doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Telltale signs of redone case colors

I was wondering if there are any telltale signs of redone case colors? I have a couple guns with original colors and there are no rings around where the pins go on these sidelock shotguns. Are the pin holes drilled on these original guns before or after the case hardening process? I think this scenario would be similar in terms of the holes for box locks too. I have seen several older guns on the used market with what appear to be perfect case colors, but with 'color' rings around the pin holes. I'm wondering if I'm correct in my assumption that these guns with the rings around the pin holes may very well have been 're-case colored'? Any ideas? PS: I'm talking about recoloring done in the proper bone and charcoal method, i.e., not cyanide or torch method.

you can often tell if a receiver has been rehardened, if the action binds and the triggers and safety do not operate smoothly. this is due to the receiver metal being warped, which is often an unintended result of the re heat treating process...

in severe cases, you may actually see cracks in the receiver metal caused by the stress of the re heat treating process.

better not to mess with the original receiver heat treating as done by the manufacturer.

Thx Ed. I heard through the grapevine you were an expert on such matters. I just looked at the. Holland and Holland web site. Most of their new guns aren't case colored anymore, but of the few that were, most did not have these rings I'm referring to. A couple had very indistinct rings, so I am assuming they may drill the pin holes prior to the coloring process. But NONE of these guns had these real pronounced 'rings' we see on some of these older used guns where the case color looks perfect otherwise, at least in my opinion.

buzz: take a look at gunsamerica item #913698448. this is a 16 gauge parker that has a rehardened receiver. do not see any rings around the pin holes. do you?

Near 100% original Smith colors. Are these the 'rings' of which you speak?



Original Ithaca Flues with 'rings'

Buzz - the 2013 price list indicates that H&H guns come either "colour hardened or bright finish."

As I understand it, the case hardening is the last step in the process, after all the action shaping, filing, parts fitting and engraving. Once the action has been case hardened, the surface should not be altered (e.g., drilling pin holes) because that breaches the carbon "skin" left by the hardening.

Here is a pic from Turnbull's website of an Elsie he re-color case hardened. One but not all of the pin holes has a circle around it:

I believe the "rings" are the result of the metal cooling faster than the surrounding area. The slower the metal cools the more blur results (at least that's the way I understand the process. Therefore, edges and pin holes tend to have more greys. I wonder if the pin holes were plugged with metal during the process if the blues wouldn't continue to the edge.

Case color is done after the gun is in it's finished except for finishing. Would kind of defeat the purpose of hardening a gun if you were going to drill a bunch of holes through the hard finish.

While there are few certain tells there are a few. Sometimes the colors are just wrong. Case color is not one size fits all and people who do case work need to adjust their mix or system to duplicate factory colors. If the colors look wrong for a gun they probably are. Charcoal colors on a gun which was made when cyanide colors were done are a dead give away. A 1935 Fox and a Remington made Parker had cyanide colors. Refinished guns with charcoal colors may look nicer to many people but are period incorrect.

Look for wear under the case color. Look for telltale signs of shell wear on the face of the receiver and perfect case over it. Look for pitting on the receiver and case color over it. Look for high case color on a gun with tired finish overall.

There is no one sure fire tell for redone case in some guns. It is more of a feeling that you get when looking at the gun. And always remember to the seller the case color has never been redone even if there are finger prints under it. Do argue just smile and leave the gun in the hands of the seller when in doubt.

it has been my experience that one should never reharden a shotgun receiver in the vain attempt to restore factory case colors...the cost incurred and the risk of damaging the receiver are rarely worth it...