how to make a newer rifle look old

[Brasilikilt]

Hello everyone

I got myself a can of "Kleen Strip" yesterday and sprayed a little on the butt of my .50 Spanish Hawken......just as I was told, it took that ugly dinged-up clear coat off.
Tomorrow I'll take the barrel, the lock and whatever metal I can easily remove and do the rest of the stock.
The game plan I have going is to use fine sandpaper and steel wool to get the stock nice and smooth and then rub a ton of linseed oil in the wood.
I think that this will do a lot to "de-cheese-ify" the appearance of the rifle.
I would love to make this rifle look like it's been kicked around the mountains for a while.

What do you guys do to give a rifle a stressed and aged appearance?
If I'm feeling bold enough, I might even brown the lock and barrel in the future.....

thanks for any help

Iain

 

[rebelyell62]

Hello everyone

I got myself a can of "Kleen Strip" yesterday and sprayed a little on the butt of my .50 Spanish Hawken......just as I was told, it took that ugly dinged-up clear coat off.
Tomorrow I'll take the barrel, the lock and whatever metal I can easily remove and do the rest of the stock.
The game plan I have going is to use fine sandpaper and steel wool to get the stock nice and smooth and then rub a ton of linseed oil in the wood.
I think that this will do a lot to "de-cheese-ify" the appearance of the rifle.
I would love to make this rifle look like it's been kicked around the mountains for a while.

What do you guys do to give a rifle a stressed and aged appearance?
If I'm feeling bold enough, I might even brown the lock and barrel in the future.....

thanks for any help

Iain

Mail it to me :blah: :rotf: I'll keep it fer a year or so and then send it back(maybe) :yakyak:
On a more serious note....I've read that some folks break the rifle down and drop the stock in a gravel road/ drive, dent the wood with light hammer taps, browning the barrel/lock would also help, subject the brass to the elements etc.A bleach bath on the steel parts will also give it an aged appearance. But DO NOT allow bleach to seep into the bore or other parts (lock springs, tumblers, etc)as it will cause pitting.

 

[Roy]

To add dings and dents I put a hand full or two of rocks in an old pillow case and lightly dance this on top of the gun. You want your gun to be finished first. Make sure some of the rocks are smooth and some are sharp, and that the pillow case has a real tight weave, because if not the weave will show up in your stock. Maybe wear areas like around the wrist and at its balance point. You also may want to darken a few areas around metal parts to give it that oil stained look. :v

 

[Bountyhunter]

"What do you guys do to give a rifle a stressed and aged appearance? "

Use it. Hunt with it. Get rain on it. Fall down slopes with it. Drop it. Did I mention--Use it? Let the sun and the elements do their thing. Put the age and stress on it honestly. It will look honest that way rather than like the fashionable "distressed" furniture in the hippy galleries.

Bill

 

Legitimate question and we give SA answers!

:hmm:

Lack of knowledge for sure.

1. strip the gun as you had intended. Get it down to raw wood.

2. Buy a can of cheap black spray paint at Wally World, cost $.99.

3. Spray the stock irratically. Leave the brass or iron trim on the gun.

4. Wipe the wet paint from the stock before it has a chance to dry. Do not wipe thoroughly and leave more black arond the lock and breech areas and under tyhe cheekrest. Old guns usually have a dark buildup around the buttplate. Take almost all of the paint off at the balance point, wrist and forend where wear would normally take place. Use steel wool for this removal, not sandpaper. Steel wool will allow a blended, worn fade from one color to the next.

5. Allow the stock to dry and then apply your oil finish.

Make sure you do appropriate wear finish on the barrel. Smooth the edges of the flats with sandpaper. Strip the finish and apply cold blue, then steel wool the blue off.

The dead givaway on guns done like this is the modern sights. Spend $10 for some low profile old model sights and the gun will be a ringer.

 

[Goldhunter]

Blackpoder residue on the brass does wonders to tarnish and age it. You can either mix a little BP with water and rub it on and let sit for a while. Or when you go shoot it get your hands nice and dirty with the BP residue and handle the brass parts. If its hot and your hands are sweaty, even better. :grin:

The trigger guard on my TC Hawken is especially tarnished this way (by accident) but IMO it looks good. I like the tarnished look over the bright/ shiny brass look.

 

[brubincam]

bought a brannew rifle a few years ago.....first day out hunting i tripped and dropped my rifle,put a dent in the barrel,,,i'm aging this one naturally

 

[Goldhunter]

Yup, that'll do it too. I've aged many a firearm that way, BP and cartridge. :cursing:

 

[J.D.]

IMHO, faked aging on a gun looks fake, unless VERY, VERY well done. Especially stocks sprayed with flat black paint. I can spot 'em from 50 yards, and I ain't no expert.

If you want to add 10-20-50-200 years worth of crud to the stock, a better way is to mix lampblack, or oil based artist paint with linseed oil. Thin the pigment somewhat and wipe on the stock. Let dry for about 30 minutes, and wipe off. Re-apply if you are not satisfied with the results.

The pores, scratches, and dents in the wood should now have a darker appearance. Apply more patina to areas of carving, and feather the "grime" into surrounding areas of wood.

This is done AFTER the new finish cures.

Let the stock sit in bright sun to completey dry the linseed oil.

I would not sand the stock to remove dings and dents, just to put new dings on it. Sand just enough to remove any "whiskers" that raise from the grain, and slap on some new finish.

Re-finish the stock with a coupla coats of tru oil, or something similar, lightly buff with 0000 steel wool to give it a soft luster, and use the devil out of it.

IMHO, linseed oil is not all that great of a stock finish. Many people use it today in the mistaken notion that old time gunmakers used it as a finish. NOT so. Boiled linseed oil was used as a component in the oil varnishes used as stock finish, but to my knowledge, BLO was not used by itself as a stock finish.

Stocks finished with modern linseed oil feel gummy in damp, wet weather, BTW. More modern oil varnish finishes don't become gummy.

J.D.

 

[wszumera]

Gotta inlaw that you can loan it to for a bit?

Clutch

 

[George F.]

My father passed away years ago, but if this question was asked of him, he'd say "give it to my son", that would be me in my uncaring youth. .......George F.

 

[Bountyhunter]

Thank you for saying that.

Attempting to artificially age these guns makes them look artificial in my book. The thing that will age a gun quickest is direct sunlight. Nothing brings tears to my eyes quicker than going to a show and seeing an original gun that has been refinished and "antiqued".

Amongst my old guns, I have an M1816 TypeIII, .69 cal musket that was converted to percussion by [stamped] D. Nippes of Mill Creek Penn I believe 1840. D. Nippes contracted for 1600 guns. I also have the Smith rifle that I posted in the non ML forum a while back, and an original 1873 Trapdoor Springfield.

The thing that I notice on these original guns is that they do not have a slick finish. None of them have been varnished. The wood appears to have been oiled and rubbed smooth, but not slicked up. They are sun aged and used, but not beat up. The three old military guns have been well used, but not abused. The Smith has been redone (before 1870), and the wood is oiled and smoothed more than the others.

Beating excessive scratches and dents into the stocks and painting the stocks just doesnt emulate the originals. When you have darkening on a stock it may be around the edge of the buttplate, the lock, the wrist, and under the forearm. That is where cleaning oil seeped in between the metal and the wood and oil soaked the stock or where sweaty and oily hands gripped the rifle while shooting it. It's your gun, do as you will. It will just look better if you dont overdo it.

B

 

[Roy]

I think what a lot of people see are guns that were not finished out properly in the first place.
Aging and distress does not cover up a poorly built gun, as wonderful carving, inlays or a pretty piece of wood covers up bad architecture. I've seen all types of originals some were all beat to heck, some were missing most of their stocks, and some look almost perfect.
The one thing to remember is that when they were built they all looked new.

 

[peter]

Lend it to my brother, we call him Mr Oxidation. He can age a car or motorcycle almost overnite. On a serious note, use it and don't clean anything except the bore. After a few weekends use it sure won't look new anymore.

 

[Brasilikilt]

First of all I appreciate all of you chiming in with your suggestions and ideas. I did some searching and found this pic which is the look I'm going for.

Honestly used, but not abused.

The original clear coat on my rifle has all kinds of dings and scratches in it, and it simply makes this nice rifle look like manure. When I got the rifle it was missing some parts, including the rear sight which I replaced with a ramp adjustable buckhorn sight which I think would be pretty close to what was used back in the day.

In the past I've heard about people using bleach and ammonia to darken/green the brass. I like the idea of using black powder and water. I also will take a little steel wool to edges of barrel flats etc etc.
these are all great ideas!

The reason I'm using linseed oil for the stock is because I have some in my shop, and I know it will look all right.
The stock is walnut and I have some walnut furniture stain, so I might test that out to see what happens there.
Were any of the original Hawkens stocked in walnut?

Thanks again everyone

Iain

 

[pitgame]

I have been told, that by putting some ammonia in a bowl in a small heated room (preferably not in the house) and what ever kind of wood product (ie gunstocks or furniture), and let them set there over nite. Then set them out in direct sunlight, turning the stock over and in different directions will age the wood. You may have to do repete for several days or weeks depending on the effect you are looking for. The best treatment I have found for metal is a old tin building plug the muzzle end of the barrel and just set it out there, by the end of next spring you should have an old aged apperance. These things take a while longer, than the quick fix, but generaly look better in the long run.

Scott

 

[Recurve]

http://67.155.195.3:8050/FMPro?-db=GMA_Inventory.fp5&-format=inv_detail.html&-lay=web&-RecID=43290&-Find

This is the look I would like to get out of my GPR kit. I know the best way is to let it age 100 years but I'd like to give it a good head start.

 

Are you guys trying to make your guns look old for your persona? If so, they wouldn't look "100 years" old. Think about it.

If you're trying to make them look like they're 100 years old from TODAY, that's different.

 

[J.D.]

Military arms did have an oiled stock finish, but civilian arms with good original finish that I have seen appear to have had some sort of varnish applied to the stock. Through research I have found that most were probably oil varnishes.

Heavily boiled linseed oil with dryers and sometimes other resins added appear to be the most common oil varnishes.

These varnishes can be made today, but modern BLO is NOT the same as was used to make those oil varnishes. Modern BLO CAN be reboiled and driers added, but it's a smelly, time consuming, potentially dangerous operation.

I acquired an original 1830-50 vintage Missouri rifle with nearly all original finish. The stock is varnished, and it is dirty, but not real grimey.

One needs to handle a LOT of original guns with original dirty finish in order to learn what real patina looks like before trying to duplicate that patina on new guns.

Brasilikilt,
I'm no expert on Hawkens, but if I remember correctly, most Hawkens were stocked in plain maple, though some were probably stocked in walnut.

Remember that BLO NEEDS direct sunlight for about 8-12 hours to dry thoroughly, and it will still beome tacky in wet weather.

J.D.

 

[mikelange]

Dale made an excellent point. Like many builders, I started out browning my barrels and applying various combinations of finishes to achieve an "aged" look. Problem was, the results I took such pride in approximated the look of guns I'd seen in collections or museums, all of which had acquired their rusty, battered appearance through at least several human lifetimes of use and abuse.

Browning is, in certain cases, a legitimate "new gun" finish for steel/iron. Not to rekindle an ongoing argument, but there is documentation of gunsmiths offering either browning or bluing in the late 18th century, so there's a legitimacy to that. However, no one has ever suggested that a gunsmith at any time other than the present day offered a "pre-aged" or "distressed" finish or texture on wood or metal.

Dale mentioned the possibility of this topic being concerned with one's persona. Granted, a mountain man or longhunter would fairly quickly put some wear on his firearm, through hard use and the lack of pegs on the wall of a warm, dry house to hang the gun on after a careful cleaning at the end of the day. Even at that, though, I doubt that anyone ever deliberately beat his gun all to hell, so a persona involving even several years already spent in the rough would not necessarily have to include a gun that's been artificially put through forty miles of bad road (literally, in some suggestions I've seen as to how to put "wear" on a piece).

My computer skills are nil, or I'd be able to figure out how to post some photos of my deer rifle, which I built five or six years ago and now looks as used as some guns I've seen that were thirty or forty times as old. The barrel that started out white is pretty much brown and dull, the brass is brown, and the cherry stock has been dinged, scratched, and discolored by water, mud, and Lord knows what else, as well as scorched around the breech area from the pan flash. This just from normal hunting and shooting!

There have been several decent suggestions in regard to aging, if that's the route one chooses to go, but starting with a metal-in-the-white, oiled-wood new gun and putting my own wear and tear on it is the way I'd do it.