Cold1,
I really like your project. I’m a fan of single barrel shotguns. Please share more pictures and info as you can. How did you accomplish the French gray finish? I like that finish. As I understand, that finish is often achieved by first color case hardening and then rubbing the color back to gray. I’ve done some simply using Brownell’s Oxpho Blue applied in multiple coats and rubbed back with a Scotchbrite pad. Again, please share what you can about your single barrel project.
Larry
For the French Gray, I used Mark Lee slow rust bluing to rust blue it to a nice deep blue/black. I then took a little Birchwood Casey bluing and rust remover in a cup and diluted it with distilled water. I diluted it somewhere between 2:1 and 3:1, it didnt need to be exact i just didnt want it full strength. It is easier to remove a little more bluing than put it back on so i wanted a weak solution. Once i had the bluing remover diluted i painted it on the blued metal, let is set for a few seconds and then washed it off. The metal comes out with a frosty look after this, so i used 0000 steel wool and burnished the surface.That brought the sheen to the metal surface back. I keep doing this routine until i got the color i wanted. Its a little darker than most French Gray i have seen, but it will lighten up with wear and age.
One thing to note on this. Metal prep also effects the end color result. If you will notice, the lock plate seems to be lighter colored that the hammer and the receiver. I actually used a file to strike the pits off the lock plate and then finished the plate with sand paper to 400 grit. On the hammer and receiver i used die maker stones and sand paper to 400 grit. Everything was treated with bluing remover the same way at the same time and i ended up with two slightly different colors.
I hope this helps.
