Looks to be etched in the bluing

My guess would be a roll stamp?...Geo

I think it is Silver inlay.

The silver colored inlay on the rib looks to be etched, there's a etching technique that used special masking medium and the lettering was done with a typewriter.

Looking at the lettering it looks very much like it was typed by an old typewriter, (look up Etch O Matic for an idea), then a silver or platinum wash.

Respectfully

Mike

Mike, I think it is deeper than a wash. I have restored several barrels with silver lettering and they have held up well to polishing.

Hopefully an engraver will come along and tell us how it's done.

Its a silver inlay .Shows up as the black will not colour it .

A roller or stamp would distort the rib due to the pressure it would need.
These inlays were never very deep and did have a tendency to come out espesialy when strippingand relaying so some did get filled with tin as a cheap way of repair .

I have a commercial etching system, .010 depth is not an issue (deeper than many roll marks).

Just going thru plausible and period correct processes.

Clearly the markings on the barrels were engraved, then barrels were rust blued. They needed a quick way of marking the winner’s name.

Roll Stamp? Not practical for a one off, and it would take quite a bit of time, remember, most period roll dies were hand engraved.

Engraved? Very possible, but the marking looks too uneven for it to be engraved, they are not exactly in line, and the letters really don’t look sharp enough to be engraved.

In my mind it really looks like an etch, notice that it kind of looks “smeared or cloudy; very evident on the “C”, the “O” and top of the “N”, which an etch would produce, especially if you don’t have the stencil tight against the metal. The spacing and lack of perfectly straight lettering is very reminiscent of pre WWII typewriters.

An etch would be a very quick and practical way of putting the winner’s name in place after an event, could really be done while the winner waited. If properly done the stenciled etch would only burn thru the bluing where marked, so the bluing would not have to be redone.

The fact that the lettering looks bright and not tarnished, makes me think it something other than silver. On Winchester 1 or 500 and 1 of 1000 they used platinum inlays on the bands, also platinum was used quite a bit on sights. Pre computers and semiconductors, there wasn’t a lot of uses for platinum, and it was actually cheaper than gold and didn’t tarnish like silver

Just a thought

Usually the simple silver inlay of engraved lettering and done before the rust blue.
Fine Silver (.99) is used. Nice to work with and not the usual annoying quick tarnishing coating that Sterling will get.
Though Fine silver will tarnish some as well.

Cut & under-cut (dovetail the edges) the lettering just as you would as if they were to be inlayed with Gold,,or Copper,,or Brass or Platinum.

Carefully tap the silver wire pieces into place. Many times you can 'run' a piece of wire around corners of a letter so you don't have to cut it and restart again, butting the two ends against each other.
Even so, the soft metals will swage together seemlessly if carefully done. The first method is a bit of a time saver.
Inlaying lettering can be time consuming especially some styles.

This simple Block Lettering is about as simple as it gets.
All the same width (cut with one flat graver of a single width). No little caps & serifs to undercut and inlay (and keep straight and even!)

Platinum can be used if you absolutely don't want any tarnish. The color will be a bit less than the bright white of silver in most cases but not enough to tell in lettering.
The biggest draw-back in Platinum for the engraver is that it's much harder than silver or gold (or brass or copper) and any of their annealed states) and difficult to work with when compared to the others.
Price wise, it's now more $$ than 24k gold, but in times past was less I understand. I think aluminum was too at one time.

Simply flowing tin into the cut lettering will also get you 'inlayed' lettering. No under-cutting needed as it's soldered in place.
The metal is polished off just as the excess from the engraved & inlayed process is done leaving you with the flush inlay.

Rust blue won't both any of these but the carding process, especially a carding wheel can rough up the polished surface of a soft metal like gold or silver.
It will then take on a very dull look as the rust blue process is continued and when completed is sometimes quite dark and has almost a tarnished look.
Steel wool or thistle carding around and on the inlays avoids this.
Sometimes inlays that are to be detailed like animals and other figures are left smooth but final shaped. Then the rust blue is done. Then the final details are completed.

That so as not to destroy the hours of tedious detailing work on the inlay(s) with a carding wheel.
That can make for a very unhappy engraver.

I recently purchased platinum at a price lower than gold by a good bit, much to my surprise. I have used platinum often over the years and it is indeed harder to inlay than the other metals you mention Kutter. I did finally learn that you have to anneal platinum at 2300 degrees (hotter than a propane torch), which melts at 3000 degrees, and it is nicer to inlay but work hardens with the first hit so must be set with that firs hit (meaning the area directly under the punch or you get to start over redoing the cavity and annealing the wire.

Interesting, but those letters aren’t inlayed, you can see the striations on the ribs through the letting.

Yep, very easy to see that this is not an inlay if you blow the picture up a bit. Actually, it looks like it was done with a rubber stamp and white ink. Could be another Bob Cash upgrade.

kieth

great catch.... once you blow it up, it certainly looks like white paint/ink

Believe it or not, there are other Lincoln Jeffries that are marked that way as well as other makers/retailers. Still the question remains. How’s it done?

When I enlarge the photo the striations appear to be from the sanding of the rib/inlay which I have seen on many of my own lettering inlays prior to polishing with a much finer grit.

Credit goes to RARiddell. It was his comment that prompted me to enlarge the photo.

For those who don't know how to do that, press and hold the
"Ctrl" key on your keyboard, and at the same time, hit the "+" key several times. Do the same thing with the "Ctrl" and "-" key to reduce it back to the usual size.

So what's the concensus? Seems like at least a few who do inlay are suggesting the 'striations' are just sanding marks that could be seen on inlaid silver while others see those marks as rock solid proof that it's not inlay

I would have to have the gun in hand to confirm, at least to myself.

Jim, did you enlarge the photo and look yourself? The more you blow up the photo, the more apparent it becomes that this lettering isn't inlay work. And I don't know of any engraver who would lay claim to doing inlay that looked like that. If the owner of the gun likes the lettering, he should be very careful to avoid wiping it down with lacquer thinner.

As I have had to have this kind of lettering redone on numerous occasions ,coming out when reblacking or stripping and relaying ribs ,its the engraver who refills them .Biggest problem is they are often not cut deep enough te engraver not wanting to go to deep for fear of breaking through a thin rib .Any marks showing are from clothing off after the letters were inlaid .

Looks inlayed to me

It is inlayed why would anyone ink, paint stamp on the rib

The two F's have the exact same smudge to the left. It's not necessarily the easiest thing to engrave a clean straight line, but I suspect it would take an engraver way more time than it's worth to replicate a miss cut.

I'm going with an inlay, they can look crude up close. The striations are due to the fact the wire is inlayed and then the rib and inlay are sanded smooth.

From my Hellis 2", 12ga. This can be magnified again....