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Redwing
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French Grey
Jun 20th, 2015 at 11:27am
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Howdy Folk's !!!   

Looking for a good Plater to French Grey my Recever !!!   Any suggestion's ???

TIA !!!   Ed....

  
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Goatwhiskers
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Re: French Grey
Reply #1 - Jun 20th, 2015 at 12:10pm
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French grey is a metal treatment rather than a plating.  Contact Brownells and they will send the info for free on how to do it yourself.  GW
  

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John Boy
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Re: French Grey
Reply #2 - Jun 20th, 2015 at 1:34pm
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You can also achieve a nice gray with Naval Jelly. Just polish with a pink eraser after applying and rinsing in water.
  
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Redwing
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Re: French Grey
Reply #3 - Jun 20th, 2015 at 1:37pm
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Hey GW !!!

The Acid they sell to produce the desired effect has been discontinued  8-((    I'm getting a better understanding of this process and I still think I would like to out-source it !!!

Thank's;   Ed...

  
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John Boy
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Re: French Grey
Reply #4 - Jun 20th, 2015 at 1:42pm
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I still think I would like to out-source it !!!

Call Shiloh Rifle & talk to them.  They have produced receiver's with French Gray
  
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JLouis
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Re: French Grey
Reply #5 - Jun 20th, 2015 at 2:16pm
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I believe CPA uses the Metalife finish? One of the fellows in our group bought an engraved reciever from CPA and the finish is extremely nice. It looked very similar to the french gray reciever I had so much so I couldn't tell the differance. I believe 40Rod might have one if memory serves me right, if not it was someone in his group of shooters at Etna Green. There was a very nice write up in the Journal about the Metalife finish quite sometime back as well.

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Adrian
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Re: French Grey
Reply #6 - Jun 20th, 2015 at 3:00pm
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if you want it on the shiny side, go with a meister smith , but if you want it antique looking, here is what i suggest: 
Take yer receiver and dunk in an ultrasonic case cleaner to which you add warm water and 2 heaping spoons of citric acid white powder (sold at the store in the canning section for pickling)and run the sonic cleaner for half an hour ,
take the parts and wash them with baking powder and water, and polish them a little with oil and fine steel wool, removing the fine rust but leaving alone the fine grey patina under the rust. 
The original French gray was just that, gray metal with patina left after a fine rust layer was carded away. You can achieve the same thing with vinegar, but i have to figure out how to do it uniformly, without spots. 
I recently did this citric acid treatment to a butt plate and a tang sight and the most experienced collector would swear that they are 100 years old. 
What i suggest looks nice, grey and old, and genuine. What they call French gray these days is a nickel plating layer a bit too shiny to be believable. 
Have you ever seen a knife with a carbon steel blade turned gray? That is the true original French gray, a protective layer of oxidation and patina. If someone likes a rifle shiny, good for them, but please, don't call it French gray. It's not French and it's not gray.
« Last Edit: Jun 20th, 2015 at 3:27pm by Adrian »  
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QuestionableMaynard8130
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Re: French Grey
Reply #7 - Jun 20th, 2015 at 3:52pm
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I have seen some excellent French Gray done by Steve Durren and others.  My understanding is that its a form of case hardening but with out the colors and much more durable than a light polished back rust bluing. 
 I have seen metalife coatings but what I have seen looks far too silvery and shiny to my eye--looks to me more like a soft buffed aluminum than anything else. I have seen a couple of singles shots that have been done with it.   It looks pretty good if the metal has been engraved and the metalife done afterwards with the engraved areas stained with a dark grey of black and the metalife re-polished to a more matte finish.  I think it'd be great on a hunting gun or as a finish for the internal parts of a tuned and polished action
« Last Edit: Jun 20th, 2015 at 4:03pm by QuestionableMaynard8130 »  

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Re: French Grey
Reply #8 - Jun 20th, 2015 at 3:56pm
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C-Sharps Arms does a Nice French Gray...
Don't know if they take on others parts..

Terry
  

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Adrian
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Re: French Grey
Reply #9 - Jun 20th, 2015 at 4:21pm
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QuestionableMaynard8130 wrote on Jun 20th, 2015 at 3:52pm:
  My understanding is that its a form of case hardening but with out the colors and much more durable than a light polished back rust bluing. 

Very possible, I've read an old text many years ago, but from Liege, not from France,about heating metal parts and dipping them in urine. Urine has  nitrites or nitrates, i don't remember which, it could be an old form of parkerizing. 
In the Balkans and Turkey they sprinkled powdered cow horn over red hot metal parts, including the flint lock parts, the result looks like color case hardening with lots of gray and brown in it, but no blue.
  
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Redwing
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Re: French Grey
Reply #10 - Jun 20th, 2015 at 8:07pm
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Hello All !!!

Like to thank everybody for their suggestion's and too let you know I have already started my contact to find the source for my goal !!!  I've added a photo of my 45-70 with the Recever currently in the white !!!

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I'll keep you all informed of it's progress !!!

Ed...

  
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shovel80
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Re: French Grey
Reply #11 - Jun 20th, 2015 at 8:35pm
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That's a nice looking Rifle!

Terry
  

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Redwing
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Re: French Grey
Reply #12 - Jun 20th, 2015 at 8:42pm
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And a better close-up of the Recever !!!

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Ed....

  
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Re: French Grey
Reply #13 - Jun 20th, 2015 at 8:58pm
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very nice rifle.
Would you be from Canton Ohio? My dad grew up next to the Cherry St. School.
  

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Mike_Hunter
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Re: French Grey
Reply #14 - Jun 20th, 2015 at 9:05pm
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All "French Grey" is a pickling parts; a mild etching.  Generally it's and where it really stands out is on engraved parts, where the relief is a dark grey, and the highlights are brightly polished. 

One of the better acids to use on engraved guns is phosphoric acid, as it leaves a very thin protective coat. 

  

Mike Hunter
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