Should I brown or not?

[Protrucker]

I have an unfinished gun that I purchased from a well known builder. It's an early Pennsylvania/Allentown with a .54 Green Mountain "C" profile swamp barrel. It also has a Siler lock with brass lock plate & single trigger. The butt plate, trigger guard, nose plate, & front sight are also brass. I was told that this gun is representative of one produced around 1720.

During recent conversations & research I have learned that a gun from this era would have not been browned. Should I leave this gun "in the white" & let it age to a natural patina, create a patina somehow, or go ahead & brown it?

 

[Bob Riegl]

:hmm: Of course the ultimate decision is yours, if the desire is to be "correct" for the era then by all means don't brown---but I think you can find some ideas as to how you could "develop" that desired patina. If any ideas are out there on this topic, I would also like to have suggestions on developing that aged-patina. :hatsoff:

 

[Mike Brooks]

Nobody has any idea what a gun looked like in that area in 1720. Maybe 1770, but not 1720.
There was a long thread on aging here somewhere a couple days ago that went in depth about how to do it. better take a look back.
Originaly they were fire blued or left in the white.
I found it....here's the info you're looking for.
>>>>POKE HERE

 

[Swampman]

Few if any 18th c. guns were browned. I wouldn't.

 

[Zonie]

When I built my last rifle, I wanted one that looked new. The new guns (I've been told) of the 1755-1765 era were left in the white, so that's what I did.

I wanted most of the other guns I've built to look like they were old, but treasured, so I could justify (in my mind at least) having near new stock finish but browned locks and barrels.

The one thing I would really suggest is that you should not try to build your gun to please us.

We don't own it, and we don't have to live with it. You do, so finish it so it looks like you want it to.

 

[Swampman]

Blued was pretty common too. I prefer in the white and let it rust in the field.

 

[tg]

". I was told that this gun is representative of one produced around 1720."

I would be very interested in the source for the date on the gun, and as stated it is your choice based on whether historical authenticity is a factor or not when it comes to browning or not.

 

[Stophel]

I can't see the gun, but I can just about guarantee it is based on the broken "JD" gun with the VERY fraudulent date of "1721" on the thumbpiece. Page 11 of "Kentucky Rifles and Pistols: 1750-1850". The unbroken gun is also in Rifles of Colonial America. It was almost certainly not by "Jacob Dubbs". It has the mass produced German import hardware from the 1770's/1780's. There is another gun doubtless by the same maker, with English import hardware of the same time period.

 

[Protrucker]

I'm going to try to get some pic's, but I'm having trouble getting them onto my computer.

Ducthman....any chance you could post some pic's of the guns that you are refering to? I don't have those books yet.

 

[Stophel]

Look something like this?[url] http://photobucket.com/albums/v326/Fatdutchman/?action=view&current=buckslocksideweb.jpg[/url]
[url] http://photobucket.com/albums/v326/Fatdutchman/?action=view&current=buckscheekweb.jpg[/url]
[url] http://photobucket.com/albums/v326/Fatdutchman/?action=view&current=bucksfaceweb.jpg[/url]

These photos are not my own, but they were already publicly posted on another board, so I don't think I'm stepping on anyone's toes...

The barrel is smoothbore, looks like around .55-.58 cal. and rather heavy at the muzzle. The nosecap is of the thin sheet brass variety that goes all the way around the wood (and under the barrel in the barrel channel). The lock is a later replacement. Note the imported English hardware. There appears to have never been a screw in the rear of the sideplate (you can see flat wood through the hole). While the rest of the carving on the gun is not exactly world class, I think the carving behind the cheek is not original to the gun, but was added/reworked when someone added the large piece of wood on the bottom left side of the stock where it had broken off (the repair line is quite visible). Hard to say, though. I only have the photos and have not seen the gun. I do have more photos if anyone wishes to see them.

This gun almost certainly is by the same man who built the other two published guns/gun fragments, which both have the imported German hardware.

 

[Protrucker]

OK, here's pic's of my gun. Tell me what you think.

 

[Swampman]

If you want it to be historically accurate, then don't brown it.

 

[rich pierce]

Nice looking gun, good lines, looks 1770's to 1790's. I'd leave it in the white.

 

[Stophel]

Hey, can I call 'em or what?!? :winking:

Too bad he didn't use the sideplate that matches the triggerguard and buttplate. The guard and sideplate don't look like they're inletted.

by the way, even though I hate precarved stocks, Tip Curtis does a precarved "kit" for this gun that actually looks and feels pretty durn good.

Here's the fore end[url] http://photobucket.com/albums/v326/Fatdutchman/?action=view&current=bucksforeendweb.jpg[/url]

The imported english sideplate[url] http://photobucket.com/albums/v326/Fatdutchman/?action=view&current=buckssideplateweb.jpg[/url]

and the wrap around nosecap. I don't know if it is inletted or not, but I kinda don't think so.[url] http://photobucket.com/albums/v326/Fatdutchman/?action=view&current=bucksnosecapweb.jpg[/url]

 

[Protrucker]

Hey, can I call 'em or what?!? :winking:
by the way, even though I hate precarved stocks, Tip Curtis does a precarved "kit" for this gun that actually looks and feels pretty durn good.

You sure can call them! I bought this gun from Tip Curtis this summer at Dixon's fair. :thumbsup:

Too bad he didn't use the sideplate that matches the triggerguard and buttplate. The guard and sideplate don't look like they're inletted.

Where would I find the matching sideplate? I may try inletting the trigger guard & sideplate(a matching one if I can find one). :hmm:

 

[tg]

As a novice gun student I would say 1775-1785, nice gun, I would leave it in the white, if one does a later persona as in the 1790's it could be browned as an "after market" finish, the process was advertised by that time.

 

[Stophel]

Tip has the sideplate...that's where I got my set! (Tip Curtis is about 50 miles away from me!) Haven't gotten around to using them, though, and I'm going to silver solder a tab on the front finial of the buttplate so that it can be pinned in place, as the original ones are. Haven't figured out just what I want to do with them... :hmm: