Not that it matters a hoot, but I really like the looks of the gun without the case coloring. The engraving has so much more contrast.
After annealing for the engraving, the metal needed to be hardened again. The original plan was to take off the colors after hardening, leaving a gray finish. John at Classic Guns did such a beautiful job (the colors are light and the engraving is still easily visible) that I have a new plan - I hope to use this gun to the extent that when my kids fight over it at my death, it has a gray finish.
