Oops, sorry, I didn't see your post here so I replied to your PM.
Here is the text for anybody else that's interested:
No problem. Here's what I do for the steel. I draw file the parts down to pretty smooth. Be sure to take the sharp corners off of the barrel. Then I sand with 220. I don't worry about all the scratches. Many originals show lots of draw file marks on them.
Before you start, grease the manure out of the inside of muzzle of the barrel and drive a wood dowel wrapped with masking tape into it to keep the rust out of the barrel. Put a tooth pick into the vent hole.
Then I wipe it all down with laquer thinner to clean it. I use LMF browning agent to rust it. I have a sweat box but it can be done in a damp bathroom too. I put the LMF on with a small paint brush and hang the parts in the box. Be sure to protect the areas of the parts you don't want rusted. I've used grease in the past and it works fine but I just learned that laquer or clear nail polish will work too and be less messy and cause less problems of getting on the areas you DO want rusted. Put the nail polish on the back of the lock and in the screw holes etc, any where you don't want rust.
I let it rust for 12 hours or so and then put another coat of the LMF on with the small paint brush. You don't do any carding at all with this process. Give it another 12 hours and put on a third coat. This usually evens everything out so you get a nice even rust. It takes two to three days total to get the pitting you see in the pictures.
Then I take it all out and sand it carefully with 100 grit and then 150. I do this to just barely take all of the surface rust off. Then I put naval jelly on it and go at it with scotch brite pads and more naval jelly till all the rust is off of the surface. Leave the pits and be careful about the corners. You can get those rubbed back to raw steel if your too aggressive.
Rinse the barrel clean. Then I put on Birchwood casey cold blue. The gel type. I steel wool this off till I have the color I like. It often takes two or three coats to end up with the look you see in the pictures.
For the brass, I file and sand it till it's fairly smooth. Then I let it sit for 3 to 6 hours in amonia fumes. I have a 5 gal bucket that I have cut a piece of 1/4 inch hardware cloth so it is pushed in and hangs about 6 inches off of the bottom of the bucket. Pour in some amonia, maybe 1/4 inch in the bottom of the bucket and put all the brass pieces laying on the hardware cloth. Cover the bucket and leave it for a couple of hours. Then I open the bucket up and move the pieces around, swirl the amonia some and cover it back up. Keep checking every hour or two. Just about when you start to get some thick green stuff growing seems to be about right.
Take the pieces out and wipe them off with water. Then I go to the birchwood casey gel blue again and rub it into the areas where grime and tarnish would build up in the pieces. Do this 2 or 3 times till it looks like old used brass.
Watch it with the amonia, when you open the bucket it will take your breath away if your not careful. I take the bucket outside when I open it.
Look at as many color pictures of originals as you can and look for the details of where they are worn and dirty. That's how you'll get a feel for what they should look like.
I think that's all of it. Let me know if you have any questions.
