Antique Blued Revolver Condition and appearance

That light freckling might be able to be removed with a pure copper brush. I've heard tale of an old copper penny working well too.

Some blued finishes I have seen take on an almost brownish shade in certain lighting. It is a very fragile finish and difficult to maintain. Those remind me of being stored without surface protection possibly in gun leather or a case that trapped and held humidity. I've seen that form of blue surface rusting on many guns over the years, even a few I've owned that I neglected to completely protect before putting away and especially on areas that are handled such as around trigger guards. In such cases I just keep the surface lightly oiled with a good preservative and let the area patina. Anything too aggressive will risk the remaining blue.

Master Blaster said:

Driftwood Johnson how do you deal with this issue when you are evaluating condition?

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I don't use a flashlight.

I simply examine a potential acquisition under normal room lighting.

I have never seen a description of exactly what 'freckling' is. I see it mentioned in catalogs all the time, but there does not seem to be a real definition. If there is, I don't worry about it.

Here is a S&W Model 36 from 1961. The finish is a little bit light or thin. My description. You can see tiny bare spots in the finish near the grip. I would call these freckles. Again, my term. Notice there is no rust showing in these freckles, just bare metal. If I tilt the gun just so, and get the light just right, I can see a little bit of red in the freckles. But normally they just look like bare metal.






This S&W 32 Regulation Police left the factory in 1924. A pretty deep pit on the backstrap near the right grip. No rust, at least none that I can see. The blue is pretty thin on the rest of the backstrap and some bare metal is showing through. I would call those freckles. I don't see any rust anywhere. Now, having said that, I suppose I should correct myself. I don't see any red rust. What is rust anyway? It is iron oxide. Or corrosion. So while there is actually plenty of corrosion in that deep pit, I don't see any red.






Here is a nice little Colt 32 Police Positive from 1917. Plenty of freckling on the frame. Some actual dark brown corrosion where the recoil shield meets the frame.






Another view of he same Colt.







Here it is under a flashlight. I still don't see any red on the freckling on the frame.






So what is the red freckling? It is corrosion. Or rust. Usually occurring where the finish is very thin. As such, it is not under or above the finish, it is on the bare metal showing through small gaps in a worn finish.

When somebody says 95% (or pick any number you want) coverage of the original blue, that is a pretty subjective number. You might say 95% and I might say 80%. Who is correct? I have no idea. You would have to do a detailed study of the actual surface area of the gun, and then determine the actual surface area without finish. Nobody does that. I suppose if a very experienced dealer, and I don't mean the guy at the local gun shop, says XX%, I would believe him. Particularly if he sells literally thousands of guns every year. Like some of the big auction houses. A guy posting on a gun broker or some such internet site, if he says 95% original blue I will take that with a huge grain of sand. One reason I never buy old guns that I have not handled personally.

When I am looking at an old revolver, I just get an overall picture of the gun in my head. I look for visible rust. I look for wear on the blue. I also look for teltale signs of rebluing. Such as stamped markings that are a little bit faded from a polishing job. These can sometimes be very subtle, and I have been fooled a few times.

Bottom line, I don't concern myself with the % of finish. I decide what I will pay for the gun, and try to stick to it.

"I have also noticed that on most high condition antique revolvers ( pre WWII) I always see red freckling on blueing under bright light."

Since you have asked for my opinion, pre-WWII does not define an antique firearm. Pre-1899 defines an antique according to the BATF.

Take a flash picture of that revolver and you'll get even a better idea of how pervasive that freckling is. I've played around with cleaning some shooters with freckling with 0000 steel wood, and then hitting them with Oxpho Blue - seems to work pretty good, but it takes a long time to get all the rust off, and most freckles will end up being bare metal. Not sure I would do that on a real antique or collectible though. I hear for the most part - if it can't see it under natural light, just make sure they are oiled well and not to worry about it.

I was always just happy to get a decent deal on an older gun. Now I have something new to look for. I did buy and older tapered barrel model 10 with 6" barrel off GB and in the pictures it looked pretty bad with lots of freckling all over it. So I got it for $225 IIRC and when the gun came I thought the seller had switched guns on me. The gun I got looked 10 times better than the pictures.

No matter, Its a field use gun and a shooter. Not a collector grade gun but I was happy that it looks far better than I expected. Old guns are going to have finish issues. If they don't have some blemishes I probably can't afford them.

"If they don't have some blemishes I probably can't afford them."

Same here. I have some old guns that are really fun to shoot, but I was only able to afford them because they had worn finish, incorrect grips, had been refinished, etc.

I would have to see a picture taken with good old developed film like we used before digital cameras. Could be a technical issue with the digital camera and LED lighting you are using and the way the camera interprets the colors.

Edit to ask: Do you also see the red flecking with naked eye?

I still wonder about the LED lighting and perception of colors. Do you also feel the pitting with your finger? 100% natural sunlight and a magnifying glass would probably give you a lot of info.

Still a good looking revolver.

Master Blaster, what ever you do, DO NOT use copper wool or a penny on that gun. It will only scratch off the bluing you have. Give that piece of American history a good coat of light gun oil and shoot it. Those are bringing some serious $ now, especially in original condition. Yours appears to have the original stocks which is even more of a plus. A reblue with the wrong person buffing the inscriptions will cut the value in half immediately. Is the bore and cylinders in good shape? You have a treasure there my friend.

In my experience, every old blued gun shows that brown under the bluing under brilliant illumination. I think it is slight oxidation of the steel despite the bluing. Oxygen is a very reactive chemical.