Protecting Case Colors

[Stan Hillis]

Originally Posted by Bill Murphy

Behren's spray lacquer, does that ring a bell? I never used it because there was more than one similar product with the Behren's name and I didn't know the proper one. I think Oscar Gaddy used it. I don't know how to get it off.

This is the one, Bill. It's Behlen's, not Behren's, but is now rebranded by Mohawk. Notice the Behlen name on the label.

[Bill Murphy]

The correct spelling of the product that Oscar used is "Behlen spray lacquer". Don't know the exact variation.

[Jim Thynne]

I always used tru oil on the reproductions I personally owned. After a while, I would wipe it off with a solvent and then re do it. I thought it helped, as the chemical colors would come off easily!

[ssgross]

The NRA museum uses Renaissance Wax.
https://www.nramuseum.org/media/1007...20wicklund.pdf

For my 2 cents, one should start with the question of what do you anticipate "normal" use to be.
Renaissance wax might be the absolute best for long term display in a museum, but not ideal for frequent handling with bare hands. I think RiG is a good balance. When handling, skin temperature will melt and redistribute it.

For color case finishes that get used frequently (like, say, my SAA repro I take hiking all the time) I use RiG when I take it out and pack up. I keep a tiny pot of RiG in my kit when camping to refresh nightly. For my original SAA which only gets take out to shoot once every couple of years, I used an airbrush to apply lacquer to the frame. After shooting and cleaning, it gets wiped down with renaissance wax and stored away. When it gets taken out to shoot, the wax is wiped off along with any dust from storage, RiG goes on and we go shoot.

Brownells did an experiment a while back on rust prevention. The link I bookmarked is dead. Here is a new one.
https://www.ncowestbranch.com/docume...g%20Clinic.pdf
As you can see, #1 and #2 are WD-40 and RiG, followed by cosmoline which stained the degreased steel.

See NRA's notes about oil based products evaporating, eventually. One can write volumes on the subject of rust preventatives and how they can affect bluing, and the mentioning of WD-40 is sure to incure some wrath. Naked (in any degreased state or fresh from the tank) bluing is very delicate and treated much differently from normal maintance.