Posted by John Liles on March 19, 2008, 7:49 am, in reply to "Question about bluing"
Skip, since no one else has chimed in, I'll pass on my understanding regarding Elsie metal finishes. The recievers and sidelocks were colored as a result of the case hardening process which utilized bone and charcoal. The barrels were rust blued, provided they were not Damascus. Rust blueing will not degrade the rib soldering as hot bluing is prone to do. Fore-end iron under the wood and exposed was case hardened and colored like the receiver. The only other standard metal finish was the trigger guard which was hardened by a different process known as Nitre Blueing. Nitre blueing provided a more uniform color (shiney blueish hue) than the bone and charcoal hardening used on the reciever, sidelocks, and fore end iron. Hope this helps.