Antiqued Finish

B

BarryLee

New member
Ok, I realize this may be a weird question and is most likely not something I would consider doing, but just the same…

I was visiting a friend who showed me an old Colt 1911 he inherited from his Grandfather. The gun apparently saw a lot of use according to his Father as Granddad carried it in his truck for years. According to the family he always kept the gun wrapped up in an old slightly oily t-shirt.

So, here is the point of the story. The finish on the gun is well worn and you can see the underlying metal in places and the wood grips are discolored. As weird as it may sound I love the way this gun looks! I realize an appearance like this comes from years of use and is somewhat of a badge of honor. So, just curious if I wanted to take a new SA GI with a parkerized finish and force this type of “patina” how would I proceed?
 
Oh no!

Any firearms related process that includes the words (Vaseline, crock pot, oven baked or boiling a frame) may not be for me. Maybe I just need to use the gun a whole lot more and let it age naturally.
 
If you absolutely must do this, take some naval jelly (available at your local Walmart), and remove all the blue. Next, leave the gun out with no form of protective lubrication whatsoever, preferably near something that gives off lots of water vapor. (Maybe hang it over your stove and have your wife boil lots of eggs???) Eventually, a coating of rust will start to form on the surface of the metal, which you can then buff off with a dry rag. This will give you the "patina" effect you are looking for. If you aren't satisifed with the first pass, let it hang and have your wife boil more eggs. Repeat until you get the desired effect.

If you want to do it the quick way, use muriatic ("pool") acid to remove the blue, rinse the acid off and let the gun sit. The acid will form a rust coating within a matter of a couple of minutes that will form a nice patina.

Having said that, it seems a shame to ruin a perfectly good gun when there are plenty of guns out there that are already in that condition.
 
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I'm sorry but I cant wrap my mind around this.

I like old cars but I'm not going to buy a brand new car and beat it up, put bald tires on it, maybe store some dirty laundry in it to give it that used car smell, just so I can have a new old car.

Like I said I just cant wrap my mind around this.:confused:
 
It's easier, cheaper, and safer to just go fine a well used handgun of a flavor you like and buy it.

I've seen guns that had been sanded, and had other horrible things done to them to make them look "old". Nothing realy matches true holster wear other than true holster wear.

Enjoy the new look while it's there, and take pride in the wear that will appear with regular carry.

Daryl
 
So, just curious if I wanted to take a new SA GI with a parkerized finish and force this type of “patina” how would I proceed?
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I have the same model SA GI .45. It is parkerized too. Been shooting it for about 5 years now.
Some of the finish has worn off the mainspring housing from my hand contacting it. And some of the finish has worn off the front of the slide from carrying it. There is some other finish wear from wiping it down too.

I have seen pics of some guns that were given that worn look. Most looked unrealistic. A few looked good. Gotta know where the wear will show up and where it wont. That is the trick.
 
Make a holster out of Scotch Brite pads. Just staple up a holster with some large Scotchbrite pads and while you are watching a movie or sports on tv keep inserting it in and out. After a while the guns finish will start showing wear simular to what a well used gun will. I just did some work on a Ruger Single Six that left alot of violated finish on the gun. I've always said I didnt like the fake antique look and had planned on doing a CCH and blue finish on it but I played around with doing an antique finnish and kind of liked it. I stripped the gun and then just used a damp cold blue patch to get the look I wanted. I went back and forth with plastic wool and the cold blue. In the end I rubbed it down with a Birchwood Casey Lead Remover and Polising Cloth. I have some Scotchbrite pads I just have to make a holster yet.

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Here's a thread that has a couple of well used SA revolvers linked in it.

Seriously, why put a new screen door on the house, and then stand there slamming it 'till it sags to get that "well used" look when you can buy the neighbor's old one for cheap?

Daryl
 
Looks like a lot of money to pay, to have someone hold a green scrubbie around the barrel a twist it a couple of times.

When I was in high school, I was in a "wild west" show at the local amusement park during the summer my junior and senior years. We used actual Colt SAA's with blanks in the show. The guns were brand new when we got them the first year, and by mid summer, had most of the finish wore off from falling in the loose gravel we had to fall in 10-12 times a day. I would imagine, if you filled a wheel barrow with some 1b's, and just kept dropping the gun in it over and over, you'd have the desired effect pretty quick.
 
Why ask why? People can do what they want to with their guns; it's their prerogative. I happen to like the patina finish of the old guns too. I've considered "tinkering" with the parkerizing on my Springfield MilSpec to see what I can make it look like.
 
TWHIDD said:
"Why ask why? People can do what they want to with their guns; it's their prerogative. I happen to like the patina finish of the old guns too. I've considered "tinkering" with the parkerizing on my Springfield MilSpec to see what I can make it look like."

+1 - and Rep54 that's a great looking job you did. It's nice to have something that doesn't boringly look like everyone else's gun. I have two of these "aged before their time" guns, and had (to sell) one of the Gunslingers...this was before they made them even more premium price than some of their premium (finish) guns. One's a Cimarron P (Colt SAA clone) done new on this side of the pond (ie not by Uberti) by Cim at my special request, as they didn't have my caliber in shipment at the time in the factory-done gun. Adding to the effect, I antiqued some 3rd Gen Colt SAA hard rubber grips to match. Really looks and feels (nicely slick-tuned) for all the world like a Colt ca 1890s-1900 or so. The other a USFA Rodeo. Ditto, antiqued (smoothed a bit) the grips a bit. When done well--which mine were IMO--it's a great effect. And to the detractors that say "buy a gun already abused" or such, the whole idea is to have the look--usually of an old Colt that's been on the range "rode hard" is the standard objective--but perfectly good/new internals and function. Works for me. An added bonus is, now you don't have to worry 'bout scratching a nice new gun up :) - admittedly not worry or issue with the Rodeo in the first place with that fugly finish which provided a perfect base for a proiject and begged to be messed with. Uberti itself has some of their base guns in the fugly matte finish that'd also make great initial fodder.

To the OP, no not a stupid question. Do what you want.
 
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