Faux Color Case Hardening refinish for vaquero

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Polinese

New member
Got a Ruger Vaquero with the color case hardening. My understanding is it's cosmetic and not actual case hardening. Well evidently it's a weak finish or I was too aggressive scrubbing a spot of surface rust off and it's now missing on part of the frame.

Aside from sending it off to Turnbull for the real thing, are there other options for putting the finish back on?
 
U

UncleEd

New member
My understanding is that real color case hardening
tends to fade away depending on how much it is
exposed to the weathering elements or sunshine.

The looks have always been purely cosmetic although
the increased durability of the steel remains.
 
H

Hawg

New member
UncleEd said:
My understanding is that real color case hardening
tends to fade away depending on how much it is
exposed to the weathering elements or sunshine.

The looks have always been purely cosmetic although
the increased durability of the steel remains.
Click to expand...

Acid wash fades too. The reason for case hardening is Colt frames were made from wrought iron up until 1900 or shortly before. They weren't warranted for smokeless until 1900. They case hardened them for added strength. The colors are a result of the process used. The hardening itself is only a few thousandths thick.
 
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Aguila Blanca

Staff
Hawg said:
Acid wash fades too. The reason for case hardening is Colt frames were made from wrought iron up until 1900 or shortly before. They weren't warranted for smokeless until 1900. They case hardened them for added strength. The colors are a result of the process used. The hardening itself is only a few thousandths thick.
Click to expand...
The above is correct. True case hardening was a process used for the purpose of hardening the outer surface of the metal -- the mottled color wasn't there as an intended finish, it was a side-effect of the hardening process.

The fake "case color" finishes used today are strictly done for the appearance. Since the metal is fully heat treated, there's no need or reason to case harden the surface.
 
H

HiBC

New member
I'm not a metallurgist,but the rough idea is about higher levels of carbon in the iron/steel.
The low carbon parts were packed in leather chips and/or bone meal in an iron box..Various salts ,cyanide,etc might be part of a proprietary recipe.
The loaded box would be baked at roughly red heat for a prescribed time,then quenched in agitated water.

Its sort of like smoking the bark into a beef brisket.

The carbon would cook into the surface of the workpiece,increasing the capacity to harden in quench.
The colors were a by product and they gave a visual indicator of quality.
 
S

smee78

New member
Looks good Bob, I always did enjoy the looks of case color on a six-gun. Be sure to post some before and after pics if you decide to do any work. I would love to see how it turns out.
 
B

Bob Wright

New member
smee78,

Glad you asked! Before, as a .357 Magnum:



After, as a .44 Special:



Another before:



And after:




I'm pleased with the results. There are several more.

Bob Wright
 
R

Ricklin

New member
A few Thou?

The depth that case hardening achieves is what is interesting to me. What testing may have been done to determine the depth of hardness?
It's my opinion that it's not a few thousandths. While I know the hardness goes past the colors we often see worn away, how deep does the case hardening go?
I would think it's highly variable, thin parts like lock plates perhaps getting a better depth. Given the process, logic dictates depth would be highly limited.
 
O

Oliver Sudden

New member
There’s a lot of misinformation about color case hardening, it doesn’t fade in sunlight or require exotic materials to do. Bone and wood charcoal with water to quench in is the basic supply’s. Details in how you mix the charcoal, shielding, water temperature, furnace temperature and time has to be controlled for predictable results. I’ve done a fair number as part of my hobby with a lot of experiments in the process. Leather, peach pits, chemicals in the pack or quench water aren’t going to change the results.
Some examples all done with these basic materials,
2015-04-29 001 2015-04-29 001 by Oliver Sudden, on Flickr
2015-08-20 001 2015-08-20 001 by Oliver Sudden, on Flickr
AA0149F3-4E50-45BB-8CAC-B4D4D9909E96 by Oliver Sudden, on Flickr
 
4

44 AMP

Staff
The reason for case hardening is Colt frames were made from wrought iron up until 1900 or shortly before.
Click to expand...

"Iron, yes, but not wrought iron. Forged iron, actually a low carbon alloy that technically qualifies as "steel". Used in many applications back then, sometimes called "gun steel" but also used for the "iron" rails of westward expansion. Colt improved the quality of the steel it used in the 1890s to something closer to what we consider modern steel today, and by 1900 warrantied their guns for use with smokeless powder.

It was not, and never was the wrought iron we think of today, though the casual use of what today are thought of as precise terms back then can cause some confusion.

Everything made by man was "wrought" and since it was made of iron, some folks would say it was wrought of iron, which of course gets shortened to wrought iron, but it was not the wrought iron of ornamental porch railings today.

Not even close.
 
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Hawg

New member
44 AMP said:
"Iron, yes, but not wrought iron. Forged iron, actually a low carbon alloy that technically qualifies as "steel". Used in many applications back then, sometimes called "gun steel" but also used for the "iron" rails of westward expansion. Colt improved the quality of the steel it used in the 1890s to something closer to what we consider modern steel today, and by 1900 warrantied their guns for use with smokeless powder.

It was not, and never was the wrought iron we think of today, though the casual use of what today are thought of as precise terms back then can cause some confusion.

Everything made by man was "wrought" and since it was made of iron, some folks would say it was wrought of iron, which of course gets shortened to wrought iron, but it was not the wrought iron of ornamental porch railings today.

Not even close.
Click to expand...

Wrought iron is forged. You're thinking of cast iron which is different,
 
P

Pathfinder45

New member
In resonse to the original post, "Aside from sending it off to Turnbull for the real thing, are there other options for putting the finish back on?", I will offer another, alternative suggestion: Run 10,000 rounds through it and forget about the original finish. By that point, it should begin to develop a nice, genuine, patina.
 
J

jaguarxk120

New member
Many of the gun makers that use a case harden finish will
give the steel parts a coat of varnish to protect the surface from wear and
rust.
 
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