Antiquing The Henry Brass

[Handloader]

I recently saw an original 1863 .44 caliber Henry at a collector's home. A really beautiful rifle and the patina on the brass really set it aside in looks. So, I was wondering if anyone has actually taken their modern Henry and patinaed the brass to look old. If so, how was it done? I have seen some videos on generally antiquing brass however, not willing to test it out on my Henrys.

[Mags]

You could do nothing and the brass in time will patina on it's own.
I think some here have unintentionally patinaed their brass using a metal polish that contained ammonia. Maybe they'll speak up.
The brass is initially shiny after the polishing, but the ammonia in the polish accelerated patina formation over it occurring naturally.
Then there is exposure to ammonia vapor. You probably saw YouTubes on that. Whatever you decide don't apply raw liquid ammonia, the patina might turn out blotchy.

[Vaquero]

I have a BBB in 44 that I purchased used many years ago and it already had a nice patina.
I've never cared for the shiny finish and one of the reasons I bought the one did.
So I can't really help on how it got there.

I'll find a pic.

RP

[Vaquero]

Here's mine, it was made in '07.
That alone could account for some of the patina.

20240506_160913.jpg (2.71 MiB) Viewed 116 times

RP

[Mags]

Patina aged nicely.