1860 Army Pietta In the White

[judgejohnmd]

1st time buying an In the White gun: any special care needed/suggestions about care for this piece?

 

[Malachi Leviticus Blue]

Oil

 

[hawg]

Plenty of oil.

 

[Eyrie G. Dogg]

Flutes and micarta work well on an 1860. I've had one of those since 1997; it wares well, fact I ain't over it yet.

Nice score.

 

[cowboydave]

Wow! They are nice looking. Congrats. I am with the others on plenty of oil.

 

[dirt-poor]

1st time buying an In the White gun: any special care needed/suggestions about care for this piece?

I don't think this is an ordinary Pietta 1860 Army in the white. As far as I know, the "White Steel" 1860 is another or newer name for Pietta's "Old Silver" 1860 Army. They also made Old Silver versions of the 1851 Navy and 1858 Remington Army. They are made with hardened steel that is not the same alloy as in their blued steel-revolvers. It looks like stainless steel, but it's not. Even in the white however, it is still at least as rust resistant as blued steel, and does not require any special care beyond that.

I have an Old Silver 1851 Navy that I bought in 2018. It still looks like new, with no trace of rust anywhere. One interesting thing about mine is that the surface inside the frame turned to sort of a bronze color after some shooting. The same thing occurred in more or less closed areas of the frame exterior that were exposed to the heat of shooting, such as the inner side of the recoil shield, under the cylinder, and under the hammer. That discoloration did not occur in or on the barrel, cylinder, or any other part, so I guess the alloy of the frame is not exactly the same as the other parts.

 

[hawg]

I don't think this is an ordinary Pietta 1860 Army in the white. As far as I know, the "White Steel" 1860 is another or newer name for Pietta's "Old Silver" 1860 Army. They also made Old Silver versions of the 1851 Navy and 1858 Remington Army. They are made with hardened steel that is not the same alloy as in their blued steel-revolvers. It looks like stainless steel, but it's not. Even in the white however, it is still at least as rust resistant as blued steel, and does not require any special care beyond that.

I have an Old Silver 1851 Navy that I bought in 2018. It still looks like new, with no trace of rust anywhere. One interesting thing about mine is that the surface inside the frame turned to sort of a bronze color after some shooting. The same thing occurred in more or less closed areas of the frame exterior that were exposed to the heat of shooting, such as the inner side of the recoil shield, under the cylinder, and under the hammer. That discoloration did not occur in or on the barrel, cylinder, or any other part, so I guess the alloy of the frame is not exactly the same as the other parts.

The Old Silver guns aren't made from hardened steel. They're polished which helps with rust prevention.

 

[dirt-poor]

The Old Silver guns aren't made from hardened steel. They're polished which helps with rust prevention.

Hardened steel. That is according to Pietta. Polished steel is all the more rust resistant, but the Old Silver steel is not the same steel as in the other Pietta percussion revolvers. I know that much from first-hand observation in working with them.

 

[hawg]

Hardened steel. That is according to Pietta. Polished steel is all the more rust resistant, but the Old Silver steel is not the same steel as in the other Pietta percussion revolvers. I know that much from first-hand observation in working with them.

Have you got a link for that? Pietta's site doesn't say and everything I find says polished.

 

[dirt-poor]

Have you got a link for that? Pietta's site doesn't say and everything I find says polished.

Two to three years ago, I saw that info in two different places, as I recall, One was on a forum where people were going back and forth about just what Old Silver guns are made of. One of these guys contacted Pietta for an answer, and their response came back as "polished hardened steel." I could try to find that or another reference again, if you're interested.

Meanwhile on the Taylor's Firearms website today, the steel of the white Pietta guns is described in most listings as "heat treated," which would mean hardened. (They also say that these guns should be cared for in the same way as blued guns.)

The metallurgical specifics of just what Old Silver steel is remains a mystery, at least to me. Like how hard is "hardened?" I can only say for sure that it means harder than non-hardened. In doing cosmetic work on Piettas, such as evening up non-flush joints for example, I've noticed when working by hand that it's easier and quicker to do with ordinary Pietta parts than with Old Silver parts.

 

[hawg]

I could try to find that or another reference again, if you're interested.

Nah man, it's all good.

 

[1KPerDay]

The Old Silver guns aren't made from hardened steel. .

They are according to Taylor’s and co

 

[45 Dragoon]

I've worked on a lot of them and they always seem to be "above par"! I think they go through a type of "pickling" process not unlike used on steel implements before S.S. was widely used. I have some Coleman lanterns /stoves from the 1920's, 30's, 40's, 50's . . . the steel fuel tanks in the pre war examples typically are in excellent condition whereas the 50's and later need to be closely inspected for rusty tanks.
This is purely speculation on my part because they do seem to be rather corrosion resistant. Whatever the "mystery" is . . . they do it well!!

Mike