Interesting link Dustin. It looks like they do some nice work, even if all of it isn't exactly the way some of the guns pictured were done originally. Something that stands out is the pricing difference between standard rust bluing for doubles at $325.00 and and Best English Blacking at $850.00.
That is undoubtedly a reflection of the additional time and labor involved in careful polishing to a high degree of polish, and a much greater number of rusting and carding cycles. The cost of the chemicals is negligible compared to the hours of hand labor involved. And that is certainly the reason that our beloved American field grade guns didn't leave the factory with high gloss finishes.
I also have to agree with you about "plum black" finishes. The transition from fresh dark blue-black to what we politely call patina, if we are selling a gun, is a very gradual and subtle change at first. I'm hoping to find some time this summer to experiment more with reactivating the rust (patina) on some very evenly patina'd barrels, and then boiling and carding only once or twice without resorting to totally removing the original finish which has turned plum brown, and starting over from scratch.
