doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Case color protection

I use the satin version.

J&J paste floor wax, synthetic wax, drying oil (tung oil, linseed oil, etc.), soft "varnish, hard varnish - - - in that order. CC "fades" from mechanical abrasion (think handling with grimmy mitts); it is not photo-sensitive. The more abrasion resistant the cover/top coat, the less it "fades" for a longer time.

Brownell's baking lacquer. Tough as nails. The pictured R10 was done back in the mid 1990s and has been hunted hard ever since.

I wouldn't "rub" anything on case colors.

Best,
Ted


[img]http://www.imageuploads.net/ims/pic.php?u=39559eHIOu&i=191576[/img]

Is that an aerosol spray on?

FYI:


"Posted by Oscar Gaddy (Member # 38) on November 16, 2003, 12:58 PM:

For some time, I have been using a clear-coat aerosol spray-on lacquer made and sold by Behlens. It is a true cellulose lacquer that you can spray on and have a very uniform coat without bubbles and running with just a little care in application. When you need to redo it, it can easily be removed by merely soaking the parts in acetone. I have been very pleased with it's performance and I use it on all Damascus barrels that I refinish and on some guns that I color caseharden if the owner wants a protective coating.

Whatever you use, I recommend that you completely strip the internal parts and degrease carefully before applying the protective coating. You will then need to lubricate the appropriate parts and places when you reassemble.

Oscar Gaddy


Posted by Oscar Gaddy (Member # 38) on November 16, 2003, 10:30 PM:

Russ

You can buy the Behlen aerosol lacquer from almost any woodworking supply mail order catalog such as Klingspor or Constantine, and you may be able to find it at your local hardware or hobby supply store. The name is Behlens Jet Spray (aerosol) lacquer finish, Clear Gloss, Item number B101-0800. You can also do a Google search and find numerous suppliers.

You might want to practice on some unimportant objects first before lacquering your gun. However, if you make a mistake, you can always remove the lacquer by soaking in acetone and do it over again.

I have used 3in 1 oil for lubricating double shotguns for many years and it seems to work fine for me. Hoppe's or any other highly refined petroleum based oil should also work fine. There may also be other newer products with which I am not familiar that may be as good or better. As with any gun, use care and use only the least amount of oil necessary.

Oscar "

JC

Clear coating seems analogous to putting seat covers on a brand new car. The main thing it does is keep them pretty for the second owner. Fading out some case color is a privilege of ownership.

...Then again all my cars and guns are mediocre. Never mind.

My "concern", if I even have one, is on traces of century old case colors that have miraculously remained, albeit if just in part.

Although incomplete, they still look cool enough to want to keep them. A shiny surface seems inappropriate on these, hence my question above.

I can't believe I'm about to say this, but for these I would disagree with the late great maestro Dr Gaddy.

Craigster, your method seems closest to what I would want. Here I go parading my ignorance before the world again, but I'm unfamiliar with "spar varnish". Could you please explain wht this is and maybe even a product name? Many Thanks

"Spar varnish" used to refer to exterior varnishes specifically formulated for marine applications. They were typically long-oil varnishes (higher ratio of oil to solvent and resin as compared to interior varnishes). The higher oil ratio added flexibility to the finish so that it would not crack when applied to marine woodwork that was subject to lots of expansion and contraction because of exposure to temperature and moisture extremes. As chemistry improved, spar varnishes were formulated with UV protectants to minimize wood degradation due to sunlight exposure. Since case colors do not seem to fade from UV exposure, and since the metal in your shotgun does not expand and contract like a piece of wood, spar varnish is not necessarily the best way to protect case colors. The flexibility of spar varnish also makes it somewhat soft, and it typically (on wood) needs to be refreshed fairly frequently. Modern "spar" varnishes are often mislabeled, since they are often polyurethanes rather than traditional spar varnishes. The best traditional spar varnishes used to include McCloskey's, but the current formulation is junk (too eco-friendly to be useful for anything). MinWax Spar is a polyurethane, and is actually pretty good in some wood applications. Most big paint manufacturers will have a product that they call "spar varnish" but you'll need to read the label to determine what it actually is. Or, go with a high end marine product like Epiphanes. I'd stick with Dr. Gaddy's recommendations.

K- Kid,

This is what I use, I've always called it spar varnish, but it is now spar urethane. You know, "new and improved".

http://www.minwax.com/products/exterior_clear_protective_finishes/helmsman_spar_urethane.html

The MinWax Spar Urethane is virtually impossible to remove without using abrasives. Once it's in your engraving, it's pretty much in there forever. Even some chemical strippers will not get it out of there. This is true of most urethanes. They are difficult to refinish over because they are so hard. An advantage of nitrocellulose lacquer is that it can be dissolved with acetone or lacquer thinner. Easy to remove, easy to refinish because subsequent coats will chemically bond with the prior coats. Urethanes do not exhibit this handy property.