Barrel Finish for JK SMR

[canadianml1]

I am just finishing the 100% curly maple stock and it is quite dark. Thought of taking it down some more but it really looks great the way it is. So I will finish with Truoil and call it done. I think it would look great with a blued barrel(Perma Blue) and furniture but wonder if this would be PC for an SMR from western NC circa 1820. Those in the know please comment. Thanks.

[Dennis Glazener]

I am just finishing the 100% curly maple stock and it is quite dark. Thought of taking it down some more but it really looks great the way it is. So I will finish with Truoil and call it done. I think it would look great with a blued barrel(Perma Blue) and furniture but wonder if this would be PC for an SMR from western NC circa 1820. Those in the know please comment. Thanks.

I have not seen a SMR from western NC with a blued barrel, but they possible were around.

Also have not seen a 100% curly maple SMR from that area, most were pretty straight grained stocks.
Dennis

[Stoner creek]

Does anyone out there really know how those parts were treated when they left the gun shop for the last time???
 I have an iron mounted gun that Brian Barker delivered to me in October of last year. The color of the metal has already changed due to use after only 11 months. Imagine what 150+- years will do to one.
 Finish your parts the way that makes you happy.

[RAT]

I'm 100% convinced the iron mounts on these guns had no metal finish of any kind and were left in the white. The surface finish could range from rough file marks to a fairly smooth polish. I own an original with the metal finished in what I describe as "polish over file marks". In other words, it has a pretty smooth polished surface that took some time to do... but no attempt was ever made to remove all the deeper file marks. This runs counter to what we're told to do in all the books on gunmaking.

The color we see today is nothing more than the patina acquired through age. I have old tools from my dad with the same color. Another plausible idea is that the hardware was left in place when the guns were stained with aqua fortis. The acid would have been wiped on metal and wood at the same time. This is plausible when iron hardware was nailed in place. I can't believe they temporarily attached the hardware... removed it to finish the wood... then nailed it back in place. They would have simply nailed it on as they were building and left it alone.

Artificially aged guns are very popular today. The closest one to new-original looking that I've seen was this one by David Rase...
https://americanlongrifles.org/forum/index.php?topic=55387.msg554073#msg554073

He taught a class on this. You can apply a standard rust brown as per the instructions, then wipe it off using Naval Jelly and steel wool. It's that simple. Of course... after doing all the work to get a good rust brown finish, it's really hard to convince yourself to strip it all off.

[Jim Kibler]

Could be, but 100% certain?  You must be more easily convinced than I am😉

[Hungry Horse]

 I think a lot depended on if the builder was a full time gunsmith, or a farmer that sometimes built a gun in the winter to supplement his income. In Arkansas I saw guns built in the late 1850’s that had their metal blackened with linseed oil, just like a blacksmith would finish metalwork.
 There was actually some hardware that one local guy had sanded off thinking it was old black paint.

Hungry Horse

[RAT]

Jim has me 100% convinced that 100% is a bit of a stretch. I'll revise it to "pretty sure" instead.

I'm not saying other finishes aren't known. I know someone who had the chance to examine "Old Scaley". He said there is, in fact, forge scale on the barrel.

I think Jim used an original Whitson rifle as a model for his mountain rifle kit. Maybe he can comment on how the original might have been finished. I looked at the photos of the 2 Whitson rifles in "North Carolina Schools of Longrifles 1765-1865". One looks like a grey patina... the other is more of a brown patina. 

[canadianml1]

Thanks for the comments and discussion!!

I think I'll just use brass black and take it down with degreased 0000 steel wool. This way a recoat will be more even.The first SMR I did was done with brass black but I used 0000 steel wool out-of-the-box. The patina is there but uneven.

Thanks again.

[Fly Navy]

Well I know how they finished them, but I'll never tell.

[Bob Roller]

On the very few I made the barrel was left as it came from the maker Bill Large and then draw filed and a stock and lock and trigger and a butt plate and trigger guard were added.The real finish took a long time by exposure to weather and people handling it.No bogus aging was needed,only time.The locks with one exception were all cap locks and they were polished bright including the hammer and fire blued and on one,an out and out target rifle with no rod or rib was case hardened and accidently a good variety of color occurred. on plate and hammer.
This gun was destroyed years ago in a fire that took a home and all other things with it.The gun was made in 1972.
  The very last one was a project started by ?? and was a 58 caliber flintlock and very simple in construction and used the last Ketland lock I ever made.The barrel was GM and it shot really well even with .562 balls even at 100 yards and no set trigger of any kind.This was back in 2008.I left it in the "white" and used an oil on the walnut full stock.
Bob Roller

[Jim Kibler]

I think the original surfaces of longrifles, especially mountain rifles are very uncommon.  The number of examples in existence is so small that it is impossible to draw any widespread conclusions as to something like barrel finish.

Jim

[Dennis Glazener]

Sometimes when you pull the barrel on an original SMR you will see bare metal and very little patina. Now was the exposed part of that barrel left as bare metal and the patina just from exposure over the years or was only the exposed area browned when the rifle was originally made?

My circa 1820 Mathew Gillespie rifle appears to have been browned when built. The barrel has no file marks and the finish is a very smooth chocolate-colored finish on both the exposed area and on the underside of the barrel. Of course, the finish may have been applied after the rifle was originally built, who knows after 200 years!
Dennis

[bama]

I think it is your gun, finish it as you desire.