glad you like the way my gun turned out. I used birchwood casey plum brown and followed the instructions on the bottle, after I got the gun to a good brown color I just took some 0000 steel wool and took the finish back off in the places where the gun would normally show holster and handling wear. Its not difficult but it was a little time consuming.
Here's a picture of an original gun that I pulled off the net years ago, and this is the look I was trying to replicate...mine came out little darker but I liked it. The metal darkens a bit over time also and I think that just adds to the beauty of the gun.
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Twobit, that is a beautiful rifle! If you ever run out of room and need a place to store it, I have a spot in my safe that would fit it perfectly!