doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com factory vs nonfactory case colors

Ed Case color don't fade the wear off through handling or wiping them down with dirty cleaning cloths. What you are saying are brighter colors are due to metal preparation by using a finer grit when polishing before hardening or the application of a protective coat of clear varnish after case hardening.

Your "fish eyes" are a dead give away that the metal has been torched as you will never find those types of patterns on a properly color case hardened piece of steel. Also the uneven heating resulting from your uneven and uncontrolled application of heat actually degrades the strength and toughness of the metal by drawing the temper and hardening in random patterns.

This has all been pointed out to you before. What can't you understand about it?

I think he's spent too much time huffing acetyline in the basement of the fictitious Ed Lander's shop.

I've come to the conclusion that no matter how big the hammer, it will never be big enough to knock any sense into him.

Correct case colors from 85 years ago





Correct case colors from 6 months ago




Like an Oriental hooker "same-same"

twice: case colors do fade and will eventually disappear with age and exposure to the elements. if left alone, they usually turn brown.

pre ww1 guns typically had brighter case colors than gun made after ww1. why that is so, i do not know. your suggestion that it has to do with prep and polishing is interesting.

as for torch work...i do not do any gunsmithing of any kind.

as for the subject late nid...i agree, the case recoloring job could have turned out better. the good news is that it looked better overall in the flesh than it did in the flash, so to speak...however, i did sell this gun quite a while ago and for a good price. hopefully, the present owner still likes it...also, i am comfortable knowing that, even though the appearance of the receiver may not be pleasing to everyone, i am confident that the factory heat treating of the receiver was not altered in the recoloring process and that the gun is still as safe and reliable a shooter as it was when it left the ithaca factory.

TwiceBarrel, not so sure about your comment that Case colors don't fade. I would think that oxidation and ultra violet rays must have some impact on them.
Maybe some experts in the Case Coloring arena can comment.

cliff: nice looking gun. not much apparent color left. however, engraving and lighting may have distorted that.

have begun to notice that some early pre ww1 english case coloring appears to be duller and not as colorful as work typically done here? do you agree? in any event, it is a joy to see guns with high percentages of original factory color.

i wish it was safe to reproduce factory high heat bone charcoal case coloring without worry about the negative effects of altering original factory heat treating of the receiver metal. the good news is that in recent years, i have seen less and less of guns damaged due to incorrect receiver heat treating. seems like the case rehardening guys are getting better and better at their trade?

No but we are seeing more and more guns ruined through the application of acetylene torching.

Yes, UV deteriorates Case Colors ........while discussing this same topic a few years back, Ken Hurst (ex Colt engraver) posted that Colt changed out certain SAA's annually in their showroom because of UV case color loss, caused by the UV in their flourescent lighting.

Clear lacquer over the surface of case colors does nothing to stop the UV deterioration and usually yellows badly after a couple of years. It just made the case colors "shine" a little bit for the new buyer.....

Sunlight directly entering the old glass faced gun cabinets would deteriorate case colors......very common and very well understood in the industry.....

Obviously cleaning with anything abrasive will deteriorate the colors as well, as case colors are a thin colored skin with shallow penetration near the surface of the metal. Many customers want "distressed and weakened colors" so many smiths use various cocktails to rub on the surface of new CCH thereby dulling the colors. Mother's alloy wheel polish works well for this type application, used sparingly and by rubbing lightly of course.

For most metal surfaces, older guns that are used suffer most from "sweaty hands" over the years. Browning used to publish in their owners manuals about sweat and finger prints, recommending that owners clean them off immediately after use or handling and even included a special yellow treated rag with each new gun. Sweat is especially brutal on rust blueing......sweat contains salt and can make your guns look like a N.Y. taxi pronto.
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This particular LC was shipped from the factory in August 1914 and still shows about 50/60% factory case color coverage, although the colors have dimmed over the years from UV as mentioned above.



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Re-Cased and restored 1926 LC, I completed it in 2007......weekly shooter ever since......



Best,

Redone NID...

Original factory colors can often be found on forend irons, where they've been hidden from light and rarely touched for decades...