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I have an Auto Ordnance M1911A1 Army that I bought used, seems to shoot ok but the finish has taken some abuse. As far as I can gather from the research I've done and the serial number it was made in the 90's or a bit later. I want to send the slide and frame off to get refinished, just looking for some recommendations from my fellow enthusiasts here.
I do all my own parkerizing. I have a blast cabinet to blast and clean with. I fabbed up a very clever parkerizing tank from cheap supplies from Lowe's. You can build one yourself for less than $40. You can buy a 120V/1500W water heater element from Lowe's with a screw-in end and gasket for about $8. I'd use either 4" or 6" PVC pipe to fit whatever you are parkerizing. A set up like this is manly for rifles...AK kits in particular. Those large stainless steel parkerizing tanks are VERY expensive. The 6"x 6"x 40" size I mean. You're talking $200-$300 for one! This works the same for less than $40. It could even be less than $30. You don't need to worry about camp stove Coleman burners either. The $8 water heater element does all the work with no open flames or added Coleman fuel. That junk can get expensive too. Any stainless, aluminum or PVC pipe tank will work. The PVC can't be used with anything other than with the electric water heater element though. You simple hook an extension cord to it and plug it in. Get it up to 190-200 degrees and check with a electric temp probe. Once it's there, you just unplug it and keep checking temps throughout the parkerizing/fizzing process. When it falls, you plug it back in again and bring back up to temp. For safety, don't touch anything other than the cord to unplug while it's plugged in. When you go to take it out, unplug it first. You shouldn't get shocked, but just in case you splash some park solution over the sides. I used terminal connectors for my connections and a 12/3 extension cord. That handles 20 AMP/120V. Don't use those thin lamp cords. They aren't heavy enough and are not ratted for 20 AMPS AC 120V. I also bought and used some liquid electrical tape in a bottle to paint over the connections with. It goes on like liquid and dries like rubber. It's similar to the stuff you dip pliers into to put new handles on. That completely covers the terminals for added protection. You can use either 80 or 120 grit aluminum oxide to blast with. Play with your PSI to avoid removing stampings and markings. I'd start at 60 PSI and max out at 100 PSI if it were me. You'll know if you are not being aggressive enough and need to coax it a little more. For smaller parts, you can buy stainless pots and pans at WAL-MART, Lowe's etc.. Stainless steel drywall mud pans/trays work great. The PVC park tank comes in handy when you are trying to do a whole rifle, not a handgun or just parts. Those stainless tanks are damn expensive. Mine looks just like this one as guys use to build and parkerize on an AK forum. The guy who designed it was very clever. I think he maxed his rep points out by everyone else saying "damn, why didn't I think of that?" lol This is where you get your parkerizing supplies from. It's the easiest black to use there is. No need for additional dipping or post black treatments. It's already the factory black parkerizing that AKs and other military type weapons came with originally when new. No steel wool conditioning is required with this brand of supplies either like the stuff Midway USA and Brownells sells. It's much easier to use. Parkerizingkits.com black or grey kits for parkerizing Once you get set up to do it, you can refinish your guns as many times as needed. If this is not what interests you, I wouldn't hesitate to pay someone else to do it for you. If you are slightly handy and have some mechanical skills... can read and follow directions, it's not that hard to do your own. Back in the old days, guys used to park guns out in the parking lot at gun shows and at shooting events! lol If you want something like NP3 or Robar's, you'll have to send it off and pay someone to do that for you.
Would like to try that, but as I live in an apartment having a contraption like that isn't an option.
The finish on my 1911 actually seems to have a greenish hue to it, is parkerizing a true black or kind of an off color?
I have an Auto Ordnance M1911A1 Army that I bought used, seems to shoot ok but the finish has taken some abuse. As far as I can gather from the research I've done and the serial number it was made in the 90's or a bit later. I want to send the slide and frame off to get refinished, just looking for some recommendations from my fellow enthusiasts here.
I owned a Auto Ordnance M1911A1 years ago. Mine was not Parkerized.
Would like to try that, but as I live in an apartment having a contraption like that isn't an option.
The finish on my 1911 actually seems to have a greenish hue to it, is parkerizing a true black or kind of an off color?
There's actually two types of parkerizing. Black or black maganese and light to medium gray Zinc Oxide. The maganese is a charcoal black color and is what I like to call an AR, AK or HK black. The Zinc Oxide is light to medium gray. The green tint is from years of oils and greases in contact with the Zinc Oxide. Many unrestored and original WW2 M1 Garands have it. It's like a grayish OD green color. That used to be the way to tell if one had been restored or was original. Now they have found a way to duplicate and fake that too. They pre-age the parkerizing someway when reparkerizing. They can give it that look like it took 20+ years to get on it's own. Parkerizing is much better than bluing on a defense or combat weapon. Parkerizing soaks up oil and grease like a sponge. It's very wear and corrosion proof. It also is non reflective in the suns rays UNLIKE bluing that gives away your position like using a signal mirror. It's easy to apply and doesn't cook off like paint on finishes. That Duracoat crap melts when it gets hot on semi and fully automatic weapons from sustained firing. It's not a good choice for such weapons. You burn through 100 rounds as fast as you can with your AR or AK and the Duracoat goo is coming off on your hands. Don't touch it then while the barrel is smoking hot. It will smear and leave runs! Then it looks like crap until it's blasted down and redone. That is until the next time you heat your rifle up. On bolt guns, shotguns etc it's ok. Not on anything that gets and can get a barrel white hot and smoking. It's crap and junk then. Parkerizing will get hot and smoke. The smoke you see is just the oil burning out of and off it. It's NOT the finish and you just reoil after she cools down to go another round.
So mine I guess is zinc oxide. Now I'll have to think about getting it refinished, I kinda like the greenish tint.
Most 1911s and M1 Carbines, M1 Garands are Zinc and medium to dark gray. AR barrels and AKs on the other hand are usually Maganese and black. So are Phosphated HK parts. Bolts and carriers should never be Duracoated. GunKote is ok because it bakes on and goes on much thinner. You'll screw up your tolerances on parts like that. The abrasion of the bolt slapping back and forth will wear it thin and shiny in no time too with Duracoat. It's popular because any fool with an airbrush can buy a kit and do it in his garage or basement. There are better options out there. GunKote, Robar's and NP3 are just three. Both parkerizing types look good on any weapon. I love the green tint too. One more pic for the park tank on a shoestring budget. Here's a closer look at the water heater element and how it is placed. It's strait in the bottom in a threaded female reducing male glue in bushing. I believe it's a 1" pipe thread. Your 4" to 2" reducing fitting is what that bushing glues in. Damn clever indeed!
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