Why brown?

[Dphariss]

The customer never took the rifle apart for the 20 years he owned it, and over that period of time the acid in the wood reacted with the portion of the lock and barrel that was in the wood to create a real mess.

Famous or not, I lay the blame squarely on the builder for not killing the rust and sealing the channel.  Original guns sit around for hundreds of years without being taken apart and do not exhibit the damage done to this gun.  I wonder how many other guns by this maker have the same problem.  Expert workmanship should extend beyond the cosmetic externals of the gun.

The maker cannot overcome owner abuse.
If the outside was rust free it might be acid, but it appears pitted too, so I suspect its an owner inflicted wound.

Dan

[Ben I. Voss]

This reminds me of the time that I left 2 of my hand polished knife blades laying on the workbench next to the silver pickling pot (acid used to remove heat scale from sterling). When i returned to the bench next morning i discovered that the container of acid had developed a crack and the knife blades were laying in a puddle of the acid! Arrgh. Even though they were made of stainless steel the down-side looked about 200 years old. So much for a couple of days work!

[Larry Luck]

Any chance the stock was stained with aqua fortis or similar and not neutalized, and the rust was the result of contact with the stock and moisture?  That was my first (uneducated) thought.
Larry Luck

[Dave Faletti]

Amazing that someone would never pull the lock out occasionally to clean and oil it.  I wasn't aware some people don't seal the lock recess and other areas.  Any oil from the lock that gets on it is going to soak up. Nice way to weaken the stock in a bad place.

[Dphariss]

We have no idea if the lock mortise is sealed or not or how it was stained. This is all supposition.
Its impossible for the lock to get into this condition unless the owner allows it.
There are many possibilities. The most likely is allowing water to leak out the vent when cleaning, or run down the barrel channel.
It does not matter if the mortise is sealed, the stock is not supposed to get wet.
Look at the condition of the cock and frizzen and give the maker a break.
Dan

[TPH]

Dan is right.

[Dave Faletti]

"It does not matter if the mortise is sealed, the stock is not supposed to get wet."

ever hear of rain.  I think you missed Jim's post on the inlet.  The rifle was neglected.  My statement on sealing a stock is valid regardless of that rifle.  Unless you never hunt in the rain and never let oil get on the unsealed areas.

[Rich]

It looks like rust from neglect. If it were the rifle finish causing it, the tail would have rusted also. If it were done by the builder on purpose, the entire plate would be brown. My guess is that the old gun locks did not rust for several reasons. I believe were made of wrought iron and were case hardened. I guess the builder can be faulted for not case hardening the plate. I browned the outside of a lock plate that I case hardened. It was difficult getting the plate browned with browning solution. I lacquerd the interior side so it would not brown, then removed the lacquer before assembly.

[Dphariss]

"It does not matter if the mortise is sealed, the stock is not supposed to get wet."

ever hear of rain.  I think you missed Jim's post on the inlet.  The rifle was neglected.  My statement on sealing a stock is valid regardless of that rifle.  Unless you never hunt in the rain and never let oil get on the unsealed areas.

OK lets try rewording it.
Fools should not own guns.

My point was that sealing the stock is not going to matter if the gun gets water in the mortise and it just sets there and rusts the lock because the fool owner does not maintain the firearm.
Yeah I have heard of rain.
Ever have a horse go down with you in an beaver pond tangled up with other horses? Funny thing my lock didn't rust.
And I seal the entire stock.

Dan

[Colonial Riflesmith]

I never brown the inside of my locks. Why would you?

[AndyThomas]

The customer never took the rifle apart for the 20 years he owned it

I work on other peoples guns occasionally, and have come to the conclusion that many never remove the lock for cleaning and lubing! I can understand being afraid to remove the barrel, with those tiny little pins that have to be punched out, but locks are easy to remove. If the bottom of the barrel gets badly rusted and pitted it will still work, but not a lock. Oh well.

Andy