I handled an L.C. Smith 12 ga. double at the local gun shop just this past week. It was reasonably tight (safe to shoot) but I only held it at the insistence of the exuberant sales guy who knew I was into early American hammerless doubles. It was pitiful. Some jazzbo had buffed the living bejesus out of this poor old gun. Nary a file was involved, nor was the term "rag polished" ever heard or considered. Every edge on that old Elsie that should've been sharp, crisp, and cleanly fitted was rolled, wavy, and just generally looked like something straight outta Poland/Russia/China.
Polishing (as with stones and bonded paper) is an art form rarely seen these days. This was brought starkly to my attention a number of years ago when one of our country's finest engravers asked if I'd spend some time with him sharing what I knew about "precision polishing" (I was polishing plastic injection molds for a living at the time, in addition to doing guns and knives on the side). The buffing wheel and hot-blue salts are pretty much the playground of the amateur, in my opinion. Show me the individual who can do a proper polish and color-case hardening or evenly rust blue the barrels of a fine double and I'll buy that individual any drink they happen to desire, hopefully learning something from the resulting conversation.
The only early American double I'm aware of ever being sold with a blued receiver was the Winchester Model 21. This was a by-product of its chrome-moly receiver being approximately twice as tough as its nearest case-hardened competitor in its natural state. (Whoa, I feel a metallurgy lesson coming on, here!). If you see any of the early guns with a blued receiver, it's probably been poorly handled by someone who couldn't quite make it in fast food or the day-laborer markets.
