Model 1861 debacle

[Colsanders1955]

I was given a Model US 1861 US Trenton marked rifle musket several years ago by my father. The arm had seen little or no hard service as evidenced by the fine condition of the wood. Dad unwittingly put browning solution acquired from Dixie Gun Works on the metal which had been issued in the "bright". The gun also has a dark hammer (no doubt a replacement of some type). In my view, the arm is basically ruined as a collector piece. Would anyone know of any tried and proven method to "remove" that browning solution and return the metal on this gun to more of its' original state?

Thanks in advance,
The Colonel

 

[rob63]

Any chance you can post a photo? I like a brown patina on old guns, guns that are still bright look odd to me, so it may be best to just leave it be. However, if the brown looks really bad and you are determined to remove it then elbow grease, oil, and extra fine steel wool is probably the safest way to remove it. I would stay away from anything more aggressive than that because you want to remove it slowly in order to not go too far. If you buff it too hard then you end up dulling the markings and it hurts the value far more than what the brown does. FWIW, I tend to turn my nose up at guns with dull markings, that would bother me far, far more than the brown would. If you can simply dull the brown enough to make it look more like a natural patina then that would be better in my opinion than making it bright again. Good luck.

 

[kevikens]

I would not get too upset by this. I have two Springfields, original, flintlocks. One model was originally finished in "bright" the other browned. Both were well used, though not abused. The strange thing is that after close to 200 years the barrels both look alike, a smooth light brown patina, each with a bit of dulled bright unevenly spaced about the barrel and lock. If I had not read that model 1816's were produced in both bright and brown, with different year dates so you know which was which, I would never have guessed they started out differently. I think most of us have seen barrels originally finished in bright which, with time and use, have gone to brown (like Brown Bess muskets originally bright, now gone quite brown). Don't be too hard on dad. It's a venial sin, not an unforgiveable mortal sin.

 

[bankerpapaw]

I'm no expert, but I believe any attempt to remove the "browning" might make matters worse.

 

[frankconrad]

I agree with Bankerpapaw. It calls for a real artist to remove the browning without bluring the marking and matching the arsenal bright. If you try it you very possibly could go backward. Also it could have been brown and restruck bright before he bought it.