This week I started the process of finishing my Colonial rifle kit from Jim Kibler. I prepared all the brass hardware by filing, sanding, and steel wool until everything was nice and clean. After looking a many pictures of other finished rifles I decided that I wanted an older look on the brass hardware. Someone referred me to Brass Black and shared some pictures of their gun with the brass darkened. I liked the look and decided to give it a try.
Here are some before and after pictures of the brass hardware.
After applying two coats per the instructions, I applied Gun Wax to the parts to hopefully provide a little more protection to the finish.
A Facebook friend, Rube Wilson, shared another option for tarnishing the brass parts. The following are his instructions on how to do this process:
“Biggest problem I’ve found with Brass back is that is is topical and will not wear well. It will wear off and scratch easily on surfaces subject to a lot of wear. The best way to antique brass is by fuming it with vinegar. I use a large Tupperware tray with a small dish rack like you use to set dishes on in your cabinets. Find one that will fit inside the Tupperware tray and then put about an inch or so of Vinegar in the container. Clean and degrease your brass and lay on the rack inside and close the lid. Make sure you don’t touch the brass with bare hands after you clean it. Any finger prints will show. I handle the parts with rubber gloves after cleaning. Once things are to the shade you like, wash them with warm soapy water then dry and buff to a dull sheen.” – Rube Wilson
“A wire wheel will clean it up. I usually buff my brass back to more of a dull sheen rather then high polished bright metal. The results are better. Wipe all surfaces with some acetone to remove any grease or finger prints and the with gloved hands place it in the vat. About 2 – 3 days will do. You can leave it in longer and it will go totally brown on you, if that is what you are looking for. . Simply lift the cover off the vat each day and look at the progress. Once you get it to where you’d like it to be (I always go a bit more then what I am looking for in the final appearance) then after all is cleaned and dry I buff the brass on a buffing wheel to bring up some highlights on the raised edges etc. This will leave things a bit darker in the recesses which is all part of the look your after.” – Rube Wilson
Here is a photo from Steve Levine using this process:
And here is a photo from Rube Wilson:
I was already using the Brass Black when I heard about Rube’s process. I figure I’ll try the Brass Black for a while, and if I’m not happy with how it wears, I’ll just sand it down and give the vinegar method a try.
