Submerging 1860 internal parts into vinegar ??

I've only aged one gun, a 3rd Model Dragoon. But I completely disassembled it before I put everything in the vinegar.

Depends on how long its soaked. If its just long enough to remove bluing then it should be fine...all the parts are metal so the vinegar wont effect it much aside from removing bluing and color case hardening from the frame.

I tend to age them by shooting them.

I've used vinegar to remove rust on metal stuff but never on guns. Vinegar works great, but it is recommended that metal should not soak in vinegar for more than 15 minutes as it will pit. Don't know if that is true as I soak my stuff for about 10 minutes at a time and rinse.

I have never used it to clean my guns but im pretty sure you are right about pitting if exposed to vinegar for a long time...it definately makes sense. I dont use it as a cleaner as it ruins bluing finishes. But from experience it did not take long at all for bluing to be removed from metal using white vinegar.

Vinegar is basically acetic acid, and I imagine that short term dunking won't hurt anything, and while it removes bluing and color case hardening with longer term apllications, I'd think it would eventually damage metal at some point.

I'd be careful how long you leave it in the acetic acid.

I could never understand artificially aging an object. Unless a part of an antique firearm is being replaced, and matching it to the original. Otherwise, why ruin something newer?

ms6852 said:

I've used vinegar to remove rust on metal stuff but never on guns. Vinegar works great, but it is recommended that metal should not soak in vinegar for more than 15 minutes as it will pit. Don't know if that is true as I soak my stuff for about 10 minutes at a time and rinse.

Click to expand...

I had a rusty tool (rusted stanley block plane) sit in 4 different batches of white vinegar to remove the disolvable rust.
If anything will rust, It defianely rust in the northwest arctic coast weather.
Even the rain and snow seem brackaish.
It will definately make a badly rusted tool white, just remember after the water rinse to oil good or will flash rust.

I think "ruin" is in the eye of the beholder.

Some people want the look and feel of an original, but can't afford one. Or maybe the gun you purchased cheap, had a terrible finish on it that was beyond repair. Lots of good reasons to weather or age a reproduction pistol.

Which brings me to another point. We sometimes forget that these guns we fool around with, aren't valuable collectables. Oh sure, there are a few exceptions, but by and large these are mass produced, run of the mill reproductions with lousy, gaudy, unrealistic, fake, color case hardening, and sub-par bluing . And ours look exactly like everyone else's. So the occasional weather and defarb job, makes ours stand out in the crowd.

It's really not any different than say, changing grips or putting a dovetail front sight on. It's a canvas to express yourself and make your own.

Of course, this is only my own opinion. Your mileage may vary.

I am not going to get too involved in the debate about artificially aging a modern reproduction since that's a personal choice and decision. It's not for me, but I will admit that I have considered removing the bluing from the cylinders of my 2nd and 3rd gen Colt Walkers since the originals were never blued, to begin with. However, since these are still NIB, I have been hesitant to do so with the potential resale value in mind.

That said, the basic problem with submerging an entire revolver into vinegar is that common household white vinegar is only 5% vinegar diluted with 95% water. Think about that a minute or two and you should see the potential problems right away.

After removing the revolver from the solution, if one did not fully disassemble the gun to dry off and re-lubricate the internals, they may have created a potential internal rust bucket that will not get discovered or corrected until it's too late.

In addition, some of the internal parts such as springs that are never seen are blued--thus helping to prevent rust. Why would one want to remove that protection?

The illogic of aging a gun by simply dunking it into what is 95% water without some viable method to dry out and re-lubricate internally should be obvious to anyone, However, common sense doesn't seem all that common anymore.

Cheers

My two cents...I would never dunk and rinse a revolver in vinegar. It is an acid and needs to be neutralized in water and thoroughly dried and protected afterwards. As far as aging a NIB beautiful revolver...I would not do that. But I have some that look like they survived the Comanche wars, so...why not?

electricfactory said:

Any of you gentlemen who've aged your reproduction c&b revolver heard of such ?

Click to expand...

Well I have used Evaporust to remove bluing and years of unwanted rust from many a muzzleloader, revolvers included. Much safer than Naval Jelly. I am told molasses and water will do the same. The Evaporust I HIGHLY recommend.

I use vinegar, in common (and cheap) table mustard, to patina or brown (depends on the number of applications) bare, carbon steel. Some folks want a gun that looks like it's been "in the field" for a while. The same is true for carbon steel knife blades.

So you degrease the steel, and then apply a thin layer of mustard. Allow it to turn brown and dry, then knock it off with an old toothbrush, and repeat until you have the desired effect. Straight vinegar will bead up on the steel and give it a "measles" appearance. The mustard goes on like a paste. Ketchup works too, but has sugar and attracts ants. Mayo works, but it goes rancid. I started doing this 18 years ago, when my now 20 year-old son was two..., and active...and the neighborhood named him "danger boy" as he had zero fear of anything, and I needed a non-toxic method of aging or browning black powder guns.

LD

For a fun experiment, try dunking a very rusty tool in a container of white vinegar.
I did that with a very rusted file I found under the house.
After 3 changes of vinegar, that mild acid had the file in the white, it ate all the gunk clovging the file teeth right out, it was better but not as great as a new file more like 55% of new, the file cutting teeth were somewhat duller than a good condition file.
Still useable though, as opposed to you having no file at all.

I have actually seen some really nice "antiqued" guns that were treated with white vinegar to get the "well worn" visual affect. I liked them. I antiqued one gun this way but i didnt like how it came out personally. But im no artist and some people are.

Vinegar on a rag will rub it right off pretty easy, not sure why he thought he needed to dunk it.

TheOutlawKid said:

I have actually seen some really nice "antiqued" guns that were treated with white vinegar to get the "well worn" visual affect. I liked them. I antiqued one gun this way but i didnt like how it came out personally. But im no artist and some people are.

Click to expand...

I know of an instance where it was used in an attempt to clean a gun. It was quickly learned that it also cleaned a portion of the bluing off. Although thankfully the slight residue left over after it was wiped off with a dry rag did not have enough time to fully strip most of the finish, a good portion of the well cared for shine of a beautiful blue was gone.

It sure did look more aged. I hated it. It was an accident that should not be repeated. Thankfully the mistake was realized the next day and a full rinse with hot soap and water prevented any further damage.

I do wonder however if it would be a good idea to do to a brand new cylinder and all exposed parts to match a former rust bucket pitted (inside and out talk about a pet project) before sanding down frame of a totally devalued original 1858 (so rusted it only cost about $30.00 ) since the brand new parts do contrast in a bad way with the bare pitted frame.

electricfactory said:

Good point, though you wouldn't want to see beading up on the metal surface.

Click to expand...

Don't let it bead up just rub it with a saturated rag until you remove the amount of finish you want. You don't want to remove everything from the nooks and crannies because that looks fake as can be. Even many well used 150 year old guns have traces of bluing left in areas that don't get rubbed or scraped in normal use.

Do folks think the aging enhances or degrades the appearance of this rifle?

For me it enhances it.

CraigC said:

Do folks think the aging enhances or degrades the appearance of this rifle?

View attachment 956978

Click to expand...

It looks fine. But then, if it was finished “new as if it had left the shop on Friday” it would be fine as well. No difference at all imo...

CraigC said:

Do folks think the aging enhances or degrades the appearance of this rifle?

View attachment 956978

Click to expand...

absolutely stunning!!!