Pietta 1860 with faux ivory grips

[Choctaw]

Okay, I just took delivery on a 1860 today with faux ivory grips. I've never had these kind of grips before. There is a greenish discoloration on the grips near the back strap. It doesn't seem wipe off. I guess I need to get some new grips?

 

[Hellgate]

Is it a brand new gun or was it made a while ago? Is the grip frame brass? If so then you may be getting vertigris(sp?) from the copper in the brass leaching into the faux ivory from hand sweat or whatever.

 

[Choctaw]

Thanks for the response, Hellgate. This gun is probably five or six years old. The guy I bought it from was a reenactor and didn't take super good care of it. I would say it is about 90%, but he sold it to me for $130 so I was happy with it. Anyway, it has a steel grip frame. I'll take a picture of it tonight.

 

[BCRider]

The right spelling for brass corrosion that goes that far is "verdigris". If you search for cleaning information with that spelling you may find something you can use. Your gun may have a steel frame but the previous owner may have used grips take off a well abused brass frame gun. So the green may still be a case of verdigris staining.

The faux ivory I've seen for sale is a micarta product that involves layers of open weave paper or fabric (linen I believe) with a coloured resin. Because these products are rather tough you can get quite aggressive with options for cleaning the material. So don't be afraid to try some of the more nasty solvents you may have around if the water based detergents and other cleaners don't do the job.

 

[Choctaw]

Carefully applied dose of 0000 steel wool took it right off.