Distressing finnish

[Joe S.]

Kinda funny trying to think about somebody walking into an 18th century gun shop and asking to have your gun built with and aged look about it.Using what where talking about here as scale he would hand you over a matchlock,funnin with you

[Eric Kettenburg]

Believe me, I can see it from both sides.  None of us walk into a car dealership and say, "boy I really like this new F150, but can you rust out the rocker panels, put some dents in it, wear through the clear coat and tweak the engine to burn a quart of oil every thousand miles?"  Often it's very hard to put this into a clear discussion because those who feel strongly on one side or the other are really talking two different languages.  I can only speak for myself; I do understand the absurdity of someone in 1780 wanting a new rifle to look 200 years old.  It would be absurd indeed!  What I'm saying is that this notion is not relevant to the discussion, because it is 2015, not 1780.  I'm looking at it as less of a specific and more of an abstract concept - the concept of continued commerce.  If someone bought a brand new bolt rifle and asked a gunmaker now to age it to look 200 years old, I would likewise think the concept would be as absurd as it would have seemed in 1780.  Nevertheless, a gunmaker's livelihood depends upon making profit as a gunmaker, so provided payment was being rendered, I'd see no reason the job would be turned down provided the gunmaker in question could fit it to his schedule.  Does this make any sense?

[Don Stith]

What would a 200 year old flintlock look like in 1780?
 Sorry I could not resist

[rich pierce]

What would a 200 year old flintlock look like in 1780?
 Sorry I could not resist

A matchlock.  

In response to the topic, not Don Stith specifically:
I remember seeing the movie The Black Robe and being shocked at seeing bare fresh wood on buildings in that movie, which is a favorite of mine.  Of course it made total sense; the colony was new.  

Here we have folks responding who are in 2 camps, though there are probably some who like their rifles both ways (aged and as new).

I'm wondering if those who prefer them "as new" are re-enactors, at least in their mental approach to the hobby (passion, if you prefer).  In other words, when they handle, carry, shoot, or hunt, they imagine themselves in the period.

Similarly I wonder of those who prefer them aged have a different mental approach.  Perhaps they look back and study that period of history and the years between remain in their consciousness.    There may also be folks who would like to be collectors, but are never going to own a significant early rifle, or a particular one, and so would enjoy having an Albrecht or Dickert or J&S Hawken or whatever that looks an original that has been passed down through the years?

Or for some it may be as simple as the way their minds work.  Like, "It's a new rifler and should look like one"?

[Mike Brooks]

I like the way the old guns look, so that's what I like to build and use. Pretty simple really, I am building what I see. If you like your guns shiny new I have no problem with it, I just don't find them attractive for something I'd want for myself.
 I don't have a "like new" option. You get what I build or find somebody else to make your gun. I suppose it may hurt my business but I have never had a lack of interest in what I'm building or selling.
 

[Gaeckle]

I think we kinda moved away from the subject of technique on how to age or distress a rifle.

Like all things, some folks like an aged finish, some don't. Some like to use a muzzleloader, some don't. This isn't for everybody, and that's okay.

Helps to have old rifles to view (they don't have to be muzzleloaders either, they can be the old war horses that were used between the 1st and 2nd World Wars and others), and just as Eric K stated: it's addition, subtraction, build up of layers, take this off, add that, set it outside to weather, drag it around......there are all sorts of ways.

Personally, I like Eric K's stuff and always like to see what he's got up his sleeve.

[draken]

My own guns started out looking as pristine as I could make them, and while I don't abuse them it doesn't seem to take long for them to start developing "character" through normal use.

[oldtravler61]

As a friend of mine once stated. A gun that looks used,worn maybe abused a little has soul. An I agree. Nothing wrong with a shiny gun. It's just not my style. BUT I sure wished I had Mike an Erickson talent to age mine.

[crankshaft]

   Some of the  plains halfstocks in the J M Davis collection had wear thru the finish at the wrist and the bottom of the forearm where the rifle rested on the saddle in the grip of its owner.