Browning Brass ?

[pa woods roamer]

I made a deal on a fullstock Hawken Flintlock. It has a browned Buttplate but Brass Thimbles and Trigger guard. Is there a process that the Brass can be browned to match the Butt plate? Thanks....

 

None that I know of. You may try darkening them with Birchwood Casey Brass Black and then wax them heavy or even seal them with stock finish. This will eventually wear off no matter what you do.
It may be a better solution to replace these parts with iron ones and brown them. Track of the Wolf sells all styles and sizes of both the pipes and the trigger guards for Hawkens.
Don

 

[charcloth]

Hello Lead Slinger,

I have been told that ammonia will darken brass well. I have never tried it.

Charcloth.

 

[Zonie]

If you try the ammonia method, do not put the ammonia solution directly on the part.

You will need to throughly degrease/dewax the parts. Boiling them in water will do a good job if you just let them cook for a while.
After degreasing the parts you will need to make some sort of closed container.
If you have a glass jar with a lid that is large enough to hold the parts your off to a good start. Also get a piece of wire.
Poke two small holes for a piece of wire thru the lid and suspend the parts from the wire.
Put a little ammonia in the jar, lower the parts into it and screw on the lid.
This takes some time so sit back or go to bed and wait till morning.
If you used a glass jar, take a look at the parts. When they are dark enough to suit you your done.

A word of warning about doing this to parts which will be subject to stress.
Ammonia has been known to embrittle brass and bronze so don't try this on a brass gun barrel or breech plug.

The finish, like Birchwood Caseys Brass Black is just a thin surface finish and will show wear if it gets rubbed a lot.

If it were me, I would go with the BC stuff because ammonia fumes can do bad things to your lungs and the BC stuff is instantaneous.
Zonie

 

[gmww]

Would a slurry of water and burnt powder do? Let the slurry turn tarnish the brass. Or is that going to be too dark.

 

[Bountyhunter]

Just wipin your brass down with yer dirty patches after you clean will take the shine outta it in a hurry. Dont take long for yer burned powder residue to put a real aged look to it.

 

[charcloth]

Hey Zonie,

Thanks for the great follow up info :hatsoff:

Charcloth

 

[TANSTAAFL]

Van's Gun Blue will dang near turn brass black, for a nice dark tarnished look, I steel fur the brass after application.

 

[George F.]

I personally haven't done this, but I stumbled across it on a site I got from the forum here.[url] http://shorinternational.com/OxidizerColorant.htm[/url]

Try clicking on that,if I did it right. If not, that is the web site and page so good luck. ....George F.

 

[Desert Ratxx]

I put some Brichwood Caseys gun Blue on a brass patch box over the weekend. It didn't come out bad, but it didn't come out great either. It will work though until I figure out how to make a steel one. The blueing comes off pretty easy with some fine steel wool. You may wnat to try it and it your don't like it rub er down and try something else.

 

[WRussell]

Depending on what's handy, you may find it easier to go to a hobby shop and get some brass blackener. The model railroad types use it. Works fine, about like cold blue.

 

[CrackStock]

You cannot turn brass brown.

You can turn it black and you might also get the steel buttplate black as well.

However, but the best choices are to live with them as they are or replace either the steel or brass. For me, it would be a replacement of the buttplate. The brass is easier to work and it is quite correct. The trick is finding which buttplate was used and then ordering that replacement.

CS