Finish on a 1948 field grade SmithArchived Message
Posted by Rodger on October 23, 2008, 6:43 pm
Greetings gentlemen, I have recently aquired a Field grade L.C. Smith. The gun looks to be nearly new with only very slight wear on the barrel bluing plus a few little dings in the forend. The barrels would be pristine except for some rust pitting on the top of the barrels that has to be from blood contact. I plan to have the barrels re-blued. The point of all of this is the CC colors on the reciever are in excelent shape and I would like to keep them that way. There appears to be a very fine coating, like some sort of lacquer finish, on all of the reciever metal. Given the lack of wear on the hinge and the lack of wear on the rest of the lock it must have been an original finish. What might this coating have been in 1948 and is there something that I can coat the reciever with that will protect it from the acid from hand contact. With the pitting on the top of the barrels I am afraid it has been relegated to the "shooter" status, but it is a nearly new "shooter". Thanks for your help. Rodger