Tips on Dulling Shine of Repro Musket

[mb3]

How can I dull the finish on my Italian repro CWmusket? Most people who look at herthink she has stainless hardware and barrel. I am not looking to age the metalso it looks like an original, but just to dull (age) the hardware some. I haveconsidered using apple cider vinegar or white vinegar to do this. Any ideas?

[Maillemaker]

What sort of musket is it?

Anyway, I wouldn't. The brighter the polish, the more resistant it is to rust, as the surface area is reduced.

The best way to age gear is to simply use it. Civil War troops were issued new gear, and it looked new when received.

Steve

[mb3]

Its an Armi Sports CS Richmond. I have read where CW soldiers actually polished their rifles, with what they had on hand, to make them shiney. I guess they liked the look. I recall reading somewhere, Confederate units with blued barrels actually used dirt to rub off the bluing. Wonder if that is true?

[Ken Hansgen, 11094]

I've heard wood ash from campfires was used.

[John Holland]

mb3 -

Very simply the arms were issued bright, and it was the soldiers duty to keep his arm in the condition it was issued, because first of all....it wan't your property! Would you really want the 1st Sgt. to berate you in front of your entire company because you had neglected the very arm that could save your life? The arms were kept bright by quite a few novel methods, using everything from red bricks ground up into an abrasive dust to burnishing the barrels with the ram rod. The Federal Gov't actually issued an order prohibiting the soldiers from burnishing the barrels with the ram rod because it damaged the barrels.

As for removing the blueing on the imported Enfields, yes it was done in the field, but not universally. There are historic references to the soldiers doing just that, again using the same methods mentioned above. *

JDH

*I refer you to "The Civil War Musket: A Handbook for Historical Accuracy - Lock, Stock, and Barrel" by Craig L. Barry

[Jim Brady Knap's Battery]

I remember seeing a directive from some Federal HQ telling commanders to, "...dissuade the soldiers from the pernicious practice of burnishing their arms." I wish I could remember the origin.


Jim Brady
2249V
Knap's Battery

[Jim Mayo]

It takes one damp weekend to dull the finish of a 42 Springfield. Cleaning off the rust and keeping it off will dull the finish very quickly.

As for burnishing off the blueing of Enfields, some Federal units did that to brighten their guns and conform to the norm at the time. They were also sturck bright at the arsenal. I have read that in first person accounts and other sources but I am not going and re-read material simply to quote a source.

I have never read of Confederates removing the blued finish off of their Enfields. I have read one account that they liked the Enfields because they didn't rust as easily as the Springfields.

[Southron Sr.]

When Sherman's troops approached Statesboro, GA in the Fall of 1864, a rag tag band of about 20 armed citizens assembled on the road going into town on a hill top, vowing to stop Sheraman's troops.

One account of that incident states that before the Yankee colums came into plain view, in the distance the militia members could see the "glint" of the sunlight off of their muskets. Realizing that they were outnombered about a thousand to one, the citizen militia beat a hasty retreat.

So, obviously, that late in the war Sherman's men had burnished rifle-muskets.

[MR. GADGET]

How can I dull the finish on my Italian repro CWmusket? Most people who look at herthink she has stainless hardware and barrel. I am not looking to age the metalso it looks like an original, but just to dull (age) the hardware some. I haveconsidered using apple cider vinegar or white vinegar to do this. Any ideas?


I can tell you what I did to a few of mine.
Just Gun cold Blue and mixed it with a little oil.
Clean the gun and pull from wood. Next wipe it down with the gun cold blue/oil mix and wash off or wipe clean.
Oil and clean as normal.

I did this to a few of my smoothbores to cut the shine, it was done several times each to get a grey color / change to the finish and take the shine off the gun.

Can't talk for anyone else but it helps me some. Plus I like the looks of it. Made it look like it was used several years.