John, congrat's, that is a very nice display. Thanks for your efforts. The Black Beauty is a fine example of that Grade, especially since , at the time, it was Baker's low price leader at around $20. It still had a wonderful finish as you can see. I think they called a Black Oxide finish. I believe Doug Tate wrote an article in Shooting Sportsman about the black finish guns that were more popular during that period. The Tobin black finish was called Pyro Oxide if my memory serves me correctly.
Your group of New Bakers is a good teaching lesson. Do you have examples of the earliest New Bakers from about 1887 to 1991 ? Different mechanisms, of course.
Stan, your observation of the Folsom Leader's case colors being "different" is proper. When Folsom took over the gun making portion of Baker Gun and Forging in 1919, they offered the Leader with very prominent case colors differing from the Baker Gun and Forging charcoal colors. I do not know if the new colors were cyanide or some other process, but they were incredibly bright and durable colors. Many worn Folsom Leaders still have much of that original case color. The Folsom higher grades had the Black Oxide finish, up to and including the De Luxe which was the highest grade.
Last edited by Daryl Hallquist; 04/19/19 09:38 AM.
