Restored Case Colors.

[Brian Dudley]

I have attached a few pictures of my GH that I am in the process of restocking.
I know this may be a long shot, but by the look of the case colors, does anyone out there have any idea as to who may have done them?

I got this gun from a Gentleman in Oregon. He bought it on auction, but I do not know if it was a local auction to him or not.

I know that the colors are not really considered correct to Parkers. A bit too bright. But I think it is a very attractive look.

12526

12527

12528

[charlie cleveland]

dudley i believe i seen this gun on gun broker a while back...not positive...was it just the reciever you came by or was all the rest of the parts with it... nice and should be a swell gun when finished wish i had your talents.... charlie

[Brian Dudley]

No, it was a complete gun. The guy I got it from bought it on auction sight unseen. It was advertised as a completely restored gun. When he got it, it was anything but.

About the only thing that was done right was the case coloring. The engraving was not taken back up before polishing. It is all there, but just not as heavy as it should be.
The Damascus barrels were blued, but other than that are in good condition. And the wood was sanded down far below metal and to where all checkering was eliminated and there was a very bad repair on the one side behind the receiver.

I would have been pissed too if I bought it sight unseen, thinking it was "completely restored". What a shock.

[John Dallas]

Your seller had a lot more faith in humanity than I have to buy a gun sight unseen. Betcha he won't do that again.

[Brian Dudley]

Yeah, I am not sure how much he paid for it, but he was not hesitent to trade it for $500 worth of stock work.

[edgarspencer]

The colors appear too bright, or vivid. There are many guys doing case hardening heat treatment, and while each have developed their own packing medium, whether it be bone, bone meal, leather or whatever, I think it's a safe guess that they are all using electric heat treat ovens, or possibly one of the good natural gas fired units.
I used to get an order from Colts, about every two years for a few dozen 'packing boxes' cast from a heat resistant alloy (CA6-NM) These boxes were 5x5x10", with cover plates that were wedge-clamped with a flat cover. I went to their heat treat dept several times and know they were using the same oil fired retorts (furnaces) that were pre 1900.

[Justin Julian]

Like most everyone else, I too use an electric oven. In my experience with case coloring, the vivid yellows and reds are usually the result of adding items like leather and antler charcoal to the matrix. When I use only a bone and wood charcoal mixture, my colors reliably turn out like those on this GHE 20. (the owner had restocked and blued it, so originality wasn't much of an issue) My colors don't likely pass for an accurate reproduction of the original pre-Remington Parker colors, but the owner was pleased with how the new colors looked along side the new wood and bluing.

[Bill Murphy]

I would own that gun.

[Brian Dudley]

I know that there are some out there that do not care for restoring colors. I have been told "why spend hundreds of dollars on something that is just gonna start wearing off in 4 years again".
Personally, I think that having it done is a fine line in judgement. Obviously it is a perfect complement to new wood work or new bluing, especially if both are done. But I think that if a receiver is evenly worn to a nice clean patina or silvered finish, just leave it. Unless the worn receiver looks ugly as due to rust or something, I think it would look just great as original.

[Justin Julian]

Yup, a lot of controversy over that question. I've seen guys take some harsh criticism over the years for recoloring vintage guns, and especially Parkers. I have plenty of vintage guns with that nice even patina of age where the wood, barrels and frame are all in balance, with little to no case colors remaining. Would never think of recoloring one of those. But in cases where a gun has to be restocked or refinished and reblued, an old patina frame just doesn't match all those shiny new components to my eye. Of course, many like the polished silver look on a frame, especially where engraving is concerned. Personally, I don't. Those guns look "unfinished" to me, and certainly are the furthest thing imaginable from factory new in appearance. This is an example of when a resto is an easy decision. I bought this 1899 fluid steel LC Smith on GB for $399. The seller didn't realize it was a 2E, probably because the engraving was largely buried, but I was able to spot it and the split ejector face through all the rust and grime. It had a mild barrel bulge toward the muzzle of the left tube, the head of the stock was black with oil and dented, the barrels an ugly orange-brown from oxidation, and the butt pad poorly fitted and petrified. It was destined to meet the hack saw and be converted to someone's cowboy action shooter. I didn't need another 2E, but couldn't bear to see that happen. My only significant out of pocket was for the barrel repair and choke relief ($300), and the 2E is now resurrected and far nicer looking in person than the photos suggest. So I guess my point is that I agree with the main stream consensus that nice evenly aged vintage guns should not be restored. But when they have been allowed to deteriorate too far, or refitted with brand new shiny wood and bluing, new colors might not be such a terrible idea in those circumstances. Additionally, the financial reality for most of us is that we will never be able to afford or justify a truly high condition Parker with its original colors intact. Restoring colors becomes the only real option for us if we get the urge to shoot a Parker with colors. As for the colors wearing off in 4 years, I think that would take an awful lot of use. I apply a thin satin layer of Behlen's top coat lacquer as per the late Dr. Gaddy's instructions in DGJ. It will remain to be seen whether and to what extent that will protect and prolong the life of the colors. Of course, good old fashioned use also wears away new wood finishes, sharp checkering points, and bluing, and so long as it all ages evenly, a restored gun should maintain its pleasing appearance. Anyways, that's how I see it, for what little my opinion might be worth.

[charlie cleveland]

well said... charlie

[edgarspencer]

I never much paid attention to LC Smiths before, but I just noticed, you can land a plane on those watertables.

[Brian Dudley]

Justin,
Exactly what I was trying to convey. You did well on that LC. On the find and purchase price, I mean. And the finished product is great!
I do not really agree with those that think recoloring is a poor investment. When it is done, it is worth the money. But it just is not ALWAYS required.

[ed good]

case colors look kinda turnbullish...

[Mike Poindexter]

As more and more folks seem to be re-case coloring, I'm wondering if any have had problems with minor metal warping on the receivers. I quit after 3 guns about 10 years ago because each gun warped slightly in the quench, not enough to harm functionality, but enough to change the perfect metal to metal fit most Parkers and Smiths of that era had. Has this problem been solved by some of the newer restorers? Just interested since I no longer go in that direction. Thanks.

[Brian Dudley]

I had a Lefever DS recolored. They have that long irregular tang on them. No issues with warping on that one at least.

[Justin Julian]

Mike,
I've read everything I can find about case coloring, which isn't all that much, even in this internet age of information sharing. Understandably, the handful of pros like Turnbull, Brad, and others who make their living at it are going to be reluctant to share the details of their hard earned trade secrets. I also saw an interesting (but short) segment on Galazan's case coloring process on The Outdoor Channel recently, which showed them baking and quenching one of their O/U sidelock frames. But of course they gave only generalized information on the process. (As an aside, they did mention using some chicken bone charcoal in their matrix, which might account for their unique mustard colors).
I haven't had problems with frames, tangs or forends warping. I use some rudimentary bracing with stainless steel nuts and bolts to hold the tangs and sidelock plates at the correct dimensions. I also follow the processes outlined by the late great Dr. Gaddy in his two DGJ articles, which require annealing at 1450 for an hour and allowing to cool slowly over night, and then case coloring at no more than 1350. Following his direction, I then allow the work to cool to 1150 and hold it there for about an hour in the kiln before quenching, but I have quenched as high as 1225 with no problems. I strongly suspect its that last step that people who've had warpage problems don't follow. If they are baking at 1500 (or more according to some internet stories) and dumping directly into an icy quench at that temperature, it would come as no surprise that warping problems will occur. I can't recall where I read it, but one author claimed that there is substantial evidence that the case coloring guys at the old factories would take the crucibles out of the kilns and set them aside to cool for up to an hour before quenching. That's hard to believe, as the work would probably cool down to 500 or less after that much time, and that would seem too cool to form colors when quenched. I have been contemplating cooling down a crucible to a much lower temperature (say 700) before quenching to see what happens, but haven't done so yet.

Also, some people assume that when the part tolerances are noticeably tighter on reassembly, warpage must have occurred. As Dr. Gaddy explained, that is not necessarily what is going on. The case coloring process adds a glass hard layer of carbon into and onto the steel which is measurable in thickness with scientific equipment. This thickening process sometimes requires refitting of parts during assembly. A good example is the rotary barrel locking cam in LC Smiths. I typically have to polish out the frame recess to get it to fit and turn freely after case coloring. I have also had some success filling in tiny pin prick sized pits on frame exteriors by case coloring, believe it or not. And a light coating of top coat lacquer also helps make them undetectable to the touch and eye.
So getting back to the topic, according to the real pros like Dr. Gaddy, warpage is generally the product of quenching at too high a temperature, which is not required to obtain correct case colors. So now I'm curious--when you were having troubles with warpage, 1) did you anneal the work prior to case coloring, and 2) at what temps were you quenching?