleach strength , for me it was about 30 mins , just keep an eye on it .