Finishes on a fusile de chasse

[BillinOregon]

This isn't going to be authentic, as my Pecatonica kit gun has a maple stock. But what shade of finish on the wood would be closest to "traditional" for this style of gun? I plan to let the bright-finished steel develop its own patina, as I don't think the fusiles were blued.

 

[paulvallandigham]

Rub the barrel with a rag soaked in vinegar and you will get a nice gray finish, that will begin that eventual patina that will also be gray. If any fusils were bright "white", they haven't made it in that condition in the museums. Most you see are that dull gray patina that you also see on suits of armor, lances, and swords. Since fusils were used either by officers, or by civilian hunters, I doubt they wanted anything shiny in the woods to either spook game, or alert hostile Indians to their presence.

 

[Cosmoline]

What about straight rubbed linseed oil for the wood? Not BLO, but pure linseed oil rubbed in many coats over the corse of weeks. I believe that was in use at the time, or something similar. Stay well clear of any stains and avoid tru-oil as a religious matter. It's anachronistic and looks hideous.

 

[tg]

I beleive the originals were probably oil finished with no staining of any type, with the maplestock you might want to use a darker stain to give the illusion of walnut(several builders do maple on French guns) then any oil finish will work, I like a mix of blo/sparvarnish and a bit of turp, but any will work the, plain BLO is not much for water proofing as it lacks materials that were used in it 200 years ago. many add a bit of patina with mustard, vinigar or naval jelly from the factory the new ones would have been polished brite this varied from one degree to another depending on the order, records mention polished barrels and highly polished barrels.

 

[paulvallandigham]

UNtreated and NON-Boiled Linseed oil never dries. Its just an OIL! It does soak into wood fibers, and then gums up. With exposure to UV light, it darkens to an orange/brown color, but it never really dries.

But, its your gun- use what you want. You will learn, eventually, on your own.

I, on the other hand, accepted a friend's advise not to pee on an electric wire fence. :hmm: :rotf: :hatsoff:

 

[Cosmoline]

You can add a drier to it to speed it up, but it will eventually dry in any case. You also need to know to polish between coats to remove any oil that has not adhered. The process is long and drawn out, but worth it.

 

[Cosmoline]

If you want to give it that dark "dirty" look often found with old gun stocks, you can try a mix of linseed oil with genuine pine tar, gum turpentine and japan dryer. There are similar recipes if you google around a bit.