Polishing Brass

[ADK Bigfoot]

I polish. I want my "old guns" to look like period "new guns." No gunmaker delivered a tarnished or rusty gun to a customer.

ADK Bigfoot

 

[N.Y. Yankee]

I enjoy your YouTube channel Bob!

 

[Bob McBride]

I enjoy your YouTube channel Bob!

Thanks brother, it means a lot. I appreciate it!

 

[Dale Lilly]

I polish my brass, rub my iron with wax, shave on occasion and wear clothing from the 90s. I spent 22 years doing military stuff and display my medals/ribbons with some pride … but I am personally a slob now. I have too many guns to maintain them perfectly, but they all work fine .. it's just that I don't work so fine any more. Polecat

 

[Johnny Tremain]

If I had a daughter I'd name her Patina...

If I had a daughter I would name her Debris, because thats what she is.

Considering all the time the Brits took to keep their Besses in the white, brass would take a lot less time.

Pride = shiny neglect = dull.

Thats why I build my flinter out of rusted steel.

 

[Bob McBride]

For you brass polishers. How do you keep your ramrod pipes and the inside of your trigger guards as shiny as your easy to polish buttplates? Do you take them all off or just polish what you can get at? Just shine the easy to polish parts? How about when you have a wedding band on your BP? How do you polish that without wear to your finish near those tough to polish areas over time? My brass would be tarnished back up in a month or so, so how often do you polish and do you polish your regularly fired guns that much more than your safe queens or do you just sort of get around to it once a year or so? What do you consider an acceptable level of dis-polish? The more I consider it done properly the more a bloody chore it seems.

Sincerely Curious in Tennessee.

 

[appalichian hunter]

Bob, spend eight years in the Marine Corps then the polishers will know how to properly polish brass.

 

[Bob McBride]

Bob, spend eight years in the Marine Corps then the polishers will know how to properly polish brass.

Yep. I spent 2 of my years in the Corps at MB 8th&I and a year guarding fancy folk in DC. No one, and I mean absolutely no one on this earth, polishes as much brass as 8th&I.

That’s another reason I don’t reenact. Been there. Got the tattoo.

 

[appalichian hunter]

I used to gripe about polishing the brass pins that held the door hinges together, until one day during a inspection the First Sgt. removed one and just smiled at the troopers. While were at it you can polish a galvanized trash can until it shines like a diamond in a goats A##, We even polished the internals in the crappers. The list goes on.

 

[Bob McBride]

I used to gripe about polishing the brass pins that held the door hinges together, until one day during a inspection the First Sgt. removed one and just smiled at the troopers. While were at it you can polish a galvanized trash can until it shines like a diamond in a goats A##, We even polished the internals in the crappers. The list goes on.

At 8th&I not only was the Commandant there all the time (He lived with us on the one square block base in SE DC) but we had at least two IG inspections every week. (Every Marine General or Navy Admiral who came to DC had to take the opportunity to IG the Commandant's Own Marines). I dressed in Blues most days.

 

[Smokey Plainsman]

I’ve been known to let my hair down and enjoy a little patina from time to time.
Seriously, some old guns like Spillers and Henrys and stuff get a sort of goldenrod patina, not the dull dark brass look but I’ma talkin REAL sorta flat n’ yeller lookin.

Yall known what I’m talking bout? I’d love to recreate that look but since’n I’s only ever seent it on old guns, jes takes times uh guess???

 

[Bob McBride]

I’ve been known to let my hair down and enjoy a little patina from time to time.
Seriously, some old guns like Spillers and Henrys and stuff get a sort of goldenrod patina, not the dull dark brass look but I’ma talkin REAL sorta flat n’ yeller lookin.

Yall known what I’m talking bout? I’d love to recreate that look but since’n I’s only ever seent it on old guns, jes takes times uh guess???

I suspected you were a wild man G.... Yea, takes a while. I have an original brass barrel pistol that is so phenomenally patinad I would croak if someone decided it was an Alladin lamp that needed a shine......

Here's a mint original late period Ketland in my collection that is another piece that would give me a heart attack if my wife decided to do me a favor and make it shiny.... (This one is for the .29 Soddy build. I'll patina the gun to match the lock. 5 years of use is about it. Nice, but well used and well maintained.)

 

[tenngun]

I polish. I want my "old guns" to look like period "new guns." No gunmaker delivered a tarnished or rusty gun to a customer.

ADK Bigfoot

I’ve been thinking that of late, I’ve took to keeping my brass fairly bright.

 

[Smokey Plainsman]

I suspected you were a wild man G.... Yea, takes a while. I have an original brass barrel pistol that is so phenomenally patinad I would croak if someone decided it was an Alladin lamp that needed a shine......

Here's a mint original late period Ketland in my collection that is another piece that would give me a heart attack if my wife decided to do me a favor and make it shiny.... (This one is for the .29 Soddy build)

View attachment 59396

What a beaut! Looks amazing, and .29 sounds real fun! We have some fast moving ground squirrels here in Nevada. Would be perfect medicine for those!

 

[appalichian hunter]

Yep Bob nothing like a good dog and pony show.

 

[RedFeather]

When I was in the Navy, when we were told to "polish up the bright work", we hauled out the trusty can of good old NeverDull, the sailor's friend. A wad of that stuff would have the brass gleaming in no time at all. Of course, two days later you never knew it had been touched. (Why it was verboten.) I was later assigned to submarines where the only thing we polished off was dinner. Aside from door knobs, I haven't polished any brass since.

 

[Bob McBride]

Yep Bob nothing like a good dog and pony show.

Yup. Rurnt me forever for wearing Sunday clothes......

 

[appalichian hunter]

Yes my second tour in the corps I was a recruiter know what you mean about the Sunday clothes, My first tour was with the 3rd Marine division Never seen a dress uniform except going to the division and when I came home, it was all the old style OD green utilities, the last part of my first tour was spent at camp Lejeune 2nd tanks with the then new T.O.W. missle system we deployed on a NATO cruise and were issued the camo utilities.

 

[Bob McBride]

Yes my second tour in the corps I was a recruiter know what you mean about the Sunday clothes, My first tour was with the 3rd Marine division Never seen a dress uniform except going to the division and when I came home, it was all the old style OD green utilities, the last part of my first tour was spent at camp Lejeune 2nd tanks with the then new T.O.W. missle system we deployed on a NATO cruise and were issued the camo utilities.

Very cool. I never was around the TOW much in the Fleet outside the field but I saw her unspool wire in anger in Desert Storm. I wore the old camo too. No name patches like today, just the eagle, globe, and anchor on the blouse pocket.

 

[longcruise]

No one, and I mean absolutely no one on this earth, polishes as much brass as 8th&I.

Dunno, the Third Herd did their share!

I used to keep one of my rifles on the wall in the family room. The wife insisted that I keep the brass polished. When we moved i didn't hang it up again. She still notes the lack of shine at every opportunity. When I built a little 50 for her it didn't have any brass on it.