Iron Furniture on a Hawken

[BigMikeM]

I have an Investarms Kit and it came with brass furniture. I was thinking about blackening the brass so that it looked like iron. I was wondering what y'all think about Iron furniture on this type of rifle. P.S. I'm going to brown the barrel, if that helps.

 

[john12865]

I did that with my trade rifle, but didn't blacken it black.
It has a very dark antiqued brass look to it that many people have seen and liked.

 

[tg]

I don't se that it would matter much on this type of gun whether one use iron or brass or blued/browned or left the barrel in the white.

 

[MikeChapin]

I'm with Tg. Do what you think looks best. Though it is a nice rifle, changing the furnature to make it more historically correct is a waste of time. Doing it because you want something a little different than everyone else and adding a custom touch should be reason enough.

I have a CVA Mountain Rifle that I restocked many years ago. The Mountain Rifle itself was a generic plains type rifle that really did not look like any original. I put a Leman stock on it not because I thought it would be more historically correct. I needed more pull and drop than the CVA stock had. The rifle fits me well, looks good and shoots great but it will never be mistaken for a Leman trade rifle.

 

You might try aging the brass to give it a little patina. I have used super blue by birchwood casey and wakhon bay aquafortis to age brass.

 

Though it is a nice rifle, changing the furnature to make it more historically correct is a waste of time.

I didn't see in the original question anything that would suggest that the goal was to be "more historically correct". Be that as it may, the nice thing about tarnishing/blacking the brass is that you can do it and if you don't like it, just get some brasso and polish it back off again. I doubt that you can make it look like iron, particularily the butt plate as the black will get worn off when you put it on the ground to load but give it a try and see how it looks.

 

[tg]

The HC question was not directly asked but when one askes about a certain type of furniture or finish on a certain type of gun it becomes either a matter of personal taste or following the trend the is historicaly documented thus the reason for the responses, if the gentleman likes the look of brass blackened that is his choice, if HC is in the back of his mind the nature of the type of gun makes it a moot issue, I think it is just a matter of covering the all the bases on the question.

 

[Bill Hall]

I too got a sense that the question pertained to historical correctness and must agree with TG and Mike. "Plains" type rifles were fitted with either iron or brass furniture. Either one works.

BigMike, if you're trying to make brass look like iron, I think you're going to be dissappointed. Whatever finish you apply to brass will wear off to a certain degree, especially on the trigger gaurd and buttplate, and a yellow/red brass undertone will show through somewhat. In the end, brass and iron are two different animals.

"Aged" brass looks nice and may be more what you're looking for. Like mentioned earlier, B/C super blue or aquafortis (or any acidic or caustic substance) will color brass to give different patinas. Bill

 

[Bri in Chi]

Rocky Mountain rifles, including Hawkens had iron furniture. I suppose a few had brass, but not typical. Of course, if you are making a fun shooter, it doesn't matter. Make it look the way you want. Have fun.