doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion Classic & Custom Single Barreled Sporting Rifles @ doublegunshop.com 1874 Sharps Business Rifle Restoration?

I have an original Sharps 1874 full round barrel .45-70 rifle in the shop and the owner is looking for ideas on what to do with it. Rifle was poorly re-blued sometime in the not so distant past. Stock was broken and repaired, also poorly done. Forearm is missing a sizable piece of one edge, rear sight is missing parts and front sight is gone. Bore is not particularly bad for its age.

I've been leaning towards recommending we attempt to return the rifle to a more authentic look by stripping the blue and giving it a aged look. I do many restorations, but those jobs bring a worn firearm to a near-new look; not the other way around.

Opinions, please? And, anyone know techniques to give metal an aged appearance?

Thanks

John,

I read that some very early Highwalls were case colored and then the color was buffed off leaving a silvery mottled appearance that tends to look more aged than color or new blue.

R.H. McCrory (I believe) made some tapes showing how he partially restored and age-matched some muzzle-loaders and even a Colt Pocket Auto. I've viewed them but don't remember where, possibly rented from the ASSRA archives in years past. In any case I remember that his techniques seemed simple & effective and his results seemed quite good.

IMO you're on the right track with your partial-restoration ideas.
Good luck, Joe