doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Cleaning the Locks and Receiver

Case colors are not degraded by light but by rubbing. I have two test Parkers that have been looking at the sun for 30 and 40 years. Both are holding up well. Oscar tried some experiments with ultra violet light and could not degrade the colors.
bill

Bill, that's very interesting. The actual colors must be only microns deep. I often wondered if case color would be removed by blueing removers, as I have seen guns that I suspect had been cold blued right over what may have been left of the original case. It would be great to remove the blue and save the original colors if that's possible. I also wonder how the colors differ physically or chemically with bone charcoal vs. cyanide. Maybe this would be a good topic for a new thread.

Keith, been there done that, the color on case colored metal is just an oxide: same as blue, blue remover or rust remover will remove it. The case hardened surface is not affected.

Jim

Give the man a prize. Here is Dr Gaddy's article from 1996. Included is a scanning electron micrograph showing what the case colors actually look like.
http://www.doublegunshop.com/doublegunjournal_v7i4_9.htm

Any abrasive action will remove / harm the coloring. It is possible to use chemicals to give an aged look. I know Mr Ken has done this for clients.

Pete

Bill, Jim, and Pete, Thanks for the info and especially for the link to Oscar Gaddys' article on the subject. I should have the second part of the article as I recently bought a large pile of Double Gun Journals, but obviously have not read but a fraction of them. Sad part is that I retired last July and now find that the heat treat oven in our shop was capable of reaching case hardening temps. Hell, maybe I could've used bones from the chickens we cooked in that oven to produce my own bone charcoal.