Anyone have any advice on how to make my bright new Browning model 1895 Winchester look old. Don't tell me to use it for years and let it age natural because at 81 years old I don't have the time to do that. Someone told me to apply mustard to the blued metal and that would give it a gray patina...anyone have any suggestions?

I can't imagine doing that to a rifle. YMMV...

[quoteI can't imagine doing that to a rifle. YMMV...][/quote]

I wouldn't do it to just any new rifle either but this is a reproduction of an old rifle. I have an original made in 1912 and I want this new shiny gun to look like it's been used awhile.

Long long ago in a land nearby, someone posted their rifle break in procedure. Form memory, I think it included tossing it around on some asphalt.

Might ask on the cowboy action shooters form.

Just did that to a New Vaquero. Vinegar and coarse steel wool, followed by some 0000 steel wool. Stainless hammer & trigger were heat/oil colored to resemble casehardening; grips by Western & Wildlife Wonders.

Before http://www.armslist.com/posts/58539...ale--ruger-new-vaquero--45-colt-revolver

After

Leave it in the bed of your truck for a month.

Now that's what I'm talkin about....looks good Sarge.

If you can find it, buy some pumice powder. Mix it with some 5/10 weight motor oil and make a "loose" paste. Apply to the rifle with a soft cotton cloth rubbing GENTLY until you get the bluing patina you want.

That is the concoction and system used by the firearms restorers at Williamsburg, on antique rifles to remove any rust and bluing before they refinish the firearm.

L.W.

Loan it out to a relative or grand kid it will age quickly!

Thanks Longhunter. If you go the distilled vinegar route, rinse it off after 10-15 minutes and see what you've got. You can always give it another dose if you wish. If you leave the stuff on too long it will etch the metal a tad.

You could loan it to Ed Stevenson for a season of hunting, I remembered this article among others of his hunt camp.
Article link here for the Rifle magazine article.

Longhunter!

How's this project coming along? Get sight installed too?

I saw 2 1895s at a gun show today, one was a carbine in 30-40 the other was a 3006 both had been refinished and reblued, not very good Jobs 1900.00 the other was $900.00

Wear leather gloves, get some fine dirt on them and carry that thing hunting. The bluing will shoe the right kind of wear, in the right places, in a few days. I went on a 12 day huntil when it was real dry and dusty. We used the vehicles to move several times a day, getting covered with dust in the open bed. After that hunt, my pre-Garcia 7 mag showed more wear on the blue in than it had acquired over 20 some years.

I knew a guy who developed a patina on a rifle by pissing on it

I just got back from my annual bow hunting trip to my deer camp and picked up the Browning from the gunsmith who put the replica Lyman sight on it, I haven't had a chance to do any ageing on it yet;. It looks better already

Let my brother in law borrow it.

I didn't know Lyman still made that 'Climin' Lyman" sight.

I bought a nib 94 that someone had dismantled and ran something like a dreamer buff tool on the high spots, corners, edges etc. to "age" it.

It's nib but looks used and somewhat worn.

Looks great I always liked those sights. I can't wait to see it when you get it aged.

Looks really good Longhunter!!! Prolly end up doing same to my Browning, as my are eyes getting worse!!

Some weathered Model 1895's belonging to Alaskan guide Ed Stevenson

I meant to write "dremel" tool. Can't edit it now.

Whatdaya think ?

I don't know. I think it will just take the finnish off and not give it an "aged" look. I would try contacting someone like Doug Turnbull. Guys like him do that type of work all the time.
I wish I could remember the thread. Somebody here posted a pic of a couple of rifles that he had refinished to give them a well used look.

The best bet is with diluted vinegar and a rag. Take the rag and soak it with vinegar and wipe the bluing with it and try to get the most vinegar where the gun would show the most original wear. Wipe with a wet cloth and see what the effect is. You may have to leave the vinegar on longer to get the desired effect, but don't leave it too long and ruin the looks altogether. When you are finished, be sure to spray with WD-40 and wipe it down completely so there is no continued stripping of the blueing.

What ever technique is used I would try it out first on an old junk gun or an extra barrel you have sitting around.
That way you don't have to worry about ruining that nice new 95.

Well, if you want it to look like an early production '95, that would work great. One thing to remember is many of those early production rifles' finish did not last very long in the elements. Not uncommon to see them with no vestiges of metal finish what so ever. Like they were sold in the white and they patina-ed with usage. Like this .30 US Army of mine. Theres just a rare smidgen of finish in protected areas. Ya really gotta look close to see any!



I think Shrapnel's recommendation of the vinegar wash might even achieve such a finish as above when applied as he suggested after all the blue is stripped to bare metal. I mean if you wanted a really weathered looking old veteran!

Thanks for the advice guys.

My dirty glove recommendation was only half in just.
A mild abrasive, rubbing compound, embedded in a cheap
leather glove would quickly wear away the finish in the places
a gun normally wears. The vinegar wash would complete the look.

I do the vinegar wash/soak on axe heads, I'm sure it will work. I still think I'd leave it in the bed of the truck for a month before fugging with it.

LOL! Belly crawling about a 100 yards thru the high weeds and gravel after a herd bull in 2015 did a pretty good number on my Browning! Also shutting the gun safe door on the buttstock wasn't kind either!!

Actually i was crawling on hands and knees most of the way. With rifle dragging along

Wonder how rubbing the edges and usual carry points with one of those lead remover cloths would work? Guess it depends on the look you're trying to achieve. I like a good amount of blue with silvered edges and carry points. If you want a "rode hard and put away wet" look, chemical assistance might be required. I've read of people using a browning solution to etch the metal & turn the blue to a plum brown.

At 74 I understand about not having enough time to do it the right way, and about playing devil's advocate. But it just seems wrong to turn anything into something it is not, to intentionally create a fake, a phony, from a replica. What possible joy can there be in fooling others into believing the wear was honestly hard earned?

No. Instead it would be more honest to simply trade it towards an authentic original.

I'm not trying to fool anyone, this is for my own pleasure. I have an original 1895 and hunted with it last year.

At 74 you're getting there but in a few years you'll find out that something happens to you when your hit the 80 year mark. You realize how short your time is and your thinking changes..... You start thinking, "this could be my last year to hunt". ... "this could be my last day PERIOD" So you don't put things off like you normally do because you realize you may not have another chance. You get selfish, you start doing what ever makes YOU happy. Other peoples opinions don't matter as much as they use to....You do what you want and to hell with what others think about it. because the end of the trail could be just around the corner.

I want to age this rifle to please ME...not to fool anyone. It's going to make ME happy when I'm sitting in the woods looking down at it across my knees.

A lot of people live to be 80 but damn few make it to 90 so when you're in your 80's do what makes you happy and you'll die a happier man.

Here's last year when I was 80 with my original 1895 0-6 made in 1912

I told my cardiologist the last time I saw him that I felt like a tire with a slow leak....he thought that was a pretty good description of getting old.

Nice photo. I hope I can still make it out there when I'm 80.

It looks a little more used now, I think the wood is next with an oil finish.

Nice....used but not abused

Yeah!!! Take care of that wood! Then you'll have about 95% of what you're looking for!!!

I'm considering a set for my browning. Make it look a bit more vintage. Give it the feel! . We'll see how bad this year's property taxes leave me!

http://www.precisiongunstocks.com/contents/en-us/d18.html