Cold Blued No5's

[bgcameron]

A few days ago I found that my 12/47 dated No5 is cold blued. I am fairly certain, because of its blotchy grey finish that seems to be worn down around exposed areas and on contact points with the wood. There are faint traces of suncorite in hidden spots underneath the receiver. This brought me down a bit because I thought this was an all-correct rifle.

Well today, another '47 dated No5 came in the mail with the same symptoms.

A while back, I had D/T'd hole filled on my 1950 LB. I touched it up with cold blue and found out that it is removed easily with neverdull polish, which doesnt remove any of the factory blue. I tested some neverdull on the No5's and the finish wipes right off.

So whats the deal with these cold-blued No5's? Did bubba not like suncorite? How were the original blued finishes beneath the suncorite?

 

[sunray]

If it's cold blued at all, bubba did it. Cold bluing is for touch ups on blued firearms. It does tend to be blotchy when applied to whole rifles.
Suncorite was an inexpensive alternative to bluing and/or parkerizing. Baked on paint as I recall. Brownell's sold it for a while, but I don't think they have it now.
It's possible that your rifle is a bubba'd No. 4 too. It have the lightening cuts?
"...removed easily with neverdull polish..." Polish first.

 

[bgcameron]

They aren't bubba'd No4's.

Another thing I noticed- blueing is worn off where a little bit of BLO got onto the metal.

 

[stoggie]

FAZ No 5's weren't blued, they had a suncorite finish, which is similar to paint. Not 100% sure if this is correct for all production years. I guess what I'm saying is that it shouldn't be blued at all.

 

[bgcameron]

What was supposed to be underneath the suncorite? Just white steel?

 

[Pblatzz]

FAZ No 5's weren't blued, they had a suncorite finish, which is similar to paint. Not 100% sure if this is correct for all production years. I guess what I'm saying is that it shouldn't be blued at all.

I had No 5's blued, in the early years and not an FTR (if they actually did that).

 

[bgcameron]

I am thinking of parkerizing one. It is a non-matching restoration I am working on. Any tips on this process would be greatly appreciated! Anyone in southern vancouver island done this before?