defarbing help needed

[moconfed]

How do I 'gray' bright steel on a rifle?
Thanks!

[Marc]

May I ask why you want to grey the steel? I would just let it age naturally.

[moconfed]

I've got a Pietta navy that I stripped the blue from using Birchwood Casey blue remover, and now it's completely bright steel. I'd done the same with a Uberti Walker a few years ago, and then used cold blue on to refinish (it had rusted, or else I wouldn't have messed with it), but over the last couple of years, it turned a nice gray, more along the lines of the patina on original firearms of the time.
I'd just like to know if there was something I could do to the navy to gray it artificially- similar to aging brass using urine, etc.

[Curt-Heinrich Schmidt]

Hallo!

Historically, ideally, you would not want to "gray" a barrel or gun furniture.

If one's Mental Picture is to have a reproduction gun that looks closer to originals, then, yes, it is better to move it from some of the artificial mirror bright finishes produced by modern factor buffing wheels and buffing compounds back to either the look of an armory burnished piece when new or the look that iron or steel took on when maintained in the field such as with fireash paste.

At any rate, the bright finish is nothing more than finely polished metal where the human eye does not see the very small scratches in the surface and perceives them as a "shine."

Green or red SCOTCH BRITE pads, or fine emory and oil will take down the artificial factory bright found on many repros, and leave a more period looking finish.
There after, one can maintain it in a Period manner, and let Nature work on it as it did for the boys back then.

Others' mileage will vary...

CHS

[Curt-Heinrich Schmidt]

Hallo!

Oh, I just saw the last post...

Nevermind.

IMHO, Period revolver finishes are a horse of a different color.

The look of Period revovlers when in use during CW has nothing to do with the "gray" look of an original that has lost its "color" due to age and environmental changes over the past 140 years or so (or what antique dealers, collectors, or reenactors may have done in stripping off what is left of blueing and case hardening because it looks "dirty" and "bright" looks better.
To answer the question, NAVAL JELLY will take metal down to a flat gray. Also, any cheap liquid or past "blue" can be applied and gently removed leaving the acid altered "gray" on the metal which kinda/sorta looks like a 140+ year old antique.

To answer the question...

NAVAL JELLY or any cheap liquid or paste blue can be applied. NAVAL JELLY will turn the metal to a dull gray. Blueing can be gently removed leaving the acid altered gray underneath to kinda/sorta look like a 145 year old antique.

CHS

[lincolnsguard]

Use it at events, it will turn naturally. CW soldiers did get issued new rifles on occasion.