GPR Kit Question

[Murf425]

To the guys who have built a GPR kit (or similar):

What did you do to the butt plate/nose cap/ramrod guide? They are bare steel; am I supposed to leave it white...blue it...polish it...what?

 

[Rogue River]

Brown it or all of the above. Whatever you like.

 

[ghostdncr]

I'll be starting a GPR .54 flinter in the next couple of months and am planning to brown all the metal parts. My last one (.50 cal cap) was all brown and pleased me considerably!

 

[Goldhunter]

Well, that's the beauty of a kit, you can make it your own. Most you'll see on here are browned or blued. There are a couple nose caps that have been left in the white.

Do a search on here for GPR, GPR Kit, etc and see what pops up. :thumbsup: There are a lot of variations.

 

[jbtusa]

Brown the bare metal parts. Browning is a tough finish and looks time historically correct. You can get the Laurel Mountain browning fluid, which is a cold browning process, from any of the on-line dealers. Plus cold browning is an easy and fool-proof process.

 

[Zonie]

Murf425
One of the neat things about building your own rifle or pistol from a kit is it can be whatever you want it to be.
Everyone has their own little likes and dislikes but you don't have to please anyone except yourself.

I'll give you some of my thoughts on the options for finishing metal:

"In the White", that is, polished bare metal.
This option is usually not liked by hunters because of the shine. If you choose to do this, remember that if the surfaces are just sanded they will show finger prints and rust fairly quickly.
If they are truly polished to a mirror shine they are much less prone to rust.

"Antiqued": In this case meaning the appearance of an old, well used "In the White" finish. It is usually a soft grayish color and can be done using things like mustard, Naval Jelly, and some other mild acids.

Blued: Fitting for 19th century guns there are two ways of doing this.

Cold Bluing: Usually made for "touch up" finishes it can look quite good or rather mottled.
Cold Instant Bluing is not very durable, the sharp edges being the first to show wear.

Cold rust bluing: This process is basically a Browning process using a rust browning method. The hard brown rust is then treated to a bath of boiling hot pure water which turns it black or blue/black.
This form of bluing is very hard and durable.

Heat Bluing: Good for small parts where the part is heated until it turns blue and then dropped into some oil to cool it. This is not a durable finish.
Larger parts like a gun barrel are rather difficult for the average person to blue at home.

Hot tank bluing: Way beyond most home builders capabilities because it deals with melted "salts".
This type of bluing is quite durable but having it done by a gunsmith is costly.

Browning: There are two methods for browning, one hot and the other cold.
The hot method uses Birchwood Casey Plum Brown.
The parts must be heated to 275 degrees +/- 10 degrees F. for it to work. This can be done in an oven or with another source of heat like a propane torch.
When the solution is applied it acts instantly. It usually takes several applications to get an even looking coat.
This method is very shallow and leaves the appearance of the metal unchanged so if the surface is shiny it will remain shiny.
It is fairly durable, much more than the Instant bluing that was mentioned above.
The fumes are rather nasty. It should be done outside.

The cold method is done by applying a non-toxic solution to the part and then subjecting it to a humid environment where the surface rusts.
The rust formed is a very hard dark brown rust that is very durable. (This is the same method that was mentioned above under bluing.)
Several "rustings" are required to get a good even finish.
This finish actually rusts the surface so the finished coating has a soft velvety non reflective look.
Because many feel that some of the original guns made in the 17th century were finished this way, and many of those guns, even if finished "In the White" or blued have naturally browned over the past 200 years, is the preferred finish for most muzzleloaders.
It is easy to do, very durable and it looks authentic.

There are some other methods but this should give you a good idea of what is available.

 

[Fuzzy Sites]

I like a bit of contrast rather than browning all the iron parts. The lock had nice color case hardening tones which I did not care to change. I browned all the parts except the nose cap which I polished and left in the white. I also buffed the heads of the barrel wedges. I was still filing in the sights and working up loads for this gun when I took these pics. The gun is very accurate now and shoots nice tight groups to point of aim. I built this kit in the winter of 2003/2004. I recently upgraded the triggers to Davis Deerslayer Double Set Triggers which is a major improvement over the stock triggers. Good Luck with your new rifle......Fuzzy Sites

 

[Tweek]

After filing out all the foundry marks, and sanding it all (trigger guard, butt plate, nose cap, ramrod thimble, eustacions, etc.) I think I'm going to rust blue mine with Laurel Mountain Forge Barrel Brown using the method here: http://www.hobbygunsmith.com/Archives/Aug03/HowTo.htm

I had to do quite a bit of filing on the inside 'V' part of the nose cap on mine to keep it from rubbing on the barrel.

If you're interested in seeing my progress (metal is still unfinished), I've been posting pics on a makeshift blog/site I put up. I've been meaning to post it over here sometime anyway, here's the link:
http://patchandball.tp2p.com/muzzleloading/GPR

 

[mazo kid]

Tweek, you have done a fine job of finishing that rifle. And you got lucky with that piece of wood....very nice.

 

[jtmattison]

I browned mine. You can blue them also.

HD

 

[Tweek]

mazo kid - thanks, it's my first kit build, and I am thus far pleased with how it's turning out.

 

[Goldhunter]

Tweek, you have done a fine job of finishing that rifle. And you got lucky with that piece of wood....very nice.

:shocked2: No kidding! That's some nice looking walnut!

 

[stewart.leach]

Murf and Zonie: when I did up a CVA Mtn Rifle kit a some years ago I imposed on the guys at my favorite pizza restaurant to use their oven to heat parts. This way the whole barrel was at a nice even temperature when the BC solution was slathered on.

White Fox

BTW: I think it was the 12 pack of Michelob that turned the trick on getting them to stay an hour late.........

 

[Little Wattsy]

I browned mine and like it....wouldnt hesitate to leave it "white" and let it age naturally

 

[aloyalistdawg]

Hey that sounds awesome so any pictures?
best regards a loyalist Dawg :thumbsup: