"Case color fad has passed...."
I am not sure that an aesthetic and and metal treatment which has endured for more than 150 years on the finest shotguns made in the world constitutes a "fad" in the sense of a white line spacer. It would certainly come as something of a surprise to most of the English makers, current and past. I won't argue the engineering basics of what you have stated other than to note that the vast majority of German produced Mauser actions through the end of WW II were case hardened (vice case colored). I am not sure how taking such an action already designed around case hardening for a custom rifle, and then case coloring changes anything. It has been a technique used by rifle builders in Germany since before WWI, and seen on truly great rifles today coming out of Germany and Austria.
No hate mail Marc. But there are a gazilion "soft" core mauser actions out there either being used or waiting to be used on some truly great rifles. Many will be dressed up with CC. And I just like the way CC looks on a SXS.
