"Mike Marlow" wrote in message
...
That really looks like an aged urethane or lacquer to me, as opposed to a
tinted one. To match it you'd probably just want to tint your clear.

That's what I was thinking. Searching for "urethane" just gives me floor
finish information, does anybody know the history of its use? I ask because
this rifle replicates a mid-50s example, during a time when there was a lot
of new technology in paint and coatings appearing. For example, rifles from
this manufacturer made just a couple of years later used epoxy-based paints,
while my rifle's paint finish has to be baked alkyd enamel to be
historically correct. Same goes for wood coatings; what had me thinking
"nitrocellulose lacquer" was its common use at the time, and the way it
allegedly yellows as it ages.

You're on the right track by thinking of musical instrument manufacturers
and/or repair facilities for nitro. There must be a good luthier in the
DFW
area that would happily shoot this for you. Let your fingers do the
walking.

I was hoping somebody could make a recommendation! This sounds silly, but I
wanted to avoid offending somebody who might not like firearms. Musical
instruments and rifles serve two very different practical purposes and I've
already heard of a group in this area called "Drums Not Guns". I'm
originally from the Northeast, too, which makes me wary of any reactions I
might get, asking for a guitar maker to lend his skills to beautifying my
rifle! Besides which, what I'm asking for might be something unusual for an
instrument maker to do. I was curious if there was somebody who was known to
be both a woodworker and firearms enthusiast.

I did just find this website, I think it's a start:

http://www.lint.org/index2.html

The gun looks to me like it's been cleared more than just the original
finish. There is an awful lot of shine to that finish which is not very
common in older guns. As well, there appears to be an awful lot of dust
nib
in the finish which leads me to believe it's a re-finish job. The way
that
the finish is totally chipped off of the forestock also makes it look like
someone refinished this stock in the past. Are you sure this is an
original
finish? What kind of gun is it?

The gun itself is a clone of an FN FAL, so it's not original as a whole.
Most of the parts are new or surplus from various sources, but the
handguards in the picture were made by Fabrique Nationale and date to 1957.
I'd be surprised if it wasn't original, because the finish on these pieces
is consistent with original finish on other pieces that FN made at the time.
I've both handled such original pieces personally, and seen pictures of
similar original parts.