Is it just me?

I've been to the Turnbull shop twice and each time they have several samples of their work on display. Far from being garish, they are quite simply works of art.

Navy87Guy said:

It drives my obsessive/compulsive side crazy…I wouldn’t drop a dime on one!

Click to expand...

Yeah, not a fan of two or three tone finishes, either. Just, no.

Col. Harrumph said:

...or does anyone else think Turnbull Restoration's case colors are a bit on the garish side?

Click to expand...

My opinion, yes it is a bit 'Garish'.. I have no idea if that is how it was back in the day or not. It may be I'm used to the aged look that we see today and my response is about as subjective as it can be.

Col. Harrumph said:

...or does anyone else think Turnbull Restoration's case colors are a bit on the garish side? Case in point, from their latest email blast:

View attachment 1022670

Of course, maybe Winchesters really did look like that. Dunno.

Click to expand...

I think it's beautiful. But I'm a sucker for color case hardened and old drop blocks.

Having not been around in the 1870's, but I have several coffee table books that show vibrant colors on vintage firearms, it is evident to me that period firearms were made pretty to appeal to the buying public. Case hardening has gone from necessary to cosmetic. From the period of the Civil War to the 1890's, metallurgy was very primitive, manganese and nickle steel are the first alloy steels on the market, but they appear in the 1890's. Until then, the steels gunmakers used were plain carbon steels, which were left dead soft for easy machining. The case was applied to raise the carbon content of the surface, for wear hardness and to provide a bit of surface strength. Since case only penetrates thousands of an inch, the surface layer was thin.

But, period case is beautiful, and when properly done today, I love the blues and purples.

I like it! I would rather have a "garish" case hardened gun than an engraved one.