Removing gold finish from receiver

[Tim Adams]

Hello, Gentlemen.
I purchased a DHE yesterday. It is really a pretty nice shotgun, but at some time in the past the receiver was electroplated (?) with a gold color. There is not much of it left, only in the protected areas of the receiver and forend latch, and on the water table. I have no idea what it is, but I would like to remove what is left without harming the engraving. Any ideas on the best way to go about it?
There is no case coloring left to speak of. I assume it was removed when it was plated.
I have attached a couple of pictures to help with the visual.
The wood is nice enough I suspect it has been refinished. The barrels ring nice, the bores look perfect, the lever is right of center and lockup is nice and tight.
All in all, I am pretty happy with it, but the gold sure is ugly.
All opinions are appreciated.
123577

123578

[Daniel Carter]

Try finger nail polish remover or acetone. Do not get it on the wood finish. I have seen guns that people have used gold leaf paint on and that reminds me of it. Take care not to get it on the wood.

[Daniel Carter]

duplicate

[Mark Britton]

It is so faded from use I would leave it alone and rub the rest of it off with use. Nice gun !

[Paul Ehlers]

It's hard to tell in the pictures but I doubt it was actually plated being as there isn't any of the gold color in the deep recess areas of the engraving. The acetone test with a Q-tip would be a good starting point for seeing if this is some type of a paint or lacquer. Does the forearm iron or latch plate have any of this gold color? If not, I'd suspect something other than plating.

This might also be some light oxidation which may come off with some oil and gentle rubbing with a soft cloth or something like a new frontier pad. The main thing is to go slow and easy in an out of the way spot & see what might work.

[Eric Eis]

It's hard to tell in the pictures but I doubt it was actually plated being as there isn't any of the gold color in the deep recess areas of the engraving. The acetone test with a Q-tip would be a good starting point for seeing if this is some type of a paint or lacquer. Does the forearm iron or latch plate have any of this gold color? If not, I'd suspect something other than plating.

This might also be some light oxidation which may come off with some oil and gentle rubbing with a soft cloth or something like a new frontier pad. The main thing is to go slow and easy in an out of the way spot & see what might work.


My guess is it is old lacquer that was used to protect the metal and acetone should take it off, I would remove the stock before using the acetone.

[Tim Adams]

Thanks to all for the input.
The forearm iron has the plating in the finger recess, the rest of it is worn off.
It is difficult to show in pictures, but it isn't oxidation.
I will try acetone today and report back.

[Bruce Hering]

Can't say more than has been suggested. But, I would also stress, do remove the wood before using the acetone....

Good looking gun. Enjoy

[Aaron Beck]

If its not gold paint, ive seen something like that effect from wire brushing with a brass brush.

[Larry Stauch]

Gold washing was a process done to guns; rifles, pistols and shotguns, at the turn of the century to enhance their beauty and show financial status of the owner. A friend had an engraved Fox that had been gold washed and he took it out in the garage and used a buffing wheel to remove as much as he could. Unfortunately, he also smoothed the engraving somewhat. I would not suggest doing that -EVER. Here is a better description of what it is.

Gold Washed
gold washed | ˈgōld ˈwȯshd

adjective

A term for a piece that has an extremely thin layer of gold, applied by either dipping or burnishing the metal, but are not plated.

Gold wash is a term used to describe one of several processes often related to antique and vintage silver. It consists of applying a very thin layer of gold without plating to another metal, most commonly silver. This is done by dipping or burnishing the metal, and is not as resilient to wear and handling as plating, filling, or electroplating. Other terms used to describe gold washing include silver gilt, gilt, gilded, and vermeil. The final application of gold after a gold wash is less than 0.175 microns thick and will typically wear off over time and need to be washed again to maintain its appearance.

[Tim Adams]

Gold washing was a process done to guns; rifles, pistols and shotguns, at the turn of the century to enhance their beauty and show financial status of the owner. A friend had an engraved Fox that had been gold washed and he took it out in the garage and used a buffing wheel to remove as much as he could. Unfortunately, he also smoothed the engraving somewhat. I would not suggest doing that -EVER. Here is a better description of what it is.

Gold Washed
gold washed | ˈgōld ˈwȯshd

adjective

A term for a piece that has an extremely thin layer of gold, applied by either dipping or burnishing the metal, but are not plated.

Gold wash is a term used to describe one of several processes often related to antique and vintage silver. It consists of applying a very thin layer of gold without plating to another metal, most commonly silver. This is done by dipping or burnishing the metal, and is not as resilient to wear and handling as plating, filling, or electroplating. Other terms used to describe gold washing include silver gilt, gilt, gilded, and vermeil. The final application of gold after a gold wash is less than 0.175 microns thick and will typically wear off over time and need to be washed again to maintain its appearance.


I believe Larry has it right.
I tried acetone and lacquer thinner, neither one had any effect on the finish.
I can't imagine how bad this looked after is was done. What were they thinking?

So now, the $50 question. What to do with it? It looks horrible, but I for sure don't want to damage the engraving.
0000 steel wool or a brass wire brush?
Thanks for the help.

[Daniel Carter]

Frontier pad, google it and order it, will not harm engraving and a lot of members here have used them to clean up guns. Will not harm bluing used with oil and gently to remove rust. It will allow you to ""wear off" the rest of it without harming the gun.

[Daniel Carter]

***

[Tim Adams]

I have a Frontier pad on order. I will report back with results.

[keavin nelson]

There is a product called Never Dull, which is a woolen pad saturated with some oil product. It works great to remove rust, tarnish and general oxydation. Might be worth a try. Very easy on the surface, even more so than Frontier pad.

[Dean Romig]

There is a product called Never Dull, which is a woolen pad saturated with some oil product. It works great to remove rust, tarnish and general oxydation. Might be worth a try. Very easy on the surface, even more so than Frontier pad.

:shock:





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[Mike Franzen]

If it were mine I would leave it as is. I think it looks unique. If you don’t mind me asking, why did you buy the gun in the first place knowing it had the gold wash that you can’t stand?

[Tim Adams]

If it were mine I would leave it as is. I think it looks unique. If you don’t mind me asking, why did you buy the gun in the first place knowing it had the gold wash that you can’t stand?

I did.
With most of the finish already worn off, I assumed that the rest of it would come off pretty easily.
The price was right, and the rest of the gun is in very nice condition.

[Joseph Sheerin]

I'd leave it as is, and just condsider it part of the history of the gun.

I would hate to damage the engraving in anyway.....

[Larry Stauch]

I would be inclined to leave it as found as well. Who else has a gold washed Parker? I would say that it's a part of the history of the gun and a part of the history of the times. However, if that doesn't work for you you may want to contact a jeweler. They may know how to remove it without causing any harm. Or Doug Turnbull; they may have come across something like it restoring guns in their shop.

[Gary Bodrato]

FLITZ Non-toxic, eco-friendly cream formula. Safe for cleaning, polishing and protecting all metal (except gold plating, it can strip gold). Works on fiberglass, plastics, and other surfaces. Removes oxidation, tarnish, rust, and discoloration.
I made the mistake many years ago on a Western Field 20ga SXS. The reciever looked kind of dull and dirty so I used Flitz which I clean my knife blades with. In a Flitzflash it took the case colors clean off.

The first two lines come directly from Flitz advertising.

[Jay Gardner]

Have you tried Semi-Chrome?

[Tim Adams]

Thank you for the input.
The frontier pad didn't work for removing the plating.
I think the flitz polish or simichrome may be the right avenue. I will try that next.

[Dean Weber]

Thank you for the input.
The frontier pad didn't work for removing the plating.
I think the flitz polish or simichrome may be the right avenue. I will try that next.

I would not use Flitz unless you want to remove/dull ALL finishes. Flitz works great on chromed type finishes.

[Jeff Elder]

Have you thought about taking it to a jeweler? They might know the exact treatment to use.

[allen newell]

excellent suggestion jeff

[Tim Adams]

Have you thought about taking it to a jeweler? They might know the exact treatment to use.

I will pursue that the next time I am in town.
Thanks for all the suggestions.
Tim

[Larry Stauch]

I saw this Winchester this morning and it reminded me of this thread. You see gold washing can be very desirable and expensive when done at the factory.

https://www.gunsinternational.com/guns-for-sale-online/rifles/winchester-rifles-model-1890/rare-antique-nickel-and-gold-plated-exhibition-winchester-deluxe-model-1890-rifle.cfm?gun_id=102915255