Finish on Civil War C&B Revolvers

[GYJ]

The larger blued parts were charcoal blue and there's no way to do that at home. The process is similar to color case hardening. Very shop shops offer it, Turnbull is one.

 

[Pete453]

I gotta say, the " '51 Navy " in Stantheman86's photo he posted is the first I've seen with an upside down wedge necessitating a wedge screw below the wedge. Interesting . . .

Mike

Mike, i believe thars an early gun, i believe the very early guns are like that. I know where no. 27 is, ill have to ask him to look at it. I'll get back to you on that

OK, so i asked the owner of no. 27 about the upside down screw, he told me the only thing he ever found out about it was that it was an arsenal rebuild. Could be, the numbers on the bottom of the frame and barrel are in slightly different fonts. The gun in Stan's picture has a square trigger guard too. I wonder if the serial numbers match on that one?

 

[45D]

OK, so i asked the owner of no. 27 about the upside down screw, he told me the only thing he ever found out about it was that it was an arsenal rebuild. Could be, the numbers on the bottom of the frame and barrel are in slightly different fonts. The gun in Stan's picture has a square trigger guard too. I wonder if the serial numbers match on that one?

Wow thanks for asking about it! I think "anomalies" are just too cool!! After I saw the picture I took a quick look in a D. Adler book I have . . . no pic and no mention!

Thanks again!!
Mike

 

[Auldjin]

I understood the wedge/screw configuration swapped about S/No 1250. This is a second model in the 1700's.

 

[Stantheman86]

Also, Confederate revolvers from the various gunmakers had different types of bluing, and some may have been browned. Or some not blued at all , depending on who made it and when.

 

[Pete453]

i think Auldjin has it most correct. Thank you for that.

 

[Johnny Tremain]

My 1860 has a like new finsh on it, Blued everything cept the receiver which is case hardened.
My problem was the red grips.
I fixed that this week.

 

[B P Arn]

What kind of finish would a Civil War era C&B revolver have had?

Any help on how to duplicate that finish would be appreciated as well.

Steel parts from that era would have been rust blued. It is a very durable finish. It is not hard to do, it just takes time. Laurel Mountain is a good product, but there are lots of others. Just follow the directions on the bottle.

You will need a steel pan in which to submerge your parts in boiling water, but these can be easily made from an old GI ammo can. Do not use a galvanized pan.