"Antiquing" a Pietta brass frame Navy

[Stantheman86]

I'm going to remove the blue on the barrel and the unengraved cylinder I have on the way.

Looking for opinions.....should I leave the case color on the loading lever and hammer?

I completely "antiqued" my Uberti London Navy so I'm matching this one up to it for my CAS rig.

 

[B P Arn]

I just polished the brass on mine.

 

[Eutycus]

Are you going for that "very-much-used"-look or just the old and antique look?

 

[Eutycus]

There is a thread about using vinegar to get that gray gunmetal look. Search should put you right on it.

 

[Stantheman86]

I used Vinegar and it works great, I'll post a pic of my assembled London Navy if I get to it tonight.

I'm not really going for "antique " but more of a , this gun spent 4 years in a holster and saw a few engagements, look.

 

[Stantheman86]

I just polished the brass on mine.

View attachment 58210

You have the actual Griswold & Gunnison repro , I got the "accidental" Schneider & Glassick from Pietta

 

[Stantheman86]

The Vinegar bath for my London Navy came out great. It needs a wipe down to remove some traces of vinegar and I will put in my RMC nipples.

If I saw this gun in a case it would look like an original to me. The Vinegar leaves just enough of the Case color to give it a "well handled " look but not quite "antique".

If my Schneider & Glassick comes out as good I'll be happy. I think I'll remove the case color from the loading lever and hammer. After some shooting the brass will get a nice yellow patina and the gun will look good. I'm undecided. I might go another direction and Polish the steel up with mag Polish after the vinegar bath and leave the color case.

 

[44-henry]

Personally I would refinish it using files followed by backed sandpaper to sharpen the contours and make the surfaces flat and remove modern markings.The 19th century finishing was not perfect and tooling marks were left in places, but it was still much better than most of what you see today and they did not use buffing wheels to the extent that modern manufacturers do. Might want to install a higher dovetail sight at this point also which do appear on modified original percussion revolvers from time to time. Finish the brass to 320-400 grit and rub down with Scotchbright to get a soft finish. Following that a simple rust blue on the steel parts would be appropriate and historically correct. I would refinish the hammer and hand checker the top. I would follow this by re-hardening it using bone and wood charcoal color case hardening which I am setup to do, but that would be a minor point. Refinish the grips and go with an oil finish and just use it. It will get wear all on its own and look right, most of the aging I see people do looks overdone and not too believable.

 

[Desperate Lee]

Mine looks like this. Vinegar for grey metal look. Brass black and barrel brown for the brass furniture. Made holster myself. My 44 Pietta rebel. I believe it was Midway or Brownells that had instructions for antiqueing brass.
DL

 

[B P Arn]

How long do you leave the parts in the vinegar? Is the same technique used for blued steel parts as for brass parts?

 

[TFoley]

Particularly where re-enactors are concerned, it's as well to note that when these arms were issued, they were either arsenal-new, or reissued after repair and therefore still looked pretty new. What they didn't look like was something dug out of a hole in the ground where they had been buried for a over a hundred and fifty years.

 

[sourdough]

Particularly where re-enactors are concerned, it's as well to note that when these arms were issued, they were either arsenal-new, or reissued after repair and therefore still looked pretty new.

I have never seen any re-enactors' uniforms that look 150+ years old.

Just my $.02 worth.

Regards,

Jim

 

[TFoley]

I have never seen any re-enactors' uniforms that look 150+ years old.

Just my $.02 worth.

Regards,

Jim

My point, exactly..........

 

[Stantheman86]

Personally I would refinish it using files followed by backed sandpaper to sharpen the contours and make the surfaces flat and remove modern markings.The 19th century finishing was not perfect and tooling marks were left in places, but it was still much better than most of what you see today and they did not use buffing wheels to the extent that modern manufacturers do. Might want to install a higher dovetail sight at this point also which do appear on modified original percussion revolvers from time to time. Finish the brass to 320-400 grit and rub down with Scotchbright to get a soft finish. Following that a simple rust blue on the steel parts would be appropriate and historically correct. I would refinish the hammer and hand checker the top. I would follow this by re-hardening it using bone and wood charcoal color case hardening which I am setup to do, but that would be a minor point. Refinish the grips and go with an oil finish and just use it. It will get wear all on its own and look right, most of the aging I see people do looks overdone and not too believable.

Man, that's like 50 steps above what I'm prepared to even think about doing

I'm at "break the revolver down and soak everything in Vinegar" stage.

 

[Stantheman86]

How long do you leave the parts in the vinegar? Is the same technique used for blued steel parts as for brass parts?

A few hours was all I needed, brass won't benefit from Vinegar. It was all very easy.

 

[Stantheman86]

Particularly where re-enactors are concerned, it's as well to note that when these arms were issued, they were either arsenal-new, or reissued after repair and therefore still looked pretty new. What they didn't look like was something dug out of a hole in the ground where they had been buried for a over a hundred and fifty years.

It's not so much that I'm trying to "make them look old" it's just part of enjoying the hobby, and giving some $200 reproduction revolvers some pleasing "character " to enhance my enjoyment of them.

I never had any intent to make this gun look "150 years old", in my opinion it looks like its seen 10 years of hard carry, like it's a Crimean War vet that was then carried by a CSA Cavalryman from 1861-65 and this is how it would look circa 1868. Blue was more fragile back then .

If I were allowed to I'd post a pic of the "unmentionable " revolver I have in my work truck right now, it's from the 1990s and it shows much carry wear and character like a service weapon often does.

Plus I'm using these revolvers to play around at a CAS match , so it adds to the fun to have a pair of hoglegs that look like they've been through hell. I'll be wearing some 1860s style clothing and a mismatch, hodgepodge gun rig like I'm just a well traveled guy with seasoned gear and guns.

The "Old West " finish offered by Cimarron does , in my opinion, try too hard to "make them look original "

I'm trying to make them look 10 years old

 

[Stantheman86]

Also, my original 1861 Springfields looks like what they are, original weapons that have seen hard service. I may some day want to make a "companion " sidearm for them like an 1849 Pocket and "antique" it to match the rifles. There's all kinds of reasons to "antique" reproduction weapons.

 

[TFoley]

Quote - 'The "Old West " finish offered by Cimarron does , in my opinion, try too hard to "make them look original" End quote.

Originally they would have looked brand new. Which is what they were.

Semantics are screwing up this thread. You are just trying to make a revolver look well-used, right? Cimarron are trying to make it look as though it has endured 150+ years of hard-won existence.

 

[nkbj]

There's a browning formula for brass with ferric chloride and ferric nitrate I'd like to try.
Guess it'll have to be tried to see how well it would wear.

Have a brass framed 1860 from Pietta to tinker with.

 

[RjSixgun]

You could just put all the blued parts in boiling vinegar till the bluing come off. You'll be left with a gray gun metal type color.
as for the brass just use the same water that you clean with after shooting.....black powder water will tarnish it