A question of Ferguson rifle finishes.

[lexington1]

I am going to refinish my Narragansett Ferguson rifle. It is so-so, but they overly buffed the heck out of everything and sort of rounded the surfaces. My question is, does anyone here know what the original steel finish was used on the originals? I like the looks of the later Baker rifles with the browned barrels, case hardened lock and tang, and fire blued small parts, but would this be authentic on a Ferguson? It seems that there is a tradition of using browned barrels and color cased locks, but I have not been able to find anything concrete on Fergusons. This is my Ferguson as it is now.

[rmnc3r]

I complained about mine when I received it - Narragansett blithely replied that it was finished to "British Ordnance Specifications"  (NOT!)

So far, the only modification I've made is to install a (unhistorically correct) THL, since it is a shooter and not just a safe queen.

[smart dog]

Hi,
There has been some discussion recently that the barrel and action were browned.  There is some evidence that the pattern 1776 muzzleloading rifle has a browned barrel and Jesse Melot says he saw evidence of browning on the Ferguson rifle in the Milwaukee museum.  However, there is no evidence of it on the Morristown gun, which I have examined and was also examined in detail by Ernie Cowan and Richard Keller. The Milwaukee gun has markings filed off and evidence of having been diddled with.  However, the Morristown gun has a gun metal (bronze) screw plug whereas the Milwaukee plug is steel and so are most surviving Fergusons made for officers, EIC, and sportsmen. So the answer is probably do what you want.  You can probably justify browning or not browning.  I would not brown the lock, rather case harden it and leave the temper colors or polish them off. There is a recent article in Muzzleblasts about the Ferguson, which describes browning the barrel, action, and lock but the author is very unconvincing and relies entirely on one person's opinion.  Lexington, do what you want and if you brown the barrel that may be correct.  We just have no conclusive evidence that it was done. 

dave

[lexington1]

Thanks Dave. I think I will probably Color case harden the lock and the breech screw, and brown the barrel. I really like my Ferguson, but I think it looks horrible the way it was sloppily finished by Narragansett. It seems like case hardening the lock and browning the barrel has been pretty common with military rifles, especially later. Besides, I think it would really look good! I saw the article in Muzzleblasts, but my opinion is also not backed up with anything but my own biased ideas.

[smart dog]

Hi Lexington,
Color case hardening would probably not be correct.  Correct would be case hardened and polished bright or case hardened and temper colors left unpolished.  You don't see color case hardened locks becoming popular until the very end of the 18th century despite the fact that some credit William Bailes with using case colors as a finish. He died in 1767.

dave

[lexington1]

How would you finish the turn lever/trigger guard? I found your write up about glass bedding the action and barrel. I think I will do this also as I really enjoy shooting this and don't want to break the stock.

[smart dog]

Hi,
I would Leave them bright and I don't think I would harden them.  You sometimes have to apply quite a bit of torque to open a fouled breech and I would be concerned a hardened and tempered trigger guard would be too brittle with respect to the inevitable twisting motion that would be applied.  Also, during any hardening process the handle likely would warp a little. 

dave

[Daryl]

Here's one Taylor made, all finished.

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

It seems to me I browned the barrel with a polished watery thin brown rather than a matted heavy rust.  All the rest is polished bright.

[lexington1]

Beautiful job! If mine turns half as good as that I will be pleased.