parkerizing my 1991A1 again (but it was re-blued before)

[dsonyay]

Hi,
I have a 1991A1 Commander which I bought in 1994. In 2002 it was refinished after I had some custom work don by D R Middlebrooks. He had it done in a matte blue.

After a few more years of hard use it really needs a new finish. I want it parkerized again in a the dark style (manganese? phosphate?).

Is there anything I need to let the finisher know before he does the work? assume he will need to remove all the blueing, but does it matter that it was parkerized originally?

The guy doing my commander is local and does fantastic work. He did my dad's 1911 last year in a high polished deep blue and matte blue. For 125.00 it was well worth the cost because he spent a lot of time prepping the parts before he blued them and it showed in the final product.

What type of wear does a properly done park. job result in? I carry my Commander quite a bit and I feel the parkerizing is best for me. To me, a park'd firearm would stand more abuse than a blued one.

What do you guys think?

I'm paying about 85.00 to have the work done.

[Tom in Ohio]

It won't matter. He'll media blast it first so any other finish will get removed.

[Colt45guy]

yup--parkerizing solution won't react to a blued surface or rust. Gotta abrasive blast prior to parkerizing.

**I happen to like parkerized guns better than blued for exactly the reason you stated--they hold up better to holster wear and the porous surface holds oil better for rust protection.

[Jim Watson]

There is a good article on the advantages of saturating a Parkerized gun with grease at http://xavierthoughts.blogspot.com/2007/02/parkerizing-truth-vs-tales.html

He just coats it with Vaseline and heats. Then wipes off the excess for a good while.

Jeff Cooper wrote of "oil buffing" a Parkerized weapon but without details. I expect it amounts to hand rubbing with grease or oil to saturate the rough phosphate surface.

[dsonyay]

OK thanks guys!
I kind of want to have the receiver done in an olive drab and the receiver in dark gray or black, but will likely just do it all up in one color. I worry about regretting the decision, and I think this combo color parkerized finished may be a bit trendy. I kinda think this two tone stuff may be more of a short lived thing, and then everything will go back to mono-tone. I'm not talking about stainless-blued combos. Those seemed to become a standard on their own.

[Hill]

Not many things uglier than the split pea soup green paint jobs some people put on their guns, IMO.