• This community needs YOUR help today. We rely 100% on Supporting Memberships to fund our efforts. With the ever increasing fees of everything, we need help. We need more Supporting Members, today. Please invest back into this community. I will ship a few decals too in addition to all the account perks you get.



    Sign up here: https://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/account/upgrades

Barrel left in-the-white.

Muzzleloading Forum

Help Support Muzzleloading Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

wiksmo

40 Cal
Joined
Jul 7, 2019
Messages
267
Reaction score
192
I believe my post might be okay in this forum. If not, okay for Admins to move it along to the right spot.

I've been considering an upcoming winter kit-build project. Have my eye on a Traditions kit of a 50-Cal percussion pistol. So far in reading about what is involved in a kit-build, I have found very little info about leaving the barrel in-the-white. I have seen a web photo of someone's pistol build with a white barrel, and finishing the wood in a very light color. It looked pretty sharp. There was one build thread on another forum where the fellow said his choice was a white barrel. Nothing else but this bare-bones statement.

In an older MLF thread, "1750 Rifle Finish" posted on 3-9-06, Flintandsteel wrote:
<Left in the white, a gun will "age" by it self and get a real nice patina. This can also be accelerated by several methods.>

Again there was nothing further than a single comment. A photo was posted, but it remains quite blurry. Sure would have liked to read about "several methods." Anyway, I am wondering if anyone has done this with a barrel in a firearms kit-build, and what are your thoughts about this barrel "finish?"
TIA.
wiksmo
 
A well polished in the white can be maintained with regular care but I prefer to have an easier bright finish that lasts. A charcoal blue requires a good polish and degrease the a couple of hours packed in wood charcoal heated to 800 degrees. You’ll get a true blue color that I think looks very nice and it needs only oiling like any other gun finish. A sample:
IMG_0400 by Oliver Sudden, on Flickr
 
What effect are you looking for? Cold blue the barrel and let the blue wear off on its own or it can be touched up as desired. If not touched up, it will leave spots where it hasn't been handled, etc. for a bit of an aged look. A white barrel will stay white if you oil it well after shooting and handling, and rust can always be polished.
 
wiksmo: I think the reason you aren't seeing any directions on how to "leave it in the white" is because all that means is to not do anything beyond sanding the surface smooth and giving it a light polish.
The degree of the polish is up to you. It can be left a soft, smooth, not shiny finish or it can be polished to a mirror like finish.

If you want it almost mirror-like but not totally mirror like you can sand the surface with finer and finer grits of the black "wet/dry" sandpaper found in hardware stores and auto supply stores. Start with the 220 grit, then the 320, 400, and then 600 grit. You can then move on to the 1200, 1500 and finer grits. These super fine grits are typically used on auto body paints so the auto supply stores or a place that supplies auto paint is the place to look for them.

If you really do want a mirror bright finish, move on to using the polishing compounds that are used on auto body paint.
Be prepared for some really sore muscles and a LOT of time spent rubbing.

Another way to get a mirror bright finish is to use cloth buffing wheels mounted on a bench grinder along with buffing compounds. I've found that the "Stainless" grade buffing compound is excellent for working with steel parts like a lock plate.

The more polished it is, the better it will be at resisting corrosion and rust.
Because the surface is bare steel, most people like to apply a good paste wax to keep it from rusting.

Here's a picture of my Bastard Gun, named that because it is a combination of German, American and French features.

I left the barrel sanded to a 400 grit condition and polished the lock with Stainless buffing compound.

cangun9.jpg
 
@Phil Coffins
@EC121
@Zonie
Appreciate the various input from all of you. :ThankYou:

EC121, I'm looking for no specific effect. I just liked the color combo I saw on that web picture of the finished kit pistol.

Most importantly in your responses, I learned some things about the rust issues. I didn't know that the more polished, the more resistant the steel is. And I might already have good wax for it. I've used Renaissance Wax on other firearms' barrels.

wiksmo

P.S. Zonie, got the message on moving this thread. Thanks.
 
Roaming the web today, I happened to come across the photo of the .50 cal Kentucky build, which has the wood & metal colors I said I liked. Take a glance at this pistol's wood and steel "lighter" look:
https://possibleshop.com/images-clip-art/La-Brosse-50_cal.jpg

Thinking about your question to me, maybe not having darker colors is an effect after all. This photo has sure influenced me to consider going after such a look on a pistol build.

wiksmo

What effect are you looking for?
 
No offense to those who leave barrels in the white, but to me, a gun left this way just looks odd and unfinished.

Sure a white barrel will patina on its own, but it won't be all at once. A section here, a part there will patina, and it will look blotchy and as if uncared for.

To each his own just not for me.
 
No offense to those who leave barrels in the white, but to me, a gun left this way just looks odd and unfinished.

Sure a white barrel will patina on its own, but it won't be all at once. A section here, a part there will patina, and it will look blotchy and as if uncared for.

To each his own just not for me.
Many early gunsmiths left their barrels "in the white." It's all in the aftercare.
 
Many early gunsmiths left their barrels "in the white." It's all in the aftercare.

What are you looking for? Bright polish, or natural grey? This is after sanding with 220, then 400, then 5 minutes of naval jelly.View attachment 16791

Natural grey. Understood about the "aftercare."

I'd almost forgotten about naval jelly. Used it last long ago in the 70s when I prepped an older card for a paint job. That stuff really went after the rust; but definitely had to be careful working with it being that it's strong.
 
Back
Top