General discussion > Gun Building
1803 Harper’s Ferry barrel browning
CooleyS:
I am finishing up an 1803 Harper’s Ferry type I and have been experimenting with barrel browning. Early military browning looks to be more brick red in color instead of the standard LMF or similar brown, and almost translucent like a lacquer. So far the closest I’ve come to this is using Mark Lee browning solution. Has anyone had success achieving a military style brown for a barrel? I couldn’t find anything in Angier’s book and am hoping that someone has a reddish brown browning recipe out there.
Clark Badgett:
Unfortunately we are looking at 200 year old guns. All the browned military weapons I've seen looked dark brown, even close to black at least under museum lighting anyway. I've never had the good fortune to examine a real 1803 in person, so I have no idea what they were like.
CooleyS:
I completely agree, everything looks different after 200+ years.
I have had the opportunity to inspect a Hall rifle in un-fired and as perfect condition as you’ll find. The browning on the barrel was different from a “regular” brown. There is also an 1803 in Cody that is in very good condition, and the browning appeared to be the same brick red, lacquer looking brown job.
Mad Monk:
--- Quote from: CooleyS on November 12, 2021, 04:05:30 AM ---I am finishing up an 1803 Harper’s Ferry type I and have been experimenting with barrel browning. Early military browning looks to be more brick red in color instead of the standard LMF or similar brown, and almost translucent like a lacquer. So far the closest I’ve come to this is using Mark Lee browning solution. Has anyone had success achieving a military style brown for a barrel? I couldn’t find anything in Angier’s book and am hoping that someone has a reddish brown browning recipe out there.
--- End quote ---
I remember a quip in Angier's book stating that they once used ferric nitrate to brown barrels. That would be the same ferric nitrate (nitrate of iron) used at that time on curly maple gunstocks. When I used old nearly pure iron bars from the 1800s to make my nitrate of iron stain with nitric acid shortly after I would pull the bars out of the acid reaction bottle the bars would turn a very red brown. So of course I could not pass up on that one. Then the BIG problem set in. That worked on old nearly pure ion but not on any of the modern barrels made with some form of steel. The old wrought iron was fairly corrosion proof bu the nitric acid would continue to work on my bars until they dried. Then washed in water to remove any acid I would wipe the bar with a thin coat of raw linseed oil and the bar would retain the red color. But I could never get that red brown color on modern steels.
When I showed my work to Chuck Dixon he thought about how he has never seen an original longrifle with browning on the barrel below where the stock wood covered it. So did they brown the barrel mounted in the stock when they stained the rifle.
Anyway. You might just not be able to get the color browning and appearance on a modern steel barrel.
borderdogs:
I once owned an original 1803 Harper's Ferry and the barrel was originally bright although the one I had had developed a patina over 200 plus years.
Rob
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