Why brown?

[Blackpowder Barbie]

Here is a lock we got in to work on today.  It poses this question to me, why brown the inside of a lock?  It seems to me that browning can at times if not cleaned regularly,  reactivate and encourage more rusting.  So then why take this risk on a perfectly functioning lock and end up with all parts and screws stuck together?  What really is the benefit of browning all the parts of a lock?

[California Kid]

I guess the owner was wondering why his lock wasn't sparking well.

[Blackpowder Barbie]

Actually, it was hard to cock....

[eseabee1]

WOW that looks nasty I have browned the outside but never inside and like anything else you have to keep them clean ...looks like you have some work ahead of you

[northmn]

Admittedly I have fireblued locks where the inside gets blued, but never have screwed on up like that.  When I brown them I never browned the inside.  Bet you get all kinds of interesting work in.  What used to get me was some of the junk they used to manufacture, like some of the Jukar as an example.  Most of that stuff is not made anymore.

DP

[roundball]

Here is a lock we got in to work on today. 
 

Is that some sort of a one-of-a-kind / lock that makes it valuable to pay somebody to work on it  vs.  just replacing it?

[rdillon]

Probably trying to get free warranty work done.

[Simon]

It looks to me like the person slopped on way to much browning solution, and it ran under the lock. He probably  didn't know he should clean it up.  It looks like one of mine when I spilled the bottle on the lock. I cleaned it up and re-browned the whole thing (front only).  lesson learned; be careful.   

[Don Getz]

I can't think of the comedian's name, but he has a famous saying....."you can't fix stupid".............Don

[Roger Fisher]

I can't think of the comedian's name, but he has a famous saying....."you can't fix stupid".............Don

Ron White!

Of course the inside of a lock plate should not be browned, blacked, greened, yellowed or pinked that's a given.  Who ever did that was a genuine slop.!

[Dphariss]

I quite browning the outside of locks about 15 years ago, its ugly and not HC IMO.
Looks like he was "aging" it.

I have learned to never ask "why". There is no logic to hobby home gun work. He may not have known what he did. Maybe he stained with nitric acid and just put it together with no neutralizing.  I used to run a Motel, trust me the average human teeters on the edge of extinction when he has nobody to keep and eye on him. They used to get thinned out by bears, cats, wolves and other tribes. Now that society is relatively safe the culling has ended for the most part.
And with that I am going to move on before I really get in trouble.

Dan

[billd]

I always brown the inside of the lock, at the same time I brown the bore.

[Acer Saccharum]

I think he was browning the gun while assembled. Probably didn't know he should take the lock out of the gun to brown it. I'll bet the barrel has rust/bright spots as well. Don't try to get it out.....it may be attached by rust to the wood.

[ozkjim]

My Mama says,
                        Stupid is as stupid does,or sumpin like dat.

[James Rogers]

I always brown the inside of the lock, at the same time I brown the bore.

Ha Ha!
Believe it or not, back in the 90's my cousin received his long awaited new gun from a "famous" gun hacker. The bore was rough as a cob and nicely browned throughout!

[B Shipman]

Don, that was Ron White. You can fix her teeth, you can fix her ti--, you can fix her a--, but you can't fix stupid.

[J.D.]

<<Why do people brown the inside of their locks?>>

 Because red  is too gaudy? 

God bless

[Lucky R A]

   That example does not surprise me one little bit.  My guess is that the owner of the lock is a first time builder, that (1) Did not know how to disassemble a lock for proper finishing.  (2) Bought a bottle of browning solution and did not bother reading the instructions.  (3) Was in a big hurry, because this gunbuilding thing took a lot longer, and was a lot harder than anticipated.  (4) Rationalized,"well it don't matter cuz it is on the inside and nobody will ever see it. (5) Never heard of removing the lock for cleaning and did not know that lubrication at the right place is your friend.   
        Believe me, after building a couple hundred front loaders and occasionally getting them back for service, I have seen neglect in maintaining locks etc. that would make you cringe.  Mark Elliot wrote an excellent three pages on shooting,care and maintaining traditional firearms that I copy and hand out with every gun sold.  Even with Mark's excellent instructions I still see lock internals frozen with rust.   We are lucky to be able to share information on this forum, some of these guys could care less to learn anything further than how to make the gun go bang and possibly hit what they are aiming at.   

[Don Getz]

Several years ago I built a copy of that early dickert rifle, the one with double set triggers.  It turned out pretty good, I
really liked it, and I sold it.    Several years later I went to a local shoot and this guy was there with the gun.   I picked it
up and cycled the lock......felt real raspy.   I asked him if he had a screwdriver, and he produced one.   I removed the lock
and it was in sad shape.   He said he never removed it when he cleaned the gun, so I proceeded to give him h___.  They
are basically a little machine in there and need oil, at the very least.........Don

[Birddog6]

I would say one of two things.  He browned it & forgot it & left it, or he may have did like I did one time. 

I was building a rifle & had spilled some brass black or Clorox on the table. (don't remember which)  It soaked into the wood. Couple of days leter I had forgotten about it & I laid a brand new Deluze Siler down on the same place I had spilled the stuff, & didn't pick it up for a month.  When I picked that sucker up I about had a fit !  as it looked just like that one you have !  TOTAL rust & I mean a real mess........    I salvaged the  outside parts of the lock &  tossed the lockplate & internals as they were way beyond cleaning up.   

[Jim Chambers]

Here's the rest of the story as Paul Harvey said.  This rifle was made over 20 years ago  by a very well known/highly respected gunbuilder who gets thousands of dollars for his work.  I'm fairly certain he used aquafortis as a stain, and like was done on many old guns, did not "waste" finish on the barrel channel or lock inlet.  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.  While I don't recommend routinely removing the barrel after each trip to the range or woods I do suggest an occasional disassembly will go a long way toward preserving an expensive investment.

[Dphariss]

From the looks of the cock and top jaw screw it looks like systematic abuse/neglect to me.

If he let the exterior get that bad the interior is going to suffer too.

Dan

[Cory Joe Stewart]

I have a fowler right now that I borrowed from a friend and am thinking about buying.  I tried to take the lock off and it was rusted to the barrel, and it did not look that much different than the one Barbie is showing.  So I am wondering if this was done on purpose.  I have a picture of the lock I will post it if I get a chance.

Coryjoe

[jim m]

this is absolutely the truest statement about modern man that I have ever read. well said. I work  part time in a convenience store and some people are just 1 brain cell away from a monkey. I take that back, I've seen smarter monkeys in the zoo.

I quite browning the outside of locks about 15 years ago, its ugly and not HC IMO.
Looks like he was "aging" it.

I have learned to never ask "why". There is no logic to hobby home gun work. He may not have known what he did. Maybe he stained with nitric acid and just put it together with no neutralizing.  I used to run a Motel, trust me the average human teeters on the edge of extinction when he has nobody to keep and eye on him. They used to get thinned out by bears, cats, wolves and other tribes. Now that society is relatively safe the culling has ended for the most part.
And with that I am going to move on before I really get in trouble.

Dan

[T*O*F]

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.