doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com question on case color

Could you please handle the riot Marc? It's a long cold walk to NH this time of year for me and Mike, and Mearns season opens Sat.

I freely admit that I certainly don't know it all BUT, that being said --- in my now 52 years of ennealing, engraving & having said guns re-color cased vis bone & charcoal --- I haven't had any of them crack or blow. FWIW

John,..I have a box full of SCRAP frames that I've been using over the years to experiment with and perfect my CCH process., some of them have gone through the furnace as many as 10 times and I found that some are more susceptible to movement than others, but they will by the most part have some micromovements after a couple of cicles,.. but it all depends on the action type, the more delicate and dainty the frames are the quicker they start to show signs of movement, but all will anneal back to the softness of butter if properly done.

I've also gone the other route just for the hell of it and quenched some above the critical temperature,...and can tell you from experience that the colours will be unbelievably intense, but the warping comes quick and if done enough times tangs carburize right through and can be easily snapped with a light blow from a hammer.

Doing this will take a lot of dedication because of the big learning curve,..and spending a few bucks on equipment and ready set up components from brownells usually won't cut it. I've been contacted by a few guys that had started to do CCH and were looking for help, but none of them where willing to go the extra mile and put in the time and money required do it right so they gave up, unfortunately the reason they called in the first place was because they'd already screwed something up....well these are the guns that we hear about,the ones that got screwed up, the other ones ( most of them) are still in service and doing great.

CJ

OK, I'm no restoration expert but if I found out after the fact that some guy took a torch to my shotgun so as to phony up case hardining I would be compelled to either kick his a%% so hard he would have to unbutton is collar to take a leak or I'd sue the crap out of him for falsely presenting a bogus restoration. Ed, you may think you're right but you're not.

Be glad to Drew. I know you're really limited on hunting time
Wish I was joining you in a couple weeks.

Marcus

When you run this test don't just "Re-Case Color" but ""RE-CASE (Color) HARDEN". There is a vast & distinct diference between the two. Re-Case "Coloring" will have no affect on the metallurgy except to draw out most of the hardness of the case & leave it in a softened condition.
It is of course quite true the core of a piece of carburized low carbon steel will not become brittle upon quenching. It is also equally true the "Case" itself can & sometimes will if left totally "UnTempered" develop hairline surface cracks. Some steels are more susceptical to this than others. A tempering in the range of 300°F ±25°F will ususally provide adequate protection against this with little detrement to the hardness.
I have personally witnessed this surface checking on a piece of 1018/1020 steel which was "Professionally" case-hardened (not for color),then finish ground into a paralell bar to within ±.0002" dimensions. (Fortunately it wasn't mine).
It is also noted that "Chemical Coloring" (Paint on) is done on warm metal, NOT HOT which does no damage at all to any steel. This method has been described here on several ocasions & was taken from an Ithaca Service Manual for use on Perazzi Receivers, which were I believe an alloy steel & only artificially "Colored" originally.
Some I think are totally confusing this process with "Torch Coloring" in which patches of the steel are heated till they form "Temper Colors". This should be a Crime punishable by hanging from a New Rope for 30 days.
My personal preference on an old gun with the case colors gone is to simply enjoy its character "AS_IS".

i think 2-piper has come up with the best idea yet:

"My personal preference on an old gun with the case colors gone is to simply enjoy its character "AS_IS". "

trouble is, many fine guns have had their receivers polished bright and look awful. re coloring seems to be the best alternative to leaving the gun with a crome plated looking receiver finish. almost as bad is to find the receiver blued.

I have a great little 28 gauge Parker with blued receiver. It will remain blued until it wears off from hunting or goes somewhere else to live. It has more character now than it will if the blue gets polished off or someone decides to make it "new" by recoloring it.

i must confes, i hav no tised ah few blued recever gons from tim tu tim. every now en den, one o dem winchester 21's ore ah brownin bss coms ah long. man, i jes cant wait tu hit it wid de navel jelly an den watch dat blue jes disapears. den i runs de torch over hit, jest ah little bit, don ja know, an den i splashes on ah little pickel juice, an wa la! i got dem bright, i daslin case colors, jes jumpin rite out at me....

ed, i sho is glad you didunt do dat to dat thutty inch bss you sole me las spring!