I can't tell if it was colored or not. It's got to be one of the three processes, Blacked/Blued, Color Hardened, or Nitre Blued.

I was hoping someone would know, I understand that Winchester color hardened some of their buttplates, I'd like to know if it was used on shotguns. my Remington 1889 has a steel buttplate, but all color is gone on it as well.

Regards
Ken

I prefer wood to plastic, leather to nylon, waxed cotton to Gore-Tex, and split bamboo to graphite.