Metal finishes

[RAT]

Ivey's book on North Carolina guns has a gun attributed to David Kennedy (Bear Creek school-rifle #6) that is iron mounted. Does anyone know if any type of finish was originally applied to the mounts? What about the barrel and lock?

or...

How were iron mounts generally finished in the late 18th-early 19th century? I know some about barrel finishes. Locks seem to be polished bright in the 18th century, but when did it become popular to leave the lock in it's case hardening colors?

Gusler had a series of articles in Muzzle Blasts awhile back that mentioned early mounted "black" guns. he proposed that the barrel and mounts might have been charcoal blued.

In the making of contemporary guns today, how are people finishing their mounts? I'm not talking about the whole aging thing... but about finishing an iron mounted gun to appear as new. I've been seeing guns with rust blued barrels and mounts with color case hardened locks and patent breeches. Is this combination of finishes appropriate, or is it being done to appeal to modern tastes?

[AndyThomas]

The only iron mounted rifle I've done in a good while can be found here: http://s498.photobucket.com/albums/rr347/FlintlockAndy/RonniesRifle27/

The barrel and mountings were charcoal blued (packed in charcoal and heated to about 800F). The lock was left silver/gray, since heating the case hardened parts (on originals) would have softened the case. Also, we left the trigger and bolts/screws silver/gray for the contrast. Is this how the old guns were done? I don't know, but it does look nice.

Andy

[aflo]

The coloring on that rifle is amazing. The photos on the stone background don't hurt either.

[James Wilson Everett]

Guys,

Here is a Lehigh rifle.  It is entirely hand made from wrought iron, most of the metal starting from a wagon wheel rim.  All of the exposed metal is fire blued, I try to catch the color at what I call "peacock" color which is blue/purple.  It looks great when first finished, but the color wears off rather quickly, especially on the barrel and lock where exposed to the burning powder.  Why? - Just because I like it!

Jim

[BONES]

I have developed a method of duplicating damascus twist finish on bares.  1 - Tape off the barrel in a spiral leaving about 1/4 inch space of exposed metal.  2 - Use a heavy black felt marker mark the exposed metal.  3 - Remove the tape and add border squiggles along the outside black line using an ultra fine tip marker.  4 - Using a sharp scribe scratch off small squiggles inside the black line and adding any detail.  5 - Brown in the usual manner with as many coats as you normally use.

The marker acts as a barrier to the browning process leaving it light brownish/gray.  Carding and polishing will remove the black marker.  The finished look depends on how much time you spend scratching the squiggles with the scribe.  I have an original French pistol to use as a guide and have gotten a fairly accurate reproduction.  Also you can see examples of original high dollar guns by googling damascus rifle barrel.

[Hungry Horse]

Many years ago a local shooter had an original half stock plains style rifle in about .60 Cal. made in the British Isles by Dickson. the barrel looked for all the world like a stub twist barrel, but when the barrel was removed from the stock it was plain that the pattern was added to a regular barrel.
 An old gun builder, that is long gone, ( Bill Lauderback) told me when I first got started in muzzleloading, that if you use original techniques in building a muzzleloader, you can't create anything that hasn't been done before. I really believe he was right.

                    Hungry Horse