Lock finishes

[KILTED COWBOY]

Well I have finally got this Chambers Colonial taken apart. Tapping out that tumbler was a b#$&*.
Thanks to everyone for their advice.
I am now in the process of filing,sanding,polishing.
Next question is what do y’all do for the final finish?
Do you leave it bare metal and keep it oiled. The metal looks like it is cleaning up nicely.
Do you blue it like the barrel, or something else.
Tried to search feature but no luck

[Dave Marsh]

I used Jim's metal aging formula he sells.   Easy to work with.

Dave

[rich pierce]

Sounds like an early rifle.  A lot depends on whether you are finishing it so it appears new, or used but well-cared for for 10-15 years, or with 30 years of use on it.  On originals of the colonial period the locks were finished bright for the most part.  Now they appear brown after all this time, due to accumulated rust and rubbing.

[KILTED COWBOY]

Rich, yes trying for rev war period.
Want it to look like it would have to the rifleman using it at the time, not artificially antique.
So leaving bright would be HC.
Thanks

[Pukka Bundook]

Locks tend to look "rightest' to me if case hardened.
You don't need the colours of case hardening, but the finish is entirely different if a lock is hardened. More of a grey-brown "porcelain' look.
Not blued though.

Good luck,

R.

[JTR]

On originals of the colonial period the locks were finished bright for the most part.

Really? I must have missed it.

Where did you come upon that information?

[Tim]

Im working on a Kibler SMR and I plan to LMF rust blue the barrel and also the butt plate and trigger guard. How would the rifle look if I polish the lock and leave it bright or maybe a rubbed back finish using a cold blue or some of Jim Kiblers patina solution?

[KILTED COWBOY]

So how is a lock case hardened. And what components get this treatment

[Pete G.]

I use phoshoic acid (rust remover) to get a gray patina. Also seems to add a small amount of rust residence.

[rich pierce]

On originals of the colonial period the locks were finished bright for the most part.

Really? I must have missed it.

Where did you come upon that information?

Going on Euro guns kept in new condition. See European collections and reference The Encyclopedia of Trade Goods Volume1 “Firearms of the Fur Trade. Also Moravian Gunmaking II 113-126 showing an Oerter returned from Europe. Barrel and lock bright. Other rifles captured in Rev War and kept in English collections show bright locks.

Do you have other data on how locks were finished in the Colonial period, other than current condition?  It’s well known that the British military arms were all kept armory bright wile in use, but almost all appear browned now.

[KILTED COWBOY]

Think I remember reading some threads on here that British military rifles were kept bright, but that civilian rifles were different. Would bright be HC for a Pennsylvania long rifle?
Also would still like some information on this case hardened
Thanks

[Turtle]

 I also use phosphoric acid to achieve a French gray color. I find it adds a lot of corrosion resistance and if a little rust spot forms, it is easily removed with more acid on steel wool. You can get it at ace hardware.

[ron w]

anything that kills the first layer or two of steel molecules will resist subsequent rusting. hence the common practice of rust blueing or browning.  both blueing and browning is the process of creating a layer of rusted, dead cells on the surface of steel because the dead cells cannot react to anything they come in contact with.

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

KC:  case (pack) hardening is accomplished at red heat. The parts to be hardened are packed in a carbon rich material consisting of bone, wood, and leather charcoal, in a crucible with a lid.  The crucible is placed in a fire or furnace and held at red heat for a period of time, several hours sometimes.  then the crucible is removed and dumped all at once into water at room temperature, sometimes having been aerated.  The carbon rich environmemnt in the crucible allows carbon to be absorbed into the surface of the lock parts, which when cooled quickly in water, have a glass hard surface, only a few thousandths of an inch deep.  But the advantages are profound...wear resistant, rust resistant, and interesting colours.  There is much more to it than I have mentioned, and a search will come up with lots of good reading.

Good luck.

[Dr. Tim-Boone]

So,  based on all the varying opinions on this site and what I have seen in museums and books, I made a 1765 Southern longrifle with the Chambers English round-faced trade lock and browned and rubbed the metal back to an aged gray.... a well-cared-for gun used on the frontier... I  also built a 1745 English Stalking Rifle with an Early Ketland Lock... That one I polished all metal to mirror bright, and left it that way. Its been to the range a few times and I do use renaissance wax on it but its five years old and still mirror-bright!  When asking Jim Chambers what he thought would be most appropriate, he suggested the mirror-bright as the gun was one which would have belonged to the gentry in England and they had servants to keep their guns well polished and preserved!!! :-)

Long story, the point of which is, that the metal finish depends on the type and date, and story/location of the gun...