doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Opinions on who best replicates case colors

I have to agree with Dean, the colors that I have seen from DT in the last few year (just talking Parker colors) are too dark blue (or deeper blue) and different from his earlier colors (yes I had a few done by Doug in the early days of Creekside shop). I consider Doug a friend, so I am not taking sides just my observation. I also have a Colt SAA that Doug did so perfectly that no one would know it was a complete basket case that Doug would not even show before and after pictures because as he told me, "I will never take on another project like that" !

Anyone who appreciates Parkers that did not make it to the first Hall of Fame dinner in NC 3 years ago to see the collection of Mr. Green really missed out on seeing a fantastic display of nearly 50 Parkers of varying grades. All in 95% or better condition.
It is guns like this that are considered benchmarks in discussing things like originality of case colors to.

I was speaking to the guy that imports the Padrone shotguns from Italy, and told me the use of bone charcoal is illegal in Italy now. They have been using the cyanide colors. Go figure, apparently the rumor of using human bones was so prevalent to their law makers cyanide is the way to go!?!?

St. Ledger and other English firms reportedly used human bones at some point, imported from India. Bison bones reportedly were used in America during the latter part of the 19th Century. As were other carbon and phosphorus sources. It all really comes down to chemistry and methodology.

Again, methodology varies, as not too long ago I had a discussion with the teacher of a gunsmith school who was convinced of the need to quench at above critical temperatures, in direct contrast to Gaddy's technique, the points being covered in Gaddy's letter to Frank Brownell that I posted not too long ago. I tend to agree with Gaddy, as the actual science was not known at the time, as well as the ability to tightly regulate forge temps. Techniques were developed by trial and error, with the result being the pack to cool to below critical temp for the quench, eliminating distortion, brittle metal, and the need for "hard fitting".

It looks to me that DT changed something in the recent past, resulting in better color coverage, but with some changes in resulting colors.

It's mentioned occasionally, but distribution and shape of the colors may also be part picture. Similar colors that are present in similar percentages can be arranged to look very different.

Agreed Brian and those benchmark guns of Charlie Greens as well as the collection of several exceptionally high condition VH Parkers that Charlie Price had on display that evening which were the perfect palette for Parker Bros. colors, uninterrupted, for the most part, by elaborate engraving.

These examples are what I refer to when looking for contemporary artisans who can duplicate those colors.

Coverage can certainly be manipulated, as well as the colors themselves. That's what I've found out doing my test runs. It was no surprise, and was extensively discussed on the net when I was doing my research, Since approximation of originality is the whole point, it's enough to make you tear your hair out when you realize all the variables. But, I'm getting closer with each test.

What struck me about those guns that night was, that in that room, in that lighting The colors were dark. From standing back at a distance, one would think they were blued almost.



Oh yeah, and in europe and england, the use of human bone has been rumored or perpetuated for a long time. Who knows if it is true or not. Just adds to the whichcraft, right.

Right, nothing is even a close substitute for daylight.
That being said, holding those guns in the right light that night and rotating them slowly allowed one to appreciate the subtle reds and soft yellows in the colors.

Hmmm. If we look at a totally "new" Parker (or other gun - think Muederlak's Trojan") we are looking at a set of colors which are about 100 years old. How do we know what the colors looked like 100 years ago? Not that it matters, but is it possible that colors change over 100 years?