V Grade Colors
 

Parker small bore V's show case colors well. Original case colors are not heavy, not gaudy, somewhat translucent. Triggers are also case colored. This, a 1915 gun.

Nice V Bruce, yours?

On an unmolested gun, will the colors have faded after a hundred years, or is this the way it left the factory?

Nice gun! Love colors like that.

"Unmolested" is the key word. It has obviously been used, cleaned, wiped down, etc. but well cared for and is in high condition. Through use, handling and cleaning/wiping it will have lost some of the original color but not much. There are other examples of unused Parkers in collections where the colors are 100% or at least 99.9%.

Dean, yes.

John, the colors usually fade somewhat and are more vibrant when fresh. Some believe that UV light causes colors to fade, others dispute that. However, there are some guns that the colors remain vibrant. There is almost always some edge wear from just handling the gun. Even on the freshest of old Parker case colors, there is a translucence, so heavy, painted on looking case colors are inconsistant with way Parker did it. And the tiger striped case colors are also not consistant if one is striving for an original look. And then there are the torch and oil techniques such as a recent hammer poster is well known for doing. Those do not harden anything, can anneal the frame in spots, quickly wear off, and do not look original. The best one can say for those is that they temporarily add color.

In the interests of Parker collecting and preservation, readers might find these photos interesting.

The first is a repeat of the original case color Parker above with slightly faded colors.

The second is an internet gun for sale advertised as "very professionally reblued" . Presumably before rebluing and gunsmithing, it was a silver frame gun.

...more V color pics
 

Here are some shots of colors on two 12 ga transition era V grades. I see the translucent qualities Bruce mentions. But wait, there's more coming!
(plus I got a swell new camera)

Outstanding guns Peter! Congratulations

....and more.
 

Here are the forends on those V grades where the colors are well protected. Note how much darker they appear having been in hiding for 75 years. But what's that in the middle? It looks like a forend off a reproduction on which somebody pretty well matched the original colors, at least on a Remington era gun.