Color case hardening finish .vs Boiling...

[RCS]

There are still gunsmiths around restoring early cartridge firearms such as the first generation Colt single action (much in demand) that do their own case hardening. i saw the work of a gunsmith who worked in a large gunshop, he even case colored a Mauser M98 action. the Mauser looked good too, but his main work was Colt 1873 revolvers.

Some years ago I converted a South American issue Remington rolling block to 22 rim fire, did alot of custom work and found an advertisement in the old Shotgun News for color case hardening from a man in South Dakota, It cost me just under $100.00 including shipping, while not the color pattern Remington used, it looks good to me.

Shop around, you might find a gunsmith to color your shotgun

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[usabaker]

Some years ago I converted a South American issue Remington rolling block to 22 rim fire, did alot of custom work and found an advertisement in the old Shotgun News for color case hardening from a man in South Dakota, It cost me just under $100.00 including shipping, while not the color pattern Remington used, it looks good to me.

She's a looker for sure!... I've been looking around and everything so far looks to be 250.00+ I have been reading a bit on the subject and it doesn't look to be too hard of a process but the heating source would be the big hurdle. I'm mulling it over, the Savage 220A is not an overly rare or valuable shotgun, I just bought it because I remember using one as a kid. Now the question is, how much do I want to invest in her, just might since I have no intention of selling her anyhow. I have to do something though to kill the surface oxidation so while I figure out her future, she's going to end up in the boil.

---------- Post added at 07:44 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:42 PM ----------

Somewhere I have some information that indicates cyanide as a possible element

The old gunsmith books I have discussed using cyanide, I think I will keep my distance on that one LOL

---------- Post added at 07:49 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:44 PM ----------

bone black or charcoal mix, heat in an electric furncace to a specific temp for specific time, then pull out and quickly water quench. Also, it's worth noting that the colors only develop in an oxygen depleted environmen

I been looking at the process. I have a friend that makes knives and has a forge. I've not seen it so have no clue how big it is but I gonna give him a shout. Brownell carries the supplies I would need. They even have a kit, but I would need more then this old shotgun to justify the price.

---------- Post added at 07:56 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:49 PM ----------

I have a book on gunsmithing written in the 1930s ('Advanced Gunsmithing' by W.F. Vickery).

Yup, that's one if the books, that and Clide Bakers book

---------- Post added at 08:04 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:56 PM ----------

But.. Y'all answered my initial question in that I will lose the case color when I boil and card. Not much of it left anyhow I suppose so no really hard loss. Thank you guys!