Correct finish for steel butt plate & trigger guard on 'O'Grade Lifter
 

Hello,
Can someone tell me what is the best finish to replicate the original finish on the steel butt plate of a 'O' Grade Plain Twist lifter gun made in 1876? I could only find one post from eight years ago, not sure if the consensus has changed.
And, what about the correct finish for the butt plate screws?
Also, the same question on the trigger guard and screws.
Thank you, Richard

Blued.

Nitre blued or rust blued?





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Thank you, I was going to ask that also. Nitre or rust blue?

I don't know much about bluing as done by Parker but I ask if anyone has seen any genuine factory/period literature put out by Parker or any other American maker that refers to niter or nitre "bluing" on triggerguards?

Again I am asking about righteous factory/period literature from any American maker - not references in books, on internet sites, or by gunsmiths. Please let me/us know what you have in the way of factory literature. Thank you.

...or carbonia blue?

Unlikely that Parker used rust blue, IMO. In some writings of Turnbull, the rationale given for using something other than rust blue for the trim pieces was speed.

Respectfully please, no personal opinions or comments attributed to modern gunsmiths. Looking for righteous/period factory literature, specs etc that call out niter or nitre "bluing" on triggerguards.

The only parts rust blued on Parkers are the barrels.

Frank,
with all due respect, that's not how a forum functions. It's a free and open discussion, driven by the members chosing to respond to the OP, within the rules of the forum. The OP is getting multiple experienced opinions and if the thread stays active long enough because members find it interesting enough to participate, someone may come up with the specific information you're interested in. Hopefully, you can see there's an advantage to continued member participation in a topic even if you aren't getting what you desire right away.:):)

:) .

Well, not for Parkers, but I do have the factory records for Winchester circa 1898. Every part…pin screw etc.

During that period, the major finishing processes were: Rust bluing, Charcoal Bluing, Nitre/Heat Bluing and Case Hardening.

Keep in mind, that these finishes were not unique to the gun trade, but were “Industrial Finishes”. Look at some period tooling; Squares, Taps/dies, clamps, V-blocks etc., some have beautiful CCH finishes. Clocks/Watches, dinnerware with Nitre blue finishes. The arms on Royal Typewrites and the bicycle chains on Schwinn bicycles; Carbonia blue.

OBTW, Carbonia Blue didn’t come out until 1903 or so, a proprietary process by the American Oil & Gas Furnace co.

Years ago, I wrote an article for the Winchester Collector detailing these finishes.

As to the OP question, an educated guess is that if the part was originally blued, it would have been charcoal blued. Most screws on Winchesters (again not Parker) during that time frame were Case Hardened. Manufacturers that made a lot of screws use “Screw stock” similar to today’s 12L14, it’s softer than regular steel, machines nicely especially in screw machines (saving wear on tooling); but is more easily damaged, so they would case harden them to provide a hard outer layer.

Thanks Mike for that good info.





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