Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

'42 Finish

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

  • '42 Finish

    Hello all.

    Friend of mine in my unit has a '42 like mine but with a significantly different metal finish. It's what I guess you'd call 'duller' than mine. Not ugly dull. Closest approximation I can think of--and I know this is a modern comparison but it's the only image I can think of to properly convey the idea--is the way brushed stainless steel looks, like on some modern handguns, just without that light blue tint that stainless has of course. Kind of a flat gleam. And I get the impression from the posts here that the 'use your lockplate for a shaving mirror' finish on an out-of-the-box '42 is not only a pain in the butt to maintain but historically incorrect. I saw in my search a post (actually the only one that came back to my keywords) regarding de-bluing an Enfield that mentioned Lysol bowl cleaner or Naval Jelly, and the fact that the 'gray' color they gave the metal was desirable. Was that 'duller' finish also found on the original '42? My pard said he achieved the finish on his musket with 400 grit and WD40. While I really like the finish of his musket, I want to make sure it's correct first, and see if anybody recommends 'The Lysol Method' instead, or some other alternative. While I'm at it, do the bands and nosecap on a '42 normally require a Herculean effort to move or is there another step to removing them besides depressing the springs? Thanks for any info.
    Micah Hawkins

    Popskull Mess

  • #2
    Re: '42 removing barrel bands

    Micah,

    Removing those barrel bands shouldn't require a real effort. Generally, the springs should depress easily. You "might" need to use something to gently nudge them off but that should be it.

    Remove the tang screw first. Many times I put the gun in a vise, but I have a pair of pads with rubber insides made up so as not to mar the finish. This leaves your hands free to work and you're not struggling to hold the gun.

    As far as the finish. I'll leave further comment to those more knowledgble than I. My only thought, one would have to constantly work on a gun to retain that constant bright finish. The only bright gun I have is a Charlieville and over the years it has changed color to a duller finish due to use. In the field those bright guns would've taken on a patina.
    [FONT=Century Gothic]Robert Swartz[/FONT]


    [FONT=Arial Black]"A soldier would grumble in heaven"![/FONT]
    [FONT=Century Gothic]Ovando J. Hollister, 1st Colorado Volunteers[/FONT]

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: '42 Finish

      Originally posted by KentuckyReb
      Hello all.
      While I'm at it, do the bands and nosecap on a '42 normally require a Herculean effort to move or is there another step to removing them besides depressing the springs? Thanks for any info.

      I got the same problem with my nose cap. It's a royal pain to try and knock off. I was looking at the front spring and the hole for the pin is canted at an angle. Is it supposed to be that way or was it miss drilled?
      I am, etc.
      Thomas Gingras
      Awkward Squad Mess
      Columbia Rifles
      Honorary SRR "Yankee"

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: '42 Finish

        If you are wanting to knock the " Super Shine " off your 42, the best thing I've found, is to go over all the metal with a green 3M pad. This will give you the flat look you desire.

        Hope that helps,

        Jason Asher

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: '42 Finish

          My 42 had the same tight bands. Try putting the butt on the ground and the barrel under your left arm and depress the band spring with your thumb while squeezing the barrel down into the stock groove with your fingers. Using the other hand, push up on the band with your thumb. Sometimes this relieves the pressure between the barrel and the band which allows it to move.

          The bright finish will gradually dull due to normal wear and cleaning.
          Jim Mayo
          Portsmouth Rifles, Company G, 9th Va. Inf.

          CW Show and Tell Site
          http://www.angelfire.com/ma4/j_mayo/index.html

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: '42 Finish

            If your weapon is brand new, then the finish on the wood stock is more likely the culprit on getting the barrel bands off. The finish will cause the bands to stick on the initial removal. Also, there is the chance that there is wood stock finish on your band springs as well, causing them to stick. Just as Robert recommended, I placed mine in a rubber pad covered vise and then removed the tang screw, relieving the pressure on the barrel bands from the barrel. Then I had a buddy depress the band spring with a screw driver while I tapped the individual bands with a punch, striking the punch gently with a wooden mallet. The bands came off easily then without damaging the thin section of wood on the muzzle end of the stock. After removal, I cleaned and oiled the bands, removed the wood stock finish from the band springs and lightly steel wooled the stock where the bands are placed. The bands then funtioned (removed/installed easily) as they are supposed to in the field, with only one man using only his fingers. Do this in measured steps though, because if you over do it, your bands will not fit properly.

            I have owned 3 different Armisport 42's and they all are different as far as band fit/finish. A little careful work will cure your problem easily.
            Rick Atwood
            23rd Reg't
            Va. Vol. Infy

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: '42 Finish

              Hallo Kameraden!

              As made at the armories and contractors, the metal was "burnished bright" which imparted an even "bright," "metallic" "sheen" to the iron/steel.

              Operationalizing those terms can be difficult, and perhaps can best be appreciated by viewing mint original examples that have not be touched.

              The problem with repro guns is that they tend to be modern "polishing wheel mirror bright" which is not the same look as armory burnishing and field polished/maintained. (A problem with originals is determining whether the gun is intact, or whether it has been cleaned, polished, abraded, buffed, etc., etc., at some point in the past 150 +/- years...)

              However, once the gun was issued, and maintained in garrison with emory, and more commonly especially field conditions with fire ash- the metal takes on a "quality" different than the appearance of "arsenal bright" guns.

              To over-simplify, burnishing iron/steel, and particularly polishing, replaces deeper scratches with progressively finer scractches until the unaided human eye can no longer discern them and the surface of the metal appears as a metallic sheen or shine. The further and more extensive that goes, the finer the scratches become, going from a dullness to mirror reflective bright.

              The use of acids such as phosphoric in "NAVAL JELLY," strips blueing but imparts a dull gray quality to steel. A fine or worn fine SCOTCH BRIGHT pad, or 0000 steel and oil, can return the battleship gray dull to a metallic bright. Subsequent polishings with fire ash will impart an "authentic" sheen to guns used in a field setting (not 100% "perfect" as modern repro's use harder steels over irons and mild steels... ;-) ).

              HINT: If one is going to remove stuck or stubborn barrel bands, use a piece of wood to rap the edge of the band. Using a screwdriver often dings the edge of the band as the screwdriver is hard and the bands are soft.

              Curt-Heinrich Schmidt
              Last edited by Curt Schmidt; 05-04-2004, 09:57 AM.
              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


              • #8
                Re: '42 Finish

                Thankee, gents. The bands are off (and undamaged, thank you again), and work progresses nicely.
                Micah Hawkins

                Popskull Mess

                Comment

                Working...
                X