Brass?

[Swampman]

Do you think it should be as shinny as the bumper on a Buick or finished with 0000 steel wool? Was is highly polished on 18th c. guns? I have access to all kinds of polishing equipment but I don't like it that smooth. :hmm:

 

[navaho]

I would think it would have been dull or at least after about a day after purchase it would have been dull. Figure if it means food or your life to be undetected, you wouldn't want shiny brass to tell the world where you are. I would think that most guns were outfitted with iron not brass anyway.

 

[Legionair]

I agree, it would seem that the brass would yellow quickly and polishing it to a high shine would spook game, alert enemies, and waste time that would be better spent on survival and trapping....

Thats how I'm letting mine go (can always polish it later if I want to).....

Just an opinion....

Legion

 

For 18th century - scraped and then burnished with an iron/steel rod.......A bit of rottenstone or pumice may then have been used

 

[Swampman]

I never polish my brass, and usually wipe it down with the first dirty patch out of the barrel. What I was asking about, is how polished was it when it left the builder's shop? Thanks!

 

[Birddog6]

I think it would all depend on the builder & the price of the rifle. The general rifles were crudely built & filed/scraped & out the door. The more they cost the slicker the metal work got & the quality of the workmanship increased. IMHO

 

[roundball]

"...and polishing it (brass) to a high shine would spook game, alert enemies, and waste time that would be better spent on survival and trapping...."

Not trying to influence your plans, just providing some additional information...I intentionally keep the brass on my rifles polished to showroon condition all the time, and as far as deer are concerned there's never been any indication that it's interefered with filling my tags...movement will get their attention of course, whether shiny or not...but I've never had any reason to worry about shiny brass on rifles while deer hunting.

 

[TANSTAAFL]

For ordinary folk of the time, the gun was a tool, a prized tool perhaps, but a tool they used, through that use, the shine and polish issue was resolved in short order.

 

[Pork Chop]

I would speculate that the nicer guns would be every bit as shiny and showy as the best customs made today. The utilitarian ones would be less so, but I suspect that brass would be shined to make it more attractive.

 

[WRussell]

Lotsa people like to polish brass nice & shiny. Lots don't. People haven't changed. Go with what you like.

 

[K-1]

My Great Grandfathers brass was polished to perfection. He was a German Immigrant ... everything else in their house was rather plain and dull ... but not Pappy's rifle.

 

[Zonie]

I agree. People haven't changed.
Some like highly polished wood and metal like you see on the Weatherby Mark V's and some like painted leaves and acorn camouflage sprayed (or floated) onto their stock and barrel.

When it comes to the folks 150+ years ago I bet they were about the same.

When we remember that a fine longrifle could cost several months salary back then I suspect that a lot of people were rather proud of their shiny stuff on their rifles and kept it in as bright of a condition as was possible.
Just my 2 cents worth.

 

[Swampman]

I like my brass as dark and dingy as I can get it. My question was about how polished it was when it left the shop.

 

[DrTimboone]

Not being quite old enuff to say for sure... :hmm: My bet is that in most cases it was rubbed down with rottenstone/pumice and then burnished with an iron/steel rod. Seem to be lots of file marks in guards etc on originals... :shocked2:

 

I have an original brass barreled flintlock pistol. The furniture appears to have been polished to what we could do today with steel wool. Barrel has a similiar polish but the filing marks were never polished out.

 

[Swampman]

I went to high polish and it looked bad. I painted it with Krylon Grill Paint and then rubbed it back with green Scotchbrite. Then I sprayed it with Windex and rubbed it down with Birchwood Casey's Cold Blue. I then hit it lightly with 0000 steel wool until it was the finish and color I wanted. It's awesome!!!! :thumbsup: