Color cased hardening wasn't used for appearances so-much as it was used to temper the skin of the steel used in an action body and various parts. The metallurgy of the time required it as much as anything else. We see it now as "beautiful" but it was arguably all they had to make the gun durable for the job at hand. LeFusil is exactly right, the blued parts on this Evens were likely blued originally as well. In the intervening years (all 120 of 'em!) it seems unlikely that the gun hasn't seen some form of maintenance work to keep it in order. Routinely, the good and better English guns were annually sent back to their makers for yearly cleaning and maintenance. Since this is a London-sourced gun (not likely made there, but otherwise immaterial) in it's early life, it should have received several such treatments. Over it's lifetime...who knows? Post WW1 (or even WW2), maybe not so-much. Clearly not much chance of that since it left England. Any importer marks or proof marks on it? Mine was reproved in something like 1999 in London before it went overseas (lots of that going on then).
Last edited by Lloyd3; 07/01/21 04:38 PM.
