Restoring/repairing browning on antique barrels

[Trapper1993]

I bought 10 antique guns at an auction for $230 total. 4 percussion fowlers, 2 percussion long rifles and 3 percussion double barrel shotguns. I'm a beginner gunsmith so i thought I would practice on them before I ruined a $2000 rifle kit. I stupidly left 2 fowler barrels in a PVC pipe with evapo-rust for 5 hours, I just wanted to get rid of some of the ugly rust that was over the browning. The one barrel is fine but another one has most of the browning removed. Yes, I know i'm an idiot. Is there any way to restore the browning on this gun naturally or through a browning solution?

 

[dave_person]

Hi,
Yes, you can restore the barrel finish. At this point get out the sand paper and take it all off back to bare metal. Then polish it with up to 320 grit paper. You destroyed any original finish so there is nothing to save. The next step as a burgeoning gunsmith is to do the research into what you have. What do the proof and maker's marks tell you? Is the the barrel patterned like Damascus or stub twist? That will determine your next steps.

dave