Yesterday I bought a 16 ga. G grade Syracuse Lefever with automatic ejectors. Nice 6 lb. 2 oz. gun with beautiful wood and 26" Damascus barrels in great condition. Unfortunately, it appears that a previous owner cold blued over the action and sideplates. The Damascus barrels were not touched, nor was the trigger guard. I'm saying it's cold blue because of the amount of case hardening colors that remain inside on the water table and forearm iron. Since those hidden case colors are so strong, I'm assuming that there was probably at least 30-40% or more remaining when it was cold blued on the exterior.
I'm hoping that any remaining case colors were not polished off before the cold blueing of the action, and that there is some way to remove the cold blue safely without also removing whatever case colors might be underneath. Any ideas?
