CptCurl "This rifle clearly had very subdued colors from the beginning."
DarylS "...subdued elegance of older rifles and shotguns."
You say "subdued colors," while I say "washed out, faded," colors over time, in this case, over past 132 years, from natural exposure to the environment. The bold bright colors you are referring to, seen often on recently case colored actions, fades over time from exposure to environment, and especially from rubbing (including rubbing with bare hands), from sunshine, and any of a number of other variable factors, including but not limited to air pollution! I have seen this sort of fading, washing out, from minimum to maximum, and everywhere in between. Such washing out, too, can be created to some degree, in the process of case coloring, by using specific techniques.