Patina Finish
 

Some of our old handguns have had the blue or even the bare metal oxidize over the years to a brown or gray color, generally called 'patina'.

I copied this down from a repeat episode of "American Restorations" on cable TV. Rick Dale owns a restoration business in Las Vegas and will undertake to restore anything.

There are little clips in each episode where he asks a question about restoring and answers it. One such clip was on the 'patina' metal finish.

I was too slow to record it, but I copied it down as best I could remember it. Here it is -

How do you restore/match a patina finish [on steel]???

Do you use -

(1) Salt water
(2) Vinegar
(3) Lemon juice
(4) Any of the above

The answer Rick gave was:

"(4) Any of the above.
Heat the metal gently, spray any of the choices on, and let sit outside".

Rick didn't specify a specific heat or source, or how long to let it sit outside. (Overnight?)

Now, I had posted the same question here some time back, and George Anderson gave much the same instructions, except using urine for the chemical. I used George's instructions to 'patina-ize' a Luger barrel and two nickel Mec-Gar Luger magazines. George's method proved satisfactory. :)

I'll offer it here as a 'guide', as I haven't used Rick Dale's 'chemicals' but I would expect that they may each provide slightly different surface finishes.

http://forum.lugerforum.com/showthread.php?t=29088

Try it at your own risk. :thumbup:

too much booze or asparagas in urine might give other results

Ben, I know you followed the original post - What would you suggest to eat for a more brown finish??? :)

It all depends on the gun, if it's British it's lime juice, French then frogs, and of course sauerkraut for German guns.
Regards, Norm

White vinegar works great on brass. Mix it with something that holds moisture (saw dust, corn starch or what have you) and dab it on, and the next day you'll have a nice, green verdigris. For example, it can be used for aging the brass fittings on repro rifle slings.