How to make the stock look old.

[Art Caputo]

I think the normal aging of a rifle, or any type of firearm to the extent that the wood darkens, the barrel takes on a patina, and honest bruises and dings all create the appearance of many years of use will take years if not decades to naturally occur depending on the the owners time spent and conditions encountered when using the rifle. While there are some techniques and chemicals that can do an OK job to creat an aged look to a “new” rifle, the best examples of artificial aging I have seen were “planned” into the building of the rifle with an clear understanding as to the degree of aging desired, careful study of genuine examples, and the skills to execute well.

 

[Stophel]

I think before "aging" a gun, one should see and handle some actual old guns to see what they look and feel like (I think that's good advice whether you're "aging" a gun or not).

 

[olskool]

even the old ones were new at one time. so just let it be what it is and it will become what it will be,,,,,,,,,,,,,

 

[Bob McBride]

As mentioned by RP above Eric Kettenburg is the master of aging. My last EK acquisition. If you want to learn how to make a stock look old, he’s your Huckleberry. (This short gun is made from an original barrel and lock. Everything else, including the stock, was made by him.)

 

[Black Jaque Janaviac]

Had to look that one up

Did I spell it correctly? After typing it I thought there might be a U in there somewhere, too lazy to look it up.

 

[Grenadier1758]

I take umbrage to this, sir.

Have you heard of Mike Brooks?

Yes, I've heard of Mike Brooks and Eric Kettenburg. I admire the work they have done. They do know what a well used firearm would look like. Most of us are amateurs and I know that my efforts to make a gun look old or that some of the suggestions in this thread just wouldn't look like honest wear.

 

[Black Jaque Janaviac]

even the old ones were new at one time. so just let it be what it is and it will become what it will be,,,,,,,,,,,,,

I always thought it kind of weird; people prentending to time travel 200 years back, all their clothing is meticulous to the finest detail, but they have a gun that looks 200 years old. Only would make sense if they were carrying a gun styled in the 1500s -1600s.

 

[rich pierce]

I guess the answers to the guy’s question:”How do I age a gun?” are about 50% “I don’t like it; don’t do it!”

Having actual un-restored originals in hand is very helpful. Both Eric K and Mike Brooks have handled, owned, done work on many originals.In our ML club we have a top tier builder of Hawken rifles.Same story. He’s handled many originals. So when a customer wants one that looks like it’s had some use, he doesn’t have to use any imagination.
I think we underestimate what kind of wear and tear a gun would experience in just a couple years in wilderness use (if that’s your thing). The Lewis and Clark expedition had to fresh their rifling in the field during their trip.

 

[Whitworth]

I've picked up 3 ex-NSSA Parker Hale Enfields in the last year. They all show a beautiful patina and honest wear from lots of use, sweat, dirty hands, and gun oil. If the stock has a modern impervious finish strip it off, properly oil the wood and use that rifle so all that all the aforementioned can take place over time.

 

[S.Kenton]

I like my firearms “lightly” aged, to look used.. Around 50 years old or so, but not all beat up.
to do this I use a mixture of bone black, charcoal and rubbing oil, then I paint brush it on the places I want darkened. Then after it dries I rub the stock back and if desired I repeat. I’ve also painted entire stocks and steel wooled them back, To age the metal I simply brown or blue the metal, and rub it back some with steel wool or light grit sandpaper.I don’t like the metal to look all pitted. To age brass, I simply grab a spent cleaning patch and rub the patch over the brass area I want to darken. I do it as often as I want to darken it.
There are many ways to achieve the aged look, myself and at my age, I don’t have time to “ wait” for my firearm to hit 50 years old to get the look I want.

 

[Smokey Plainsman]

Yes, I've heard of Mike Brooks and Eric Kettenburg. I admire the work they have done. They do know what a well used firearm would look like. Most of us are amateurs and I know that my efforts to make a gun look old or that some of the suggestions in this thread just wouldn't look like honest wear.

I aged a grip on an 1858 Uberti revolver and smacked it about with a screwdriver. I made the mistake of not moving the piece around so most of the nicks are in one direction and under scurtiny aren't convincing.

Case in point yep yep.

 

[D.Summers]

Look at work by Brent Gurtek. He is a master as well

 

[Cornbread]

This should probably be a new post or discussion. I've been meaning to post these images and link since the summer in 2020. With a bunch of help from others, I took my Dixie Tennessee Mountain Rifle and altered it so that it doesn't look like what it is from across a room or range and aged it.

This thing was a "steal" at a local muzzleloader show in Washington state. The impetus for finally getting this thing to look as it does was when the tang snapped. From there, it was a project that morphed into soooo much more and that was, gunsmithing, woodworking and learning about how these rifles were made.

5 new photos by James Ross

Anyway, those are the finished images...albeit I still have a few more things to do before being DONE!

Cheers,
James

 

[Bob McBride]

Look at work by Brent Gurtek. He is a master as well

I’ve never seen one of his guns. I do know of him from his gun control forum posts and his OpEd’s supporting UBC’s, including for muzzleloaders. Interesting guy.

 

[Crow-Feather]

I take umbrage to this, sir.

Have you heard of Mike Brooks?

Thanks, I had to go look up "Umbrage"

 

[user 49399]

I once got to shoot an original Austin Lorenz that was actually carried by a confederate soldier in the Civil War. The owner had purchased it from a family who were direct descendants of that soldier. I got to look that gun over quite a bit and wondered how each mark, scratch and worn place came to be. Undoubtedly, most were probably from the soldier during the war. It had patina all right but there was also some strange, eerie, unnatural yet wonderful feeling about that gun, something that can't be recreated artificially.

 

[tenngun]

Remember guns came new in the old days.

 

[flntlokr]

Let it age with you. Back in 'the day', all of those old guns were new at some point, and aquired their character honestly.

 

[user 49399]

"Austrian"

 

[GO OutDoors]

Let it age with you. Back in 'the day', all of those old guns were new at some point, and aquired their character honestly.

If it age's with me then It won't look much different in 20 years when it took 100 years to get the old guns to look like that. Back in the day they carried there every where. Try doing that in today's world!!