doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com How to "tone things down"?

I recently acquired an otherwise very nice 20 ga. Ithaca NID with a Miller type single trigger and BTF. Someone has polished the receiver. Whoever did the polishing kept it flat, didn't round any edges, and didn't hurt the simple line engraving. But the receiver looks like it's chrome plated. I don't really want to have it recolor cased or blued and I hate to apply any more abrasive to it to tone it down. Any suggestions on what to do to make it look a little more "used" and less flashy? Thanks. Bill Frech

Clean the receiver carefully so that no grease or oil remains on the metal and then cut an onion in half and apply it to the metal. It is the way I antique my handmade knives when the buyer wants a "used look". Sounds goofy but it works. Chopper

Bill:

If you do what Chopper sugests, it will be fantastic to have photos of your shotgun before and after the "onion treatment"

Regards,

Loan it to a Brother-in-Law, that will put some "Patina" on it ,in my experience.

That would be interesting.

Be sure and drop a Rolaid in each barrel.

Chop,
Do you grill the onions first?

Chuck, no need to, just make sure they're strong enough to bring a tear or two to your peepers. I know it sounds goofy but on my hardened 58C Rockwell 01 steel blades they dull the mirror finish immediately. Chops --- and by the way, if you want to coin finish a colorless frame, rub a little jeweler's rouge onto a craft stick with a felt pad. Won't take out scratches but sure cleans up a colorless gun. Of course, my guns are mostly just American hardware store pieces. Chopper

http://www.survivalistboards.com/showthread.php?t=10276

I Googled Patina & Onion and came across this above thread.

Chop,
Thanks for the tip, I've gotta give that a try just to see how it turns out on a shiney piece of steel and/or a brown piece.

Chop;
Have you tried the onion on a damascus blade. Wonder if it would take uniformally.