Parkerizing Revolver

[curioushooter]

I came across an old Ruger Security Six that appears to have been carried much and fired little. The outside has some rust and light pitting, but the barrel and chambers are pretty much corrosion free. Low price due to this condition.

I was thinking of having it bead blasted and parkerizied, as this would cover the light pitting and be more corrosion resistant as well as provide better corrosion protection. A WWII style park job I think would be befitting on this utilitarian revolver, too.

The parkerizing company plugs the barrel before getting dunked but not the chambers. This would result in the chambers being parkerized at least lightly (I understand that parkerizing doesn't bite into highly polished surfaces much). Would this cause sticky extraction? Could this be corrected post park job via polishing the chambers?

Any guidance, opinions?

[Der Gebirgsjager]

Alternatively, if you're going to bead blast the revolver, it could then be hot blued and you'd get a dull finish with no detrimental effect on the cylinder chambers or bore. Parkerizing would probably provide better rust protection, but a blued bead blasted surface is good at retaining protecting oil.

DG

[megasupermagnum]

I'd be more worried about how it would effect the crane and ejector than anything. I don't see why the chambers couldn't all be plugged. I can't say I have ever seen a parkerized revolver, although I am aware it has been done even as a factory finish. I think most people see the price of parkerizing, then give up on the idea. I have seen a number of coated, often Cerakote, and I like that. The traditionalists gawk, but functionally it works really well.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

two tone?
blue the cylinder, crane and ejector
and Parkerize everything else.

[gunther]

Find some brown Scotchbrite (Floor polisher), or 0000 steel wool, and clean up the rust. Get a couple of Granny Smith apples, and cut them into quarters. They are full of phosphoric acid. Rub the gun's surface with the apples. Let it set overnight, or until surface rust appears. Use 0000 steel wool to clean off the rust. Do it again, until you get the depth of finish you want. Rub the surface with Breakfree on a rag. Presto, home-made parkerizing. This will keep you occupied for a week, or until better weather.

[Outpost75]

Parkerizing tends to impair tolerances of close-fitting parts and may cause functional problems in DA revolvers. I would be concerned with Parkerizing on the interior of chambers because the Ruger revolvers are roller-burnished to aid extraction and this benefit would be defeated by Parkerizing.

I have had several older abused Colt former cop revolvers refurbed, powder blasted to remove rust and then blued and the results have been quite satisfactory. The matte finish retains Johnson Paste Wax quite well when applied with a shaving brush and the gun heated with a hair drier. The 3-inch Detective Special shown below was salvaged after complete salt water immersion due to hurricane storm surge in Florida. The bore and chambers were adequately protected by RIG, but the exterior shows extensive damage from sea water exposure remaining after the active rust was removed with Kroil and steel wool.

The itemized invoice details the work necessary to restore the revolver to duty carry condition.

295968 295969

Another before and after series on an Official Police, which required rebarrelling, timing and straightening the frame:

295970295971

[Tokarev]

W/o pictures of the actual rust it is hard to suggest something. You might get away with simply cleaning the rust off with oil-soaked canvas or leather. Scotch-bright works too.

[Winger Ed.]

Parkerizing is ugly and just looks 'cheap' on a revolver.
I've never seen anyone 'ooohhh and ahhhh, over anything parkerized except a 1911 or a K-Bar.

I'd send it out to be blued, and when it came back-- take better care of it than it had previously been given.

[HWooldridge]

I had the local LGS bead blast my grandfather's Remington model 11 then hot blue it. It's a great finish and has held up to the duck blind and much other inclement weather. No change in tolerances or functioning that I can see.

[Gtek]

There are two 1911's here with Parked frames and satin SS slides and I go ooohhh and ahhhh every time I play with them! And I really like my parked rifles. Different strokes-

[samari46]

I had a chopped model of 1917 Enfield barreled action that I had completed removing the ears but left extra for the smith to do the final fitting. Bead blasted,D&T for scope bases. That finish really holds oil for rust prevention. The only revolver I have seen parkerized was a K14 that some guy was usinng as a truck gun. Even so whoever did the prep work did a lousy job. The barrel and frame has large rust spots under the park. Have seen a couple lever actions and 870 shotguns that had been parked. Looked good. Frank

[M-Tecs]

I've always had a soft spot for S&W "Victory Model" and there parkerized finish. The 1917 revolvers were originally blued, with plain walnut grips. Many M1917 revolvers were rebuilt during and after World War II. These may have a parkerized finish that was applied during arsenal rebuild or under a refurbish contract with the manufacturer.

https://coltfever.com/commando/#:~:text=Both%20Colt%20Firearms%20and%20Smith%20%2 6%20Wesson%20were,finished%20Official%20Police%20k nown%20as%20the%20Colt%20Commando.

Both Colt Firearms and Smith & Wesson were called on to make war-time versions of their standard service type revolvers.
S&W responded with a parkerized version of their Model 10 M&P .38 Special revolver they called the "Victory Model".
Colt's war-time revolver was a parkerized finished Official Police known as the Colt Commando.
This was nothing more than the Official Police with a dull parkerized finish and reddish-brown plastic grips Colt called "Coltwood".

[yovinny]

Lots of those victory models were blasted and re-parked a second time during rebuilds,, I havent seen it hurt one yet.

As for plugging bores,, I wouldent bother for a second.
I've built and parked a few bench/ quasi sniper rifles. If that parking hurts a bore, I havent seen it with groups in the 0.2-0.3" range....At least when I do my part correctly...

[Cosmic_Charlie]

Years back I had a nice parkerizong set up. Two stainless tanks on stands with homemade pipe burners. Used Shooter's Solutions zinc park mostly. Thought about parking a Super Blackhawk and then moly coating it. Never had a problem with metal tolerances as long as you did not get carried away with abrasive blasting or dunk time. Brings back good memories of FAL parts kits from Classic Arms for $99.00.

[Der Gebirgsjager]

Another option for you, still suggesting a dull blue instead of Parkerizing, that I can't recall ever having seen discussed on the Forum. You can hide a lot of past abuse and imperfections by doing a "wire wheel job". This involves removing the old finish and many of the pits, etc., by using a coarse wire wheel on a buffer. Just how coarse a wheel is best determined by experimentation.

DG

[Gtek]

STG58 kits with Imbel receivers, more than a few built back in the day. Good looking, great shooting but heavy parkerized weapon!

[JoeJames]

Parkerizing is ugly and just looks 'cheap' on a revolver.
I've never seen anyone 'ooohhh and ahhhh, over anything parkerized except a 1911 or a K-Bar.

I'd send it out to be blued, and when it came back-- take better care of it than it had previously been given.

A buddy had a Smith Model 15 that had been parkerized. He displayed it year after year at his tables at various local gun shows. As far as I know he never was able to sell it.

[Cosmic_Charlie]

A buddy had a Smith Model 15 that had been parkerized. He displayed it year after year at his tables at various local gun shows. As far as I know he never was able to sell it.

Parking makes a great base for cerrocoating and other bake on finishes. Did a 1911 and bulgy AK 74 that way.

[megasupermagnum]

Parking makes a great base for cerrocoating and other bake on finishes. Did a 1911 and bulgy AK 74 that way.

For what reason? Parkerizing isn't good enough?

[Cosmic_Charlie]

For what reason? Parkerizing isn't good enough?

No, parking is just fine. I did the 1911 frame with olive drab molycoat and left the slide parked. The bulgy I did a gloss black to mimic the original finish. The etching the park does gives a good "tooth" for the molycoat to grab onto.

[35 Whelen]

Parkerizing is a very durable finish and hides imperfections in metal. Several years ago I bought an H&R 922 to carry around the place here and decided to Park it myself with a home brew formula. Here are some before and after photos-

https://i.imgur.com/yuAocSal.jpg https://i.imgur.com/MdjnDq8l.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/oCDhD6al.jpg https://i.imgur.com/EhgkRFCl.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/X7NEp1Xl.jpg https://i.imgur.com/McEMNdCl.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/0QDLRWtl.jpg https://i.imgur.com/4tQeGtzl.jpg

Park'ing at home is super easy and very inexpensive.

35W

[racepres]

Not meaning to be the ******* that i am... But I prefer the before..Thanks

[35 Whelen]

Not meaning to be the ******* that i am... But I prefer the before..Thanks

Of course you're meaning to be the ******* you are, otherwise, you wouldn't have dropped in on a thread whose subject is Parkerizing, to tell us that you prefer a blue finish.

But it's good that we don't all like the same thing.

35W