A neighbor surprised me a few years back with this kit. He'd had it for years and never got around to building it. He knew I was into traditional muzzleloaders so he gave it to me. Its a unique gun but not something that I was too interested in so it sat here for several years. The image on the box showed it assembled with a high polish which really didn't appeal to me.
A couple days ago I decided to build it but I wanted to make it look like it had been abused, neglected and about 200 years old. Somewhere along the line the trigger pin was lost. I went to the hardware store and bought a retaining clip that fit and made a pin with it.
I cleaned up all the metal and first tried to do a forced patina on the barrels and the breech. I wasn't happy with the results. I had some Laurel Mountain Forge browning solution left from a previous build so I browned the barrels, breech, hammer and trigger. After four cardings and treatments they had a nice brown. Then I used 0000 steel wool to remove most of the brown to give it a worn, aged look.
I tarnished the brass with Birchwood Casey Brass Black and lightly brushed it with steel wool. The picture makes the brass look brighter than it is. I left it darker around the nipple to look stained with use over time. I shaped the grip and sanded it but left some rough marks and added a few gouges so it looks abused. I hand rubbed 3 coats of True Oil in with about 8 hours between coats. I used a trick that I saw in a flintlock building tutorial and spray painted it with flat black spray paint. Once that was dry I used 0000 steel wool to remove the majority of it except for what was left in the recessed areas. Then I applied two more coats of True Oil and went over it with steel wool.
I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. Its the only gun I own that I don't plan to shoot. Don't really care for it only having one screw going into the receiver. Not the strongest setup. I really don't want to mess with cleaning residue from the breech either.
A couple days ago I decided to build it but I wanted to make it look like it had been abused, neglected and about 200 years old. Somewhere along the line the trigger pin was lost. I went to the hardware store and bought a retaining clip that fit and made a pin with it.
I cleaned up all the metal and first tried to do a forced patina on the barrels and the breech. I wasn't happy with the results. I had some Laurel Mountain Forge browning solution left from a previous build so I browned the barrels, breech, hammer and trigger. After four cardings and treatments they had a nice brown. Then I used 0000 steel wool to remove most of the brown to give it a worn, aged look.
I tarnished the brass with Birchwood Casey Brass Black and lightly brushed it with steel wool. The picture makes the brass look brighter than it is. I left it darker around the nipple to look stained with use over time. I shaped the grip and sanded it but left some rough marks and added a few gouges so it looks abused. I hand rubbed 3 coats of True Oil in with about 8 hours between coats. I used a trick that I saw in a flintlock building tutorial and spray painted it with flat black spray paint. Once that was dry I used 0000 steel wool to remove the majority of it except for what was left in the recessed areas. Then I applied two more coats of True Oil and went over it with steel wool.
I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. Its the only gun I own that I don't plan to shoot. Don't really care for it only having one screw going into the receiver. Not the strongest setup. I really don't want to mess with cleaning residue from the breech either.