doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Case color question

I always thought that cyanide colors were used on the low end American doubles.
I noticed that a lot of the low end guns had a lot of case colors left From 80% to near a 100% in some cases, like H&R, Savage, Fulton etc.
Reading the post on color case hardening I read that cyanide colors fade quickly.
What am I missing?
I do much prefer the bone and charcoal colors but I wonder why the low end guns have so much of their colors left.
Pete

Maybe those guns were less used?

I have a low end American gun with case colour so gaudy it could be a christmas tree bable.
If only it would wear off.
Maybe if I had green hair it would not look so gauche.

The high end guns are a little more subtle.
O.M

They changed to cyanide due to cost. Almost every change that Fox did after they started was to reduce cost. Competition for gun sales was fierce and saving a dollar per unit was a big deal.

Several gun makers went to blue actions or cyanide actions to save money. The shame of it was that they lost their 'secret" recipes and when they later tried to do charcoal coloring they had to do it by trial and error. Some never got it right again. Those secrets had been handed down for 50 years from one person to the next and when the chain was broken the secret went to the grave with the last master.

Some like the cyanide coloring and they will get no competition from me when buying a gun. I have no interest in cyanide colors at all. Rather have a coin finish than a bright cyanide colored gun. They are too bright and look like gaudy coloring, by a child. Charcoal colors are much more subtle with hints of color almost like a fine water coloring.

I suspect the longevity of American cyanide CC guns is due to superior top coats developed in the early 1900"s.

DDA

For whatever reason, cyanide colors vastly outlast pack hardening colors, IMO. Decades ago I knew a local fellow who did cyanide hardening and had him do some parts including a test piece. I left that test piece un-coated, un-oiled in the western Oregon very humid atmosphere for several years with no sign of rusting or fading. Last I remember it was still in great condition, at least a two decades later, un-coated. I'll see if I can find it in the parts drawers sometime...
Guessing doesn't answer 'why' questions.

Cyanide is used on Perazzi. Not a low cost gun. I think some of the durability you see is due to coarse surface finish. This lets the color and protective film hide from normal handleing wear.
bill

I have a Savage 311 I bought new in 1973. I still have it and I never treated it with a lot of TLC. The cyanide colors are still crisp and vivid with little sign of wear. I don't believe it was coated when I purchased it and certainly I never coated it and more the opposite by wiping it down with a gun cleaning solvent.