doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Duracoat Clear Coat to preserve Case Hardening

Dewey,
I've removed catalyzed finish with normal methylene cloride based paint strippers. No abrasive action required, once the solvent gets under the finish it will just lift off. I've even soaked color case hardened parts in carb solvent, a similar mix of the same chemistry, and it does not hurt the case colors. I just soaked them to remove old oil that had turned to varnish, no scrubbing or anything, and I let them soak perhaps 1/2 hour, at most. Rinse in mineral spirits with some kerosene mixed in, blow off excess, and let dry, following with light oiling.

After it was restocked in France, in my lefthanded dimensions, I coated the case colored visable parts of the action on this Darne with Brownell's "Baking Lacquer". The gun was not new to begin with (1946 vintage) but, had very nice colors remaining, and I wanted to preserve what I had left. I mixed the stuff up and shot it on the action, and followed the instructions for getting it to harden in the oven. It is a good product. The gun has been used, hard, for almost 22 seasons since then, and the finish has worn off the sharp edges, but, remains and looks good elsewhere.





Coating case colors, especially those on an unengraved surface, gives them a sheen that is a bit unnatural, but, it looks better than rust growing on it.


One thing that has changed is my feelings about attempting to preserve those colors, as I'm a bit ambivalent about it now. It is nice to see those colors, but, if I wear them off, I figure I had a lot of fun in the process.

Best,
Ted

Hmmm.

Dewey, do you happen to know if Renaissance Wax has abrasives in it? I was aware that car waxes contained abrasives, do waxes for preservation as well?

Answered my own question. No, it doesn't.

How about baking? It appears any lacquer can be baked for a harder and more durable finish. Ted, it certainly looks great on your gun.

Regards
Ken

Can anyone comment on how the lacquer should be applied and if there is a particular brand or brands of lacquer that work well?

Thanks,
Patrick

Ted, most solvents are harmless to case hardening colors. The rust remover-type chemicals (phosphoric, muriatic, acetic acids) are the ones that will damage the colors (but not the hardening). The cyanide case hardening colors on your Darne are generally much more durable than those of the charcoal methods regardless of what coating is used to cover it. Savage used that hardening method on countless guns with no coating at all and they hold up quite well. Starrett and Browne & Sharp also use it on many tools.

Ken, I really don't see any reason to deal with a baking lacquer.
They are only significantly tougher if applied over a parkerized surface. When done that way, the finish is all but bulletproof.

VXC, I use Minwax Brushing Lacquer and a red sable artist's brush for repairs and blending. For a newly case hardened part, or if I'm completely stripping the old lacquer from an existing part, I use Ace Hardware instant drying clear gloss lacquer in a spray can. I'm sorry that it's not something more exotic or more of a PITA to apply. What it is is hard and skin tight with exactly the right sheen.

Thank you for sharing Dewey. Non-exotic and non-PITA are right up my alley for this type of thing. Thanks again.

I'll go with Ted again. I currently have several CC Perazzis. Competition guns, used ALL the time, shot tens of thousands of rounds and left in the sun mercilessly. The oldest has been suffering that since the mid-70s prolly and def since the mid-90s when I got it. None of them show any appreciable wear or fading simply cuz I take care of them. Use whatever protection you think best and do or don't do whatever you like. The method I hold to demonstrably works.
Besta luck

BTW, Ted - that is some damn fine looking CC

have another day
Dr.WtS

I had a correspondence with Dr. Gaddy some years ago concerning photo sensitivity of CC. He was of the opinion that CC is not photosensitive and does not fade in sunlight. None of the compounds in the film should be photosensitive. Remember, the color seen is based on film thickness.

I'm going to step out on a limb just a bit here and opine that since most CC is coated with something the fade issue is likely to be photosensitivity of the coating.

Other opinions welcome.

DDA

Deleted.

One of the blurbs I found on baking lacquer asserted that baking hardened it initially, but with unbaked lacquer the hardness was essentially the same after about three months. Opinions?

Regards
Ken

Dewey thank you for your "clearing the air" a little. I for one just can't believe you would use an off the shelf finish when you could mix your own concoction of Toluene, Acetone, Ethyl acetate, Isopropyl alcohol, and petroleum distillates! I'm joking of course. I know I'm sometimes guilty of it and think a lot of others are in that we tend to over-romanticize gun finishes and application methods. Firearms Bluing & Browning by Angier probably has a hand in this...

All of these long gone gun factories were in business to make money just like any business today. Wouldn't they have used standard off the shelf or industrial products that were available at the time?

I've stolen the picture below from a post on NitroExpress.com. The rifle was being built by Holland & Holland...

is that four little brown bottles of Birchwood Casey products I see? Looks like there are a few bottles of CCL finish as well. Huh and this whole time I thought H&H only used a proprietary and mysterious blend of Alkanet root soaked linseed oil.