Originally Posted by craigd
Originally Posted by BrentD, Prof
....I think there are lots of things on earth that don't fade. Lots of them are minerals and so are case colors....

....Grit is pretty obviously a factor since the high spots fade first.

I don't know if Doc Gaddy would say that case colors are are minerals. Most of us would conclude that abrasives can remove gun finishes, but why are the "low" spots fading.

I'm not sure what to call those colors other than mineral. It may not be the best name, but it is all I can think of. In the end, there are chemical compounds that are responsible for the colors. I don't think they are anything organic, though they may have had some organic origins at one time. Google tells me that the Oxford dictionary defines mineral as,

noun
1.
a solid inorganic substance of natural occurrence.
"it identifies the mineral or compound present"
2.
BRITISH
(in commercial use) effervescent soft drinks.
adjective
of or denoting a mineral.
"mineral ingredients such as zinc oxide"

So "mineral" seems appropriate to me. What else could we call them?


The low spots fade from anything acid. You know, of course, what would happen if you wiped down your guns with vinegar. If there is acid in your sweat or the oils in your hands, or possibly some gun care products are slightly acidic, they could be slowly fading your colors as well as abrasion. Things that are just very mildly acidic would take longer to do this of course, but it would still happen.

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BrentD, (Professor - just for Stan)
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