Metal Finish on Original Henrys

[Will Ketchum]

I don't recall seeing this topic discussed here before.  If it has I apologize.

I am in the process of redoing my Henry.  I am almost ready to re-stain the stock.  Since the barrel has a major ding in it from where a previous owner put it in a vice I will be redoing the barrel.  I can't find in the Madis book what finishes were available for the brass framed Henrys.

Were some left in the white?  brown?  Blue?  Any help would be appreciated.

Will Ketchum

[Tuolumne Lawman]

A collector told me that they were all blued, and the military stocks were oiled.  The original military model I handled was blued turning brown plum and the stock was oiled, not varnished.

Hope it helps.

[Fox Creek Kid]

Some early ones were in the white. By the way Will, thats "finish" & not "finnish". No Henrys were made in Helsinki!  Jajajajajajaajja. 

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[Will Ketchum]

Some early ones were in the white. By the way Will, thats "finish" & not "finnish". No Henrys were made in Helsinki!  Jajajajajajaajja. 

Thanks Kid.     I noticed that in my e-mail notification.  Sometimes I double tap more than a target

I fixed it now.

I wonder how long it took to turn plum brown?  My persona is in the 1890s so the rifle would be around 30 years old.  I wouldn't think it would appear to be very new,  a well cared for rifle that was used a lot would show some wear.

Will Ketchum

[St. George]

The brass-framed Henrys had blued barrels.

The 'plum' finish appears over time - but seems to appear when it wants to, so a 30-year time frame would seem to result in that finish.

Fortunately - 'plum' can be reached half-way easily when you're re-doing the piece - it's the 'mustard' of the brass frame that's damned difficult to match.

Individual metallurgy seems to play a big part in the whole affair - so for what you want - it's a lot of trial and error until you achieve the look you want.

Good Luck.

Vaya,

Scouts Out!

[Fox Creek Kid]

Will, I'm going to tell you an old secret to get a good patina. Mix some REAL BP with rubbing alcohol into a paste and apply to the receiver. Rub it in real good then let dry & wipe off. 

[Coffinmaker]

Interestingly, "plum' is elusive.  Most of the Henrys I've seen in collectors cases had about 75 - 80% blue remaining.  Really exquisite and expensive examples had 95% Blue. 
"Plum" seems to have taken about 100 years as a guess.  It would be dependent on severe use.  Plum is a patina that effects conventional blue.  No Henry rifles were delivered as "Rust Blue" or brown.
It would seem, any finish you apply, other than "rust blue" would be acceptable.  There were a few early Iron guns and some early Brass guns that were delivered in the white.  I have an Uberti in the white.  AWSOME!!

Coffinmaker

[Gripmaker]

Joss,   Just looked at the guns @ www.rarewinchester.com and came to the conclusion that the transitional Henry of 1866 looks an awful lot like a regular 66 Sporting Rifle w/o the forend. The close-ups do not support the flipper style loading gate as seen on the Uberti Transitionals. Might be a thing to try when I can get the forend screws loose and get the piece removed. If the mag tube is strong enough I just might have to fix her up that way with some patina on the receiver and some brass tacks on the butt stock.

[Will Ketchum]

The loading gate isn't the only improvement of the 66 over the Henry.  For those of us who shoot black powder or it's substitutes we can tell that the bare metal gets mighty hot during a stage.  The wood forearm is a definite improvement.

Will Ketchum

[Dakota Widowmaker]

There is a Winchester smith in Wisconsin who does FANTASTIC bluing of barrels and has worked on a few Henry repliguns, so I have heard.

http://www.ronsgunshop.com/finishes.html

I would NEVER hot-salts blue a rifle barrel EVER!!!

If I ever have to redo a barrel on my winchesters, I will build a swamp box and do it myself. (after having a gunsmith remove the barrel for me and polishing it by hand for several hours)

There is a VERY significant difference between the finish and wear characteristics of hot salts blueing and rust bluing.

[Flint]

I noted that of the two Transitional Henrys on the RareWinchesters.com website, one had a tubular magazine with an 1866 type barrel, and the other has a Henry barrel, without the front loading feature and follower spur, but still has the open slot at thje bottom of the magazine.  Neither has a forestock.

[ndnchf]

I agree with Dakota Widomaker, there is a huge difference between modern hot salt bluing and the old style rust bluing.  Those Henrys on the rarewinchesters web page or some of the finest exmples.  I imagine the majority of surving examples are much worse for wear.  The old rust blue was much more of a transluscent royal blue color, compared to modern hot bluing that is almost black and deeper.  If you look at the close ups of some of the rifles on rarewinchesters, you can still see some of the royal blue color.  The old rust blue was not near as durable as modern blueing either.  I think that many rifles that were "rode hard and put away wet", soon lost a lot of their blue as it turned patina.

FWIW, I stripped the hot blue from my Uberti Henry and refinished it with a mix of browning and cold blue.  The brass has had several years of honest patina enhanced by straight diet of black powder .44 WCF shells.  The wood was srtripped and given a basic oil finish.  My persona is in the early indian wars period, it works out to be like a 10-15 year old well used rfile that has had plenty of rain, snow and scabbard wear.

To each his own, for me its just more comfortable looking.

[Dusty Morningwood]

I had an old fullstocked Husqvarna sporting rolling block rust blued and I almost hate to take it to the range now.  But of course I do!