Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

1853 Enfield Finishes

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • 1853 Enfield Finishes

    Were there any Enfields that had browned barrels? I know most were blued and some polished bright.
    Collin McNeill

  • #2
    Re: 1853 Enfield Finishes

    Hallo!

    In brief....
    As they left the factories, barrels were rust-blued (blackened).

    Many seem to be brown or browned now because the rust-blue oxidizes and turns plum then brown with age and exposure over the decades.

    Curt
    Curt Schmidt
    In gleichem Schritt und Tritt, Curt Schmidt

    -Hard and sharp as flint...secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster.
    -Haplogroup R1b M343 (Subclade R1b1a2 M269)
    -Pointless Folksy Wisdom Mess, Oblio Lodge #1
    -Vastly Ignorant
    -Often incorrect, technically, historically, factually.

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: 1853 Enfield Finishes

      Possible source of confusion...this part of the manufacturing process in the English gun trade was called barrel browning, but the result was a deep black/blue finish. Suppliers to the Confederacy p 58 has a detailed description of the process including the recipe for the acid wash they used, which varied with the quality of the iron barrel although I'm not sure how that determination was made.

      And ironically, like Curt says, as the blued barrel finish ages over time it turns brownish in color due to oxidation.
      Last edited by Craig L Barry; 05-28-2017, 10:28 AM.
      Craig L Barry
      Editor, The Watchdog, a non-profit 501[c]3
      Co-author (with David Burt) Suppliers to the Confederacy
      Author, The Civil War Musket: A Handbook for Historical Accuracy
      Member, Company of Military Historians

      Comment

      Working...
      X