[TheForge] browning

[Bruce .]

In his book, "Firearm Blueing and Browning", R. H. Angier relates, "The
production of a dark color on iron and steel objects ... reaches far back
into the history of metal working.  ... century-old suits of armour,
colored by the action of heat alone, or combined with fats, ox gall,
mixtures containing sulphur or antimony glance, or by pickling with acids
or other rust-producing substances.
"Improved methods followed the development of chemistry, and the oldest
browning process for military arms ... is described in the 'Hanover
Magazine' in 1781.
"... the browning of barrels ... was in common user for sporting arms about
1720.  A report of 1637 explicitly mentions the 'russetting' of barrels..."


Bruce
NJ

On Fri, Feb 6, 2015 at 6:41 PM, Dan Scheid <damales at pollybutte.net> wrote:

>
> Anyone have a source to document how early browning was used as a surface
> treatment?
>
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