I also built the one in the pic. I doubt the ridiculars knew that the word browning included the blue color. As I said, the blue color was hard to get. Many ended up brown, because of technique. How many of the detractors browned there barrels with lye and saltpeter as I did, or used a browning box? I'll bet Birchwood-Casey, or some other commercial solution. Did they use Maple for the gunstocks?
I don't know of many guns from the 19th, or the early 20th century that have their original color. They came out of the factory a perfect blue and are now brown. That's, because the black oxide converts to the red in air over time.
Talking antique guns? My hubby has a nice little collection of originals, a few repros, he has a parker hale repro enfield, and we both have repro flinters.
We do have some 19 c indian war era bayonets that have some of their bluing. I can't remember without going into the gun safe if any of the earlier rifles looked blue. His oldest pieces seem to be from the late 1830s/early forties. All percussion.
Hubby and I re-enact Federalist period in part cause I told him to buy a repro gun that was not Victorian ( He has a late Lancaster style flinter). I didn't want to reenact plains or nez perce indian women, and there weren't a lot of white women around the camp at the Fur era Rendezvous. And I was tired of the politics of CW events...
In case you might be interested, I have pics of his flinter and one of his most interesting, and oldest guns here:
http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/view?p=999&gid=1687016&uid=408952&members=1