Aging No Steel Parts

[fishmusic]

Hello All,

I have a CVA Mountain Pistol (.50 cal) that I received and am refinishing the stock to take off excess wood and address wood to metal fit. So, while filing and sanding the stock to final finish I left the nose cap and escutcheons in place to get the metal to wood fit. The steel parts of this gun have a nice weathered patina. The problem is how to get a weathered finish of the escutcheons and nose cap so that it matches the steel parts. The nose cap is pewter or something like it and the escutcheons are German silver. Will vinegar age these parts like it does steel? It would look kind of funky to have nice shiny parts on an otherwise weathered pistol. I have included photos of the newly polished parts.

 

[rchas]

I would try a slightly damp and befouled cleaning patch on the German silver. Some cold blues will blacken pewter slightly. Both will oxidize naturally if you leave them alone

 

[tenngun]

Polish your brass bright, leave the nose as is, old guns were purchased bright. If you want aged let it do do naturally
I used to let tarnish but I believe now guns would have been kept clean, but that’s an opinion
Still natural tarnish looks right, artificial looks artificial

 

[Steve Martin]

Personal taste should dictate what you decide to do. I have a couple flintlocks where all the brass and steel are tarnished and "aged" because they look good that way. I also have three that have everything nicely polished and one where everything is browned. In each case I just went with what I liked and you should too.

 

[rafterob]

Those parts will "age" rather quickly without doing anything to them. Whatever they make those nose pieces out of oxidizes and becomes a dull gray. The escutcheons and trigger guard will start to develop a natural browning effect.