Suggestions for "antique' finish?

[1851]

Hello,

I have an old CVA 1860 Army that's pretty much a wall hanger.  I've cleaned it down to the bare steel and I'd like to give it a finish that will make it look like an old war veteran.  I thought I might use some Birchwood Casey blueing liquid and polish the highlights to make it look worn.  Does anyone have suggestions for something that might achieve the look I'm after?

thanks - Tim

[Ramrod]

You could use the cold blue, and then remove much of it with a fine wire wheel. I have only seen long guns done like this, but they were nice. The exposed metal patinas on its own with handling. Another option, is to use a rust remover like "Naval Jelly" for a uniform a grey patina.

[Shorty]

1851,
Since you already have it polished down to bare steel, you won't need the naval jelly.  I'd recommend Plumb Brown, available in any gunstore.  It'll leave a brown finish as dark or light as you want, and you can highlight it with crocus cloth after treatment.

[1851]

Thanks for the suggestions.  After thinking about the look I was after I went with some cold blue and applied it last night.  It turned out great!  Because I had polished the bare steel the cold blue didn't absorb very much (not that does very well anyway).  Any sharp edges and corners took almost no blueing so it looks like the pistol has wear.  It turned out a nice "gun metal" grey, no pun intended.  It looks like old steel with patina.  It's a great use for cold blueing, I certainly wouldn't be impressed with the blueing if I was looking for a new, even, deep finish.

[Dalton Masterson]

On my Walker, I put a nice plum brown finish, then went over it with a cold blue, then rubbed it vigorously. Took a little chunk out of the stock, and gave it a few dings on the barrel where they wouldnt matter. Turned out well. Lightly polished the color casehardening to remove the new color too. After cleaning while the gun was still wet, I added a little salt, and let it dry. Sounds extreme, but really gave it a nice look.  DM

[Third_Rail]

I've used H202 to get a nice brownish finish... I think that's what Birchwood Casey uses anyway!  :grin:


Look up "metal finishing techniques" for other cheap things like that, Google is a good place to look.

[1851]

DM - You did a nice job on yours.  

I'll give a Google search a shot too.

Lately I've been working on an Uberti 1858 Remington.  I bought a "Millennium" edition knowing that I'd be removing that crappy finish it comes with.  What I didn't expect was for it to be assembled from straight castings.  It looked like there was no finishing done to it at all.  There were pits and bumps all over it and the trigger guard had no polishing or fitting whatsoever.  That's ok, just turned out to take longer than I expected.  I was surprised how soft the steel on the frame was. The barrel and cylinder are made of a harder steel.  I'm going for a well used but not aged look, like how it would have looked as a trooper carried it.  I'll post a pic when I'm done.

Tim

[Dalton Masterson]

Oh yeah, I forgot. Mine also took a trip through the dishwasher which left it a nice orange. Steel wool that off lightly and oil, and it gets a well used look. DM

[filmokentucky]

That's a nice aging job. What make is that Walker? I've got an old Uberti that I've been thinking about aging---it has that so-called charcoal blue finish and it just doesn't look right.

[Dalton Masterson]

Its an older Uberti. I bought it at Cabelas about 10 years ago, and the finish lasted about 2 days in the holster. Its been antiquing for a long time now. DM

[1851]

Here's my finished project.  It started as a matte black Uberti Millennium which I stripped and polished, then refinished.  The lighter area in the middle of the barrel is just a camera effect.  The color came out nice, and it's close to the look of older blued guns.  

I took it out just the other day for the first time - shoots really well!  Sights were right on and no adjustments or fiddling with anything was needed.


http://members.cox.net/tlewis18/1858Army">

[Remington Kid]

If you go to some of the antique gun sites you will see that most of the civil war era revolvers have very little or no blueing left at all. They are back to metal or slight rust browning. If this pic comes out you will see my Remington along with an original.Mike