32 acp fan
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- Dec 28, 2016
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Colt 1903 High Polish Mirror finishes were a Colt factory original however very rare in quantity. I have 3 now, and I look for them constantly. Two of the pistols in very good condition, one rough. When I bought my first Colt it was to study the polished mirror finishes. Just recently, the re issued Colt 1903 just came out with a High Polish Blue that has the mirrored finish, again the quantity seems to be a lot less than Polished Blue new Colt 1903s.
Most people do not understand the Colt 1903 finishes as well as other carbon finishes done on revolvers as well. There was the original method of putting the final sanded and polished pistols in a trough with grates of charcoal, bone ash and an oil, possibly whale oil as no one to my knowledge knows for certain. Once polished and sanded, the pistols were set in a trough and covered by the charcoal ash ingredients and monitored for the finish. Once taken out the finish is done except for possibly cleaning and maybe a final polishing (is uncertain).
Later, a rotating furnace was made by American Gas Furnace (later I believe became Carrier) that eliminated the trough and put the pistols inside a rotating drum furnace that tumbled the charcoal and bone ash around the pistols. I am still researching to find an example of the rotating drum furnace and what is looked like. American Furnace may have supplied some of the ingredients calling in "Carbonia" which may be the name origin of this type finish.
Colt's method and S&W which and using the furnace is a tempered blue finish which technical information can be read at Metallurgy Tempering Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tempering_(metallurgy) . This page has examples of the variation in temperature for just straight steel and heat. The process / recipe of adding the charcoal, bone ash, oil and the level of the sanded and polished finish created the very unique finishes of each model whether from Colt or S&W, etc. My high polished mirrored finish Savage 1907 probably done in a similar fashion.
All the Colt's changed from the finish look around 1916 when the trough was eliminated and the furnaces used. Also, I have yet to find a high polish example after the rotating furnaces were put in use but there could be some out there.
The look of the pistols from the "trough" finish to "rotating furnace" is easy to spot as the rotating furnace pistols have the buff luster finish that is has a combination effect between a light grey blue to black and reflective as seen by the eye as the pistol is moved about. The early trough pistols look glossy reflective black which the finish never held up as good as the later furnace method. The more the early version finish were handled the more the reflective polish finish rubbed off and you get the duller finished look. With both the early and later finishes, you can see the directional sanding grain as that technique seems to be the same. However, with the High Polish Mirror the sanding grain is eliminated and a more silver look mirror look . Between a regular polish finish and high mirror polish finish, nothing changed other than how the end result of the Carbonia finish varies depending on the level of fineness the finish is taken to in sanding and polishing. Polishing a tempered finish afterwards rubs off the finish very quickly and easily.
You can look at Colt revolvers that have the same polish look but more black mirror finish and this is a "recipe" variation of the tempering and ingredients the pistol is exposed to. You can do this process using stripped steel heating it then submerging it in clean motor oil you will get a more light blue chrome finish verse dirty motor oil will give more dull black finish. Also the more fine sanding and polished the more mirrored look verse the matte semi polished look from the furnaces. Mirrored Colts you can barely see the sanding grain which creates the mirrored look. The roll mark lettering is also a bit smoother and finer because of the greater amount of sanding and polishing which always followed the roll marking. The back edge of the frame and slide is the number one spot to look for a refinish because just lightly rotating the frame when sanding will roll the crisp edge of the back strap and slide rear. Buffed or rounded serrated edges on the slide, and the denting of pins from removal.
There is no one that I know can refinish a Colt like a Colt factory finish because the charcoal ingredients, technique, sanding and polishing were proprietary. I have a refinished Colt 1908 I believe was done at the factory as Colt used to provide refinishing. I have also seen one example of a perfect exterior Colt 1903 but the internal slide and frame had a lot of wear I suspect Colt just did the outsides and not the entire gun as you would have to chemically strip it to get the insides cleaned off. Recently, the New re issued Colt's just came out with a High Polish Blue that has same mirrored finish. So, the Colt 1903 Mirror finish is a legitimate factory finish.
By the way, Colt's tempering finish is the worst type of finish to hold up over time. Rust blue finish of the FN Browning pistols can still looks brand new after 100 years and being handled. Colts carbon finish were fast factory process and the more you handle the pistol, the more the finish rubs off the surface.
Hope this helps, as I am still trying to learn more about the Carbonia finish as there is very little out there about it.
Ed
Most people do not understand the Colt 1903 finishes as well as other carbon finishes done on revolvers as well. There was the original method of putting the final sanded and polished pistols in a trough with grates of charcoal, bone ash and an oil, possibly whale oil as no one to my knowledge knows for certain. Once polished and sanded, the pistols were set in a trough and covered by the charcoal ash ingredients and monitored for the finish. Once taken out the finish is done except for possibly cleaning and maybe a final polishing (is uncertain).
Later, a rotating furnace was made by American Gas Furnace (later I believe became Carrier) that eliminated the trough and put the pistols inside a rotating drum furnace that tumbled the charcoal and bone ash around the pistols. I am still researching to find an example of the rotating drum furnace and what is looked like. American Furnace may have supplied some of the ingredients calling in "Carbonia" which may be the name origin of this type finish.
Colt's method and S&W which and using the furnace is a tempered blue finish which technical information can be read at Metallurgy Tempering Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tempering_(metallurgy) . This page has examples of the variation in temperature for just straight steel and heat. The process / recipe of adding the charcoal, bone ash, oil and the level of the sanded and polished finish created the very unique finishes of each model whether from Colt or S&W, etc. My high polished mirrored finish Savage 1907 probably done in a similar fashion.
All the Colt's changed from the finish look around 1916 when the trough was eliminated and the furnaces used. Also, I have yet to find a high polish example after the rotating furnaces were put in use but there could be some out there.
The look of the pistols from the "trough" finish to "rotating furnace" is easy to spot as the rotating furnace pistols have the buff luster finish that is has a combination effect between a light grey blue to black and reflective as seen by the eye as the pistol is moved about. The early trough pistols look glossy reflective black which the finish never held up as good as the later furnace method. The more the early version finish were handled the more the reflective polish finish rubbed off and you get the duller finished look. With both the early and later finishes, you can see the directional sanding grain as that technique seems to be the same. However, with the High Polish Mirror the sanding grain is eliminated and a more silver look mirror look . Between a regular polish finish and high mirror polish finish, nothing changed other than how the end result of the Carbonia finish varies depending on the level of fineness the finish is taken to in sanding and polishing. Polishing a tempered finish afterwards rubs off the finish very quickly and easily.
You can look at Colt revolvers that have the same polish look but more black mirror finish and this is a "recipe" variation of the tempering and ingredients the pistol is exposed to. You can do this process using stripped steel heating it then submerging it in clean motor oil you will get a more light blue chrome finish verse dirty motor oil will give more dull black finish. Also the more fine sanding and polished the more mirrored look verse the matte semi polished look from the furnaces. Mirrored Colts you can barely see the sanding grain which creates the mirrored look. The roll mark lettering is also a bit smoother and finer because of the greater amount of sanding and polishing which always followed the roll marking. The back edge of the frame and slide is the number one spot to look for a refinish because just lightly rotating the frame when sanding will roll the crisp edge of the back strap and slide rear. Buffed or rounded serrated edges on the slide, and the denting of pins from removal.
There is no one that I know can refinish a Colt like a Colt factory finish because the charcoal ingredients, technique, sanding and polishing were proprietary. I have a refinished Colt 1908 I believe was done at the factory as Colt used to provide refinishing. I have also seen one example of a perfect exterior Colt 1903 but the internal slide and frame had a lot of wear I suspect Colt just did the outsides and not the entire gun as you would have to chemically strip it to get the insides cleaned off. Recently, the New re issued Colt's just came out with a High Polish Blue that has same mirrored finish. So, the Colt 1903 Mirror finish is a legitimate factory finish.
By the way, Colt's tempering finish is the worst type of finish to hold up over time. Rust blue finish of the FN Browning pistols can still looks brand new after 100 years and being handled. Colts carbon finish were fast factory process and the more you handle the pistol, the more the finish rubs off the surface.
Hope this helps, as I am still trying to learn more about the Carbonia finish as there is very little out there about it.
Ed
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