A raven seems to have been a fairly popular choice on varmit and other small caliber rifles back then. I can think of a few times I've seen them used pre war and early post war. But not much of late.
No I don't think steel inlays either. Not because of the difficulty in inlaying the stuff, but rather because of the color they are now.
The work is done 'in the white'. The resulting blue is from the whatever blueing process done to the receiver,,the inlays receive also.
In this case the cast steel(?) composition of the receiver later turned to the purple color seen. The darker color of the stippled and line cuts is common, same as when a grey finish is done.
I don't know the chemistry of it all, but they will turn when hot blued and a good chance of doing so when nitre blued too.
If steel inlays, the contrast should be as seen in the top tang repair splice,,the bright blue of carbon steel against the now turned purple cast receiver material.
I still vote for silver, but I doubt the seller would go for the eraser test on his 3K rifle at my suggestion!
You are right,,all we can do from a distance is guess...
This has been a most enjoyable thread..
