Tried the search, no luck. I was wondering if it's possible to remove parkerization from a gun without damaging the metal. Say, for example, if someone has an old gun they're trying to restore, and someone de-blued and parkerized it, would it be possible to restore it so it's blued again, without wearing out any proof marks/stamps/other important markings on it?
Is it Possible to Remove Parkerization?
- Thread starter F-Tang
- Start date
PM Murdoc or call Arma-coat. They'll know for sure. I don't know if rust and bluing remover will do it or not but I'm sure a low pressure sandblasting with a fine media would work. Was it blasted before parking? If so and if you want a polish bluing it will need to be polished again. Best to call the guys that do this every day - Arma-coat.
Blastattack
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Winnipeg MB
Sure it can, apparently evaporust and a wire wheel will do wonders to remove the oxide layer. How that surface will react to a bluing solution is beyond me. My intuition tells the surface beneath the park is not terribly smooth and would require a fair amount of sanding to make a half pretty bluing job.
The barrel and receiver are in pretty good shape and seem fairly smooth under the park, I'm concerned about de-parking and re-bluing it without damaging the marks on it. The arsenal stamp is already pretty faded and hard to see under the park, that's why I don't want to have to smooth or sand the metal, I don't want to wear the arsenal stamp off the gun, else it kinda ruins the whole restoration.
Blastattack
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Winnipeg MB
Yeah, you're best off contacting the experts. Vulcan Gun Refinishing and Arma Coat would be two i would contact in regards to this. What kind of firearm are you working on?
An Enfield sporter. The stamping from ROF(F) is already almost invisible, it may have already been blasted once, and since the barrel is still full on it I want to see it restored to its former glory, which since the thing's been refinished means more than just a new stock set now apparently.
- Location
- Georgetown Ontario
If the stamping is already faint you might be beat to refinish the way you want. There are some products (names escape me right now) that match the original black paint. You may want to look into keeping the park on it as the paint will stick to the park better.
Makes me glad I'd posted, I didn't realize they were painted, and I'd hate to have re-finished it wrong.
Though it's starting to look like a refinishing may be out of the cards. At least I can get some wood for it though.
Your best bet will be to post in milsurps exactly which LE you have and someone will be able to tell you the original finish. Now sometime along the way they started using a black finish called suncorite. That's the black paint you see partially rubbed and chipped off. Sometime during WWII they switched to green paint and sent out information to armorer's for repainting LE's turned in for repair. I read the document in milsurps, I'm sure a search could dig it up.
gunrunner100
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- NW Ontario
Were the Savage produced #4's not parkerized?
gunrunner100
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- NW Ontario
Mine was a general question, not specific to yours. Sorry.
In answer to your question OP, the usual procedure before parkerizing was and is abrasive blasting. In the early days they used sand, and pretty coarse sand too, looking at some of the UK made No4s from 1944/45. Now we use glass beads more often and the finer they are, and the lower the blasting pressure, the less etching or stippling of the surface there will be.
If your rifle is parkerized now, 90% or better chance it was done in military service. "Restoration" of the finish then becomes something of a mute point in most people's opinions.
Conversely, if your gun was blued originally you would need to determine what the original blue and polish was, and whether you would need to polish it to make it as close to the original finish as you can get. If you do have to polish, it would require a lot of care to avoid damaging the original markings and contours. Rotary cotton buffs and polishing compound have ruined a lot of guns.
If you tell us what the exact gun is, perhaps someone can help with more info.
If your rifle is parkerized now, 90% or better chance it was done in military service. "Restoration" of the finish then becomes something of a mute point in most people's opinions.
Conversely, if your gun was blued originally you would need to determine what the original blue and polish was, and whether you would need to polish it to make it as close to the original finish as you can get. If you do have to polish, it would require a lot of care to avoid damaging the original markings and contours. Rotary cotton buffs and polishing compound have ruined a lot of guns.
If you tell us what the exact gun is, perhaps someone can help with more info.
Lee-Enfield, "No4 Mk1 ROF(F) 3/43". This stamp is fairly worn as it is, the N in "No" on the stamp is next to impossible to see and there are abrasions near it, and it's hard to read under the park, and it's what I'm most concerned about ruining. Also, it appears to have C-broad arrow stamps on it, both the bolt and receiver, and the barrel has a very deep T stamped in it.
I would post pics of the markings in milsurps. They'll know exactly what you've got and probably an idea of where it may have been used not to mention the original finish. I've had unrestored LE's that had barely legible markings. Actually most had some markings I could hardly make out so it may have been that way from the factory. Still a concern for a resto though.
In order to re-blue a rifle the existing surface finish must be removed to expose the bare, un-oxidized metal surface so that the blueing salts can react with the steel. This is normally accomplished by abrasive buffing/polishing after a thorough de-degreasing. Once the steel surface is prepared it should be put into the blueing solution ASAP to minimize any oxidization of the freshly prepared metal.
The same process applies to re-parkerization, however steel is normally sandblasted or beadblasted in order to activate the surface so that it can react with the Parkerizing chemicals. Both polishing and blasting will remove surface metal, incl markings, to some extent.
The same process applies to re-parkerization, however steel is normally sandblasted or beadblasted in order to activate the surface so that it can react with the Parkerizing chemicals. Both polishing and blasting will remove surface metal, incl markings, to some extent.
