Oscar Gaddy may have also used Testor's clear lacquer, but I have it in writing that he recommended Behlen's clear lacquer. I have never used it myself, just reporting what he had written.
Case colors are not a pigment that can rub off. The colors we see are a result of light refraction from a microscopic prismatic surface, which is a side effect of the casehardening process. In one of the articles Dr. Gaddy wrote for DGJ there is a picture showing how the surface looks under an electron microscope, and the tiny prisms are evident. Simple wear from handling removes those surface prismatic shapes, and the colors go away. It makes sense to me, and it did to him (which has much more credence than my opinion) that a protective coating of lacquer, or some other transparent coating, would delay that wearing away. I would assume this is the reason he recommended, and used, that method of preservation.
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