Ted,
Why yes it does! In reply to the suggestion of rust under a coating, My 28 ga. Merkel came to me with what I believe was some sort of clear coating. I could see some faint rusting or something under the coating in some areas of the engraving. After removing said coating and lightly polishing, it came back to it's beauty. That particular gun had been engraved by Gerhard Liebscher, Mwrkel"s master shop engraver at the time so preservation was important to me. Shoot and enjoy that gun in good health!
Karl
