It's a shame
 

Working with relatives in a different part of my family to acquire (I mean buy) an AAHE 12ga. (1910) that's been blued...everywhere (skeleton butt plate, barrels, trigger guard, frame, you name it) except for the forend latch, trigger and grip plate which have all been gold plated. The stock has been varnished and checkering is in quite good condition. The gun has been in "our family" since 1916 and no one knows when the gun was blued, or whether it was hot blue or cold blue and all people that would have knowledge are now deceased. My questions are, can a blued gun be restored to factory finish? How can you tell if it's been hot blued or cold blued? If hot blued, has that process effected the metallurgical properties where the metal could not be restored to factory finish? I'd like to save this gun if it is salvageable and know it will be expensive to do so but it may be worthwhile. PGCA letter says the gun was returned for restocking in 1916 abut no other work shows up. Your thoughts please. Thanks.

bluing can always be redone-

the correct finish for the barrels is slow rust blue, not cold blue

the issue with hot bluing is the soft solder used to join the barrels, not the barrels themselves - it may, or possibly may not be compromised due to the heat used

this should be inspected by a qualified double gun smith

What Rick said . . .

Good luck, a worthy endeavor!

Blueing salts are harmful too if they are trapped under ribs between barrels etc.





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Sounds like a Fancy Gun. All blue and Gold plating.


Anyway, anything can be corrected. It is just a matter of how much time, effort and expense are put into it.

Hot bluing can compromise the barrels and the ribs. If the worst has happened, it can be corrected, but would mean taking the barrel set apart and putting it all back together again.

The Hot bluing would not compromise any of the other surfaces. BUT... improper bluing processes often go hand in hand with crap polishing and prep work. I mean buffing and wearing down of engraving and rounding over of hard edges, etc... Much harder to fix. Hopefully it is not THAT bad.

Tom, Cullity can examine it and give you an honest opinion

Gold and Blue gun, would be right at home here in West Virginia.

Thinking more Michigan colors than WV

Pictures, Tom.