I just came across this gun. Brian please take a look and tell me what you think about the finish. I am not interested in buying it but would be interested in your take on the finish.

https://www.gunsinternational.com/gu...n_id=101121683

Used like hell, Cold Blued, then used like hell some more.

But... the seller says it is original metal finish. So it must be. right?

Also note that in the period, frames had to be case hardened in order to make them operable. Alloys for gun frames not requiring hardening, like used today, were not used.

So, if frames were to be blued, they would still have to be case hardened first and then blued. An additional step, incurring more manufacturing cost, would not have been utilized on an economy grade gun designed to cut costs.

So the question is settled. But, the guns I saw were definitely not cold blued. I don't know what it was but it wasn't shiny like hot blue, so who knows. I've had the plain black finish in my head since I first read it in Johnson's book back when I was a kid and believed everything I read. I really did believe I saw two of them. But memories can be faulty. I saw both guns back in the 60's. My face is red.

The factory advertisements for the Trojan mention “plain black finish” in regards to the barrels.

That's interesting. That would explain the finish I saw on those two barrels, if true. But it doesn't explain the frame being the same color. I think a faulty memory accounts for that. My recollection was that the frames were the same finish, but that was a long time ago. Also, I wasn't as Parker savvy in the 1960's as I am now. I'm going to do some grouse shooting tomorrow to clear my brain.