Bronze Cannon question

drezac, you are spot on. Only the elevation screw housing was brass (which was unpainted and shined while the rest was iron and pained black.

We do not keep it shined because there is an inscription on the top pf the barrel from the war and repeated shining of the tube would eventually erode the inscription away.
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That is very important. Unfortunately, I have a good (or should I say bad) example of this. I first Joined 1st Ohio Battery A just after it was formed 20 years ago. We are connected with the Ohio State House and operate the 4 original guns on the state house lawn.
After an absence from the battery while my boys were in school (and a few other of life's occurrences that take away free time) I rejoined again a few years ago. all of the markings on the guns are noticeably fainter than when I first encountered the guns. There were some at the state house (grounds crew, not our battery) that were overly enthusiastic about keeping them bright and shiny, and as a result the markings are now very shallow and hard to see. I am currently researching the history of the guns and have identified 11 of the original 24 that are still surviving. I have visited almost all of the surviving guns, and the first thing that I noticed is that on the guns that have not been polished, the markings are all very clear and deep. It wasn't until that point that I realized just how much damage had been done to the guns through polishing. When I first encountered the guns nearly 20 years ago, they were already quite faded compared to the others I have seen from that same order. Now a less harsh polish is used, they are only polished when necessary, and we do not touch the markings unless we absolutely need to.
 
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