Will refinishing affect parts?

[SuperD4K]

I ordered some parts from Brownells. The parts were all blued or black oxide. The pistol I am going to be building will be parkerized. If I blast the parts to remove the blueing will that throw off the dimensions as long as I dont get too agressive with the sandblaster? I was planning on using #80 aluminum oxide as the abrasive. THe parts I am mainly concerned about are the Cylinder and Slide trigger components, EGW bushing and slide stop, I think everything else would be fine.

[Dave Berryhill]

Aluminum oxide can be pretty aggressive and may remove a little material. Even if it doesn't change the dimensions of the parts, it will leave a rough surface on your precision machined surfaces. I would avoid blasting your contact surfaces - hammer hooks, the inside of the bushing, etc. and wouldn't bother blasting and refinishing the sear and disconnector at all.

[SuperD4K]

Would there be a better abrasive to use or would any of the vinegar/acid techniques be better? They seem like they would be less harsh. I think I am going to see if any of these part can be ordered in the white so I wont have to deal with this on the next build LOL!

[Colt45guy]

I definitely wouldn't hit the hammer or safety with aluminum oxide unless I had taped off the critical surfaces first. (duct tape works wonders)


eta: as far as using acid to remove the bluing--phosphoric acid may be your best bet as it etches the metal on a molecular level....but I've never gotten good results parkerizing without abrasive blasting first.

[gbw]

I've heard that commercial rust removers will do for removing bluing, and most won't affect the metal, but haven't tried it myself.

[Dave Berryhill]

If you are going to be parkerizing then you do want to blast the parts because you will get a better phosphate finish. You just want to avoid those critical areas. On polished or precision machined surfaces such as hammer hooks you will still get some phosphate coating but it won't be as heavy. You might consider waiting to do any trigger work until after refinishing for this reason.

[SuperD4K]

Okay thanks a lot guys! You answered everything I needed to know!