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French grey?
Posted: Mon May 29, 2023 12:26 pm
by gmkmd
Is the French Grey finish a type of plating, or is it just a matte finish applied to bare steel?
Re: French grey?
Posted: Tue May 30, 2023 5:41 am
by Kirk
It's a case hardening process and unless you get engraving I feel it looks ridiculous on a Sharps!!
Re: French grey?
Posted: Tue May 30, 2023 6:20 am
by Luke
Truth
Re: French grey?
Posted: Tue May 30, 2023 7:41 am
by Randy Bohannon
Very honest evaluation from Kirk.
Re: French grey?
Posted: Tue May 30, 2023 6:00 pm
by kwilliams
I had a Big Timber 1874 pre Bryan that had a matte french grey finish barrel, action, butt plate, lever etc. It picked up black powder stains and eventually was just ugly. I stripped it all off with B9 NICKEL STRIPPER, had it re color cased and barrel rust blued. It is a looker now.
kw
Re: French grey?
Posted: Wed May 31, 2023 7:08 am
by gmkmd
That's what I was wondering about; I would think that it would discolor very easily. With a lot of engraving, it looks nice, but without, it looks like the gun left the factory before it was finished.
Re: French grey?
Posted: Wed May 31, 2023 10:26 am
by Luke
A french grey barrel? I cannot imagine Wolf doing something like that! I suspect Bubba may have took a hand there. . .
Re: French grey?
Posted: Mon Jun 05, 2023 6:27 pm
by gmkmd
Follow-up question; if you completed (second hand) gun in French Gray, and then want to have it engraved, can that be done? Or does it have to be engraved before they do the final hardening or finishing?
Re: French grey?
Posted: Mon Jun 05, 2023 6:48 pm
by Luke
Engraved first. If already hardened I believe it would have to be annealed, then rehardened.