M1903A4-gery Build

Small update on this project. With Vulcan Refinishing apparently being sold, I decided to try parkerizing on my own. Wanting that green/grey finish on what we see today I decided to go for a zinc phosphate solution. I applied some Quick Strip with a brush to the hardware to begin the removal process and then media blasted them with what I had at work. It's a 240 grit media and it leaves a smooth but fine textured finish so that the solution can adhere to it.

I used a tall 4L stainless steel pot with a removable basket along with a portable induction stove top so I can do this outside. To minimize the amount of material I needed, I went for a 1.5L solution, just enough to sit above the parts. Instructions calls for a 1:25 oz ratio that's equaled to about 2oz:50oz / 60mL:1500mL mixture. Solution was heated to below boiling at approximately 80 C and the parts were dipped in for about 5-10 minutes or so. Removed and dipped into water and applied oil.

I'm pretty happy with the results. I wish I grabbed a better before photo though.

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I'm looking to the buttplate, and the bolt assembly next. Correct me if I'm wrong but from what I see online, everything besides the striker pin, striker sleeve and spring can be parked. Are the lugs and bolt face also parkerized? I can lower the media pressure if needed when doing those areas or tape them when blasting and just degrease them prior to dipping.
 
95chris said:
Small update on this project. With Vulcan Refinishing apparently being sold, I decided to try parkerizing on my own. Wanting that green/grey finish on what we see today I decided to go for a zinc phosphate solution. I applied some Quick Strip with a brush to the hardware to begin the removal process and then media blasted them with what I had at work. It's a 240 grit media and it leaves a smooth but fine textured finish so that the solution can adhere to it.

I used a tall 4L stainless steel pot with a removable basket along with a portable induction stove top so I can do this outside. To minimize the amount of material I needed, I went for a 1.5L solution, just enough to sit above the parts. Instructions calls for a 1:25 oz ratio that's equaled to about 2oz:50oz / 60mL:1500mL mixture. Solution was heated to below boiling at approximately 80 C and the parts were dipped in for about 5-10 minutes or so. Removed and dipped into water and applied oil.

I'm pretty happy with the results. I wish I grabbed a better before photo though.

yYHwu57l.jpg

39HZWmfl.jpg


I'm looking to the buttplate, and the bolt assembly next. Correct me if I'm wrong but from what I see online, everything besides the striker pin, striker sleeve and spring can be parked. Are the lugs and bolt face also parkerized? I can lower the media pressure if needed when doing those areas or tape them when blasting and just degrease them prior to dipping.
Click to expand...
No special precautions for the bolt body. Just blast and park. The bearing surface are hard, media blasting won’t hurt them.

It forts the bolt will feel al little gravelly but will wear in quickly. Just cycle it a few hundred times and it will be like butter.
 
Claven2 said:
No special precautions for the bolt body. Just blast and park. The bearing surface are hard, media blasting won’t hurt them.

It forts the bolt will feel al little gravelly but will wear in quickly. Just cycle it a few hundred times and it will be like butter.
Click to expand...
Awesome, thanks for the clarification. I'm assuming this applies to the receiver side for the lugs too? I'm considering doing it on my own at some point and just seeing what I can and can't park. Bore is a no go of course so I'll see if I can find some wooden plugs for both ends.

I don't have the means to get a tank or burners but because the reaction happens below boiling and pretty quickly I think I can go the PVC pipe route. Bring the solution to a boil and pour and drop the barrelled action in. Going to find something to test this on before regretting it though!
 
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Continuing from my last update, I finished the rest of the hardware that isn't the barrelled action. Took some nicer photos of the process this time, for the bolt any way. I re-used the solution I made in the previous session, but I'll be making a new mixture for the barrel.

The solution was poured into the small container rather then having the hardware dipped into the pot like in previous post.

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The end result. No signs of the jeweling that was carried out previously.



The barrel is next. I've already did a quick leak check by having a plug on one end then the other and pouring some distilled water down the barrel. Didn't see any signs of seeping or drips from either end so I have good hopes it'll survive the dip.
 
Continuing on from before...

I'm happy to report that the PVC pipe method worked, and pretty well. I used a 3 FT x 3 IN pipe with a cap on one end. It took about 4L to submerge the barrelled action. The bore plugs survived the dip so no solution entered the bore. After about 15 minutes in the solution, I rinsed the barrelled action with some distilled water. I don't have a large tank to dunk the whole thing in so I just applied oil by hand (using nitrile gloves) and a brush for smaller areas. I also threw oil in the bore to remove the distilled water that was there during the process. Very happy with the results! Not much sludge was found after the process so I poured the amount into a container for another time if needed.

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I also finished the stock. I tried my best to match the stock to the upper handguard which had probably darkened from age, so I applied some stain. It's looks pretty close overall but under the right light you can see the handguard is still a tad darker. The final oil coat was put on a bit too heavy so I applied some mineral spirits and used 0000 steel wool to remove the excess. Seems to have worked and now I have a nice and smooth matte finish.

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Which brings us back to a familiar picture and onto the final product.






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The bolt definitely needs to be cycled quite a bit as Claven2 has mentioned, in addition to other parts that ride on a surface such as the safety flag. Everything seems to be in working order from cycling, feeding, [dry] firing and safety. The final test would be actually firing it, as well as zeroing the scope. Looking forward to that day!

Thank you to everyone who helped by replying with amazing and extremely helpful info, I certainly learned A LOT during the whole process. Although it's not 100% faithful to an original A4, I'm still very happy to have something like it and having to make one myself was certainly a great experience.
 
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