Patina on rifles and pistols

[pilgrim]

     I am in need of advise concerning the patina on rifles and pistols.  Muzzleloaders of course.  I have been debating if it is best to leave the brass furniture the dull color or to shine the brass to the original lustre.  I am old school and feel the brass should be shiny, and yet I am not sure what is better.  I clean and polish the wood so the grain shows, whether it is plain or fancy, so why not do the brass furniture as well?  If the brass is left with the current Patina, does that mean the brass is starting to slowly deteriorate?  I'd prefer the weapons stay in very good condition, so I need advice concerning the Patina that is present. Also, does removing the patina lessen the value of the pieces?  I shoot these, I don't display them on the wall.  If they were non functional, they would be worthless to me.  The pistols are not new so they all have a patina forming.  They range in age, 22 yr, 30 yr, 33 yr and one has no stamp on when it was proofed.  appreciate any and all input, Thanks

[mongrel]

Unless a gun has collector value, whether or not you shine the brass (or remove rust from steel, or refinish the wood) is entirely a matter of what you prefer. "Over-cleaning" and actually refinishing antique firearms is generally a no-no and will almost certainly diminish their value.

If you want my opinion I prefer that both brass and once-bright steel, on muzzleloaders, be allowed to develop natural patina through time and use. To me they just look better that way. Your comment that you have an old-school feeling about keeping things shined up means you might not agree with my opinion, and that's fine; to each his own. In my case though I prefer my guns show their years and the use they've been put to.

[old salt]

Here is another opinion, and my opinion has developed from two areas.
First form the military [27 yrs] where every thing was kept to look like mint contion inside and out. 95% of the weapons that were issued to me you could not tell by just by looking at them in the gun rack weather they had been in the system 8 to 10 years or 8 to 10 months
I hate any thing that shines
Second with my muzzleloaders [I am 64 yrs] I want them to look like they have been carried 40 to 50 years, so there are some digens and scratches on them.
They look like are well used, but not abused, that is the out side, the inside is  as
clean as a hound's tooth.
Just the way I want mine.

[Hammerhead]

if it shines the indians can see ya then you lose your scalp just my two cents

[Dogshirt]

Scalps? I could use a couple for my lodge poles!

[pathfinder]

I could use a scalp to replace the one that nature took from me!

To answer your question on the brass"deteriorating",no,it's not. If you don't hunt with your "Firearms"(Ted Kennedy killed more people with his car than I have with my gun,yet the car is not a weapon!)It's a personal preferance,If ya hunt,you dont want anything shinny in the wood's. Keep the wood clean and well oiled or whatever finish ya use. I usually use 0000 steel wool to dull down any shine on the wood before hittin'the woods. I use steel furniture on my gun's that's either browned or "frenched",kinda grey using navel jelly

[Dogshirt]

Never thought of using Naval Jelly. I may have to look into that.

[russ]

Just another opinion here, so take it as you will. I like to polish brass furniture on my firearms about once a year.Lat night while watching a movie with the family I cleaned oiled and polished the brass on my repro Colt Army. Then I cleaned and oiled my Ruger Vaquero. Both of these guns were already clean and oily. I just needed something to do while sitting there.
As far as original firearms are concerned. They should not have the patina removed as this can diminish the colector value. Now on the flip side of that, if you plan to use you original oiece and are not concerned with collector value. Clean and polish and restore as much as you want without doing damage to the gun.
A good example of this is using an original springfield/enfield or any other Civil War era firearm.

Take this info as you will

[pilgrim]

      Thanks to all who replied.  I am not sure what I will do if anything.  For now I will leave the brass as is.  If thw pistols wre very old I would not clean the brass.  This past weekend I went to Jacobsburg and toured the Pennsylvania Longrifle museum at the Boulton homested, Pennsylvania.  All the rifles there were left untouched with original patina.  But they are antiques from the 1700's and 1800's.  How old is a weapon have to be before it is considered an antique and/or a collectors piece?   Thanks to all again.  Old Salt, I hope you have a full head of hair,  It would be awful if you were bald like me. There is a lot of shine on my dome, but then they don't put a mable top on cheap furniture.     Thanks again.

[old salt]

maybe this will answer you question about hair

[William]

maybe this will answer you question about hair

Looks like you are preparing to repel the hostile boarders!

[Hawken50]

  Every time i look at this picture i expect to hear.......Arrrrrgghh matey's,make the blaggard walk the plank....Harry...which navy were ya in.

[russ]

        How old is a weapon have to be before it is considered an antique and/or a collectors piece?   

I may be off a little on this so you may have to verrify.
A firearm older than 50 years is considered an antique. Going beyond that anything manufactured before 1898 is considered by the BATF to be a curio/relic, and as such is subject to different rules.
I at one time had a trap door springfield conversion that was in good shootable condition. Except that the previous owner painted in black in some attempt to preserve it. I cleaned the hell out of the piece. Got all the black paint off and shot it on a regular basis. So again the cleaning/not cleaning an antique firearm is up for disscussion.

[old salt]

Russ
I am in no means an expert on antiques, but I would have to say in the case of black paint there would be no patina to worry about. I would also say that restoration was called for

[russ]

Once all the paint was removed and the rifle was ginen a good oiling it looked almost to be armory condition. Not bad for a 130 plus years firearm. Sadly I no longer have this one. Bills needed to be paid.