Care Of Color Case Finish?

[Big Blue]

I'm not sure if the color case finish is the real deal or a chemically enabled finish, but was curious what you guys are doing to protect it on your BCs. I've been using a synthetic polymer car wax on mine. It shines it up real nice, but only time will tell whether or not it's the best protection for the finish.
Don

[gendoc]

its a faux finish.... just keep'r from rusting

[quickdtoo]

its a faux finish.... just keep'r from rusting

Yup, keep polishing and you won't have to worry about what it looks like any more,  use whatever you want to keep it rust free and don't touch it cuz it's a real thin finish.

Tim

[cwlongshot]

its a faux finish.... just keep'r from rusting

Yup, keep polishing and you won't have to worry about what it looks like any more,  use whatever you want to keep it rust free and don't touch it cuz it's a real thin finish.

Tim

EXACTLY!!!  You CAN and WILL easily rub it right off the receiver!! I got a chopped receiver here about a month ago from another ember. i harvested all the parts to the spare parts drawer and cleaned up the action for another project...  Well... there was some good tarnish on one side. I sat in front of the TV with the receiver in a rag and rubbed on the tarnish without looking at what I was doing. This was just a old T-Shirt cut to a rag and some gun oil. Guess what.. The "case colored" finish was GONE!!! I continued and now have a receiver that looks to be in the "white"!!!

Be careful!!

CW

[Bubajunk]

This subject has been chewwing at me a bit. Has anyone tried color case hardening any of the SB2 recievers ? The SB1s look pretty nice and I would really like to see a real color case on one in 30-30, 30-40 or 307 etc etc

[quickdtoo]

The questions should be... can heat treated investment cast alloy steel be color case treated? It's already heat treated and stronger than any cast iron(ductile iron) frame which is what is typically color case hardened, seems to me trying to make it pretty would defeat the original heat treating.

Tim

[Big Blue]

I'm sure this is for greater minds than mine to ponder, but wouldn't case color hardening just re-harden the frame. The process as I understand it would heat the steel, originally removing the temper, but in the end it would also re-temper or re-harden the receiver. True case color hardened steel is supposedly very hard indeed and may make the receivers stronger than they were.
Don

[quickdtoo]

I suspect it has to do with the carbon content, I don't know if investment cast alloy steel can be case hardened.

Tim

[mauser98us]

Hey C-dub, keep polishing that sucker and when you get done you could tell everyone you have a frenched receiver.

[44 Man]

There's another option, if you want the case color back.  A gunsmith friend of mine told of being at Dick Williams once and watching Dick 'color case' an old 30-30 frame using oil and a propane torch.  He applied the oil and using the torch to heat it, it was left with a nice looking 'case color' finish.  You wouldn't heat it enough to affect the heat treating of the metal.  I would think it would be worth a try CW.  So with nothing basically to lose but your time, you could try that and let the rest of us know how it turned out.  44 Man

[S.E.Ak]

A thin coat of Tru-oil protects real CC very well. Torch jobs ruin a lot of good guns and remove value to a knowing eye. H&R at one time Cyanide bathed for it CC but don't know if thats what they still use but for sure all the tiger striped guns are done that way

[Big Blue]

A thin coat of Tru-oil protects real CC very well.

I'm sort of afraid to put anything but car wax on this finish for fear of removing it. If I knew it was real CC I would think Kroil would work great to protect it from the elements, but with this it might just work it's way under it and peel it off.
Don

[Big Blue]

There's another option, if you want the case color back.  A gunsmith friend of mine told of being at Dick Williams once and watching Dick 'color case' an old 30-30 frame using oil and a propane torch.  He applied the oil and using the torch to heat it, it was left with a nice looking 'case color' finish.  You wouldn't heat it enough to affect the heat treating of the metal.  I would think it would be worth a try CW.  So with nothing basically to lose but your time, you could try that and let the rest of us know how it turned out.  44 Man

I've done something similar with repaired screws that where not pressure sensitive. I just heat them up to cherry and plunge them in used motor oil. There is something about the carbon in the used oil that gives it a black surface finish depending on the amount of carbon and acid in the used oil.
Don

[quickdtoo]

Kroil is a terrible corrosion preventative, but a great penetrant, even WD40 is a better choice for short term protection, Kroil allowed 75% rust in the short term test by TGZ. 

Tim

http://www.thegunzone.com/rust.html

http://www.6mmbr.com/corrosiontest.html

http://www.brownells.com/.aspx/lid=10700/guntechdetail/Gun_Cleaning_Clinic__Knowing_the_Limits_of_Rust_Preventatives#at

[LaOtto222]

I do not know much about color case hardening, but I think I read some where they use bone charcoal. They let it coal down and then immersed the gun part into it for a certain amount of time. I gives the steel (not cast) a deep case coloring. Just like every thing else there is a kit for it.

http://www.brownells.com/.aspx/pid=1026/Product/COLOR_CASE_HARDENING_KIT

[quickdtoo]

If you don't want to spend the money on a furnace to do it, you can have it done professionally for more than the cost of an entire Handi! 

Tim

http://www.classicgunsinc.com/

[Rustyinfla]

  Or you could just buy a new gun. My new 20 ga with the NY makings came with some kind of black looking finish that looks like it's painted.

  I wish the finish on my Deluxe would come off that easy. that fake looking SS finish ain't much to look at.