Colts transition from bluing to parkerizing.

C

carp8695

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Hello...I might have a trying question here. I have been trying to figure out if my 1941 colt GI was blued or parkerized. I know colt started the transition from blushing to parkerizing that yr. The serial# is 731,397. Does anyone have the answer?
 
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What's your pistol's finish right now? Can you supply a photo?

Colt began parkerizing in May 1941. Your pistol seems to have originally been blued but that is an educated guess; end of year 1941 was around 756000
 
Clawson says 729993 was listed as Parkerized by Colt, but "routine Parkerizing was not initiated until about SN 734000. Bluing continued to be used on a decreasing scale through SN 760000. During the transition period blued and Parkerized parts were intermixed but the receiver and slide always required the same type of finish."

Sounds like blue is more likely correct, but not guaranteed.

What color is yours and is it uniform?
Got pictures?
 
My '42 pistol, 779k, has (had) small parts with a darker finish than the slide and frame, but I think they were all parkerized.
 
I want to refinish my 1941 and can Parkerize it my self but never done any kind of blushing. Another thing is the markings are so crisp right now.
 
I will post a pic soon but it has been cromed.
Click to expand...

I want to refinish my 1941 and can Parkerize it my self but never done any kind of blushing. Another thing is the markings are so crisp right now.
Click to expand...

73 years of patina going down the drain. Seems the OP isn't sure what finish will be put on the gun, chrome, parkerized.
Parkerizing will need to be sand blasted with aluminum oxide first, then the parkerizing can be done. Blasting will un-crisp the roll marks.

As for the misspelled words spell check works:D
 
"Patina" is in my opinion over-rated. My prior hobby was vintage cars, they cost several times what a 1941 Colt costs and honestly? It's pretty hard to convince a collector in cars that "patina" is best. We put up with patina in old firearms. Some people think that's how an old gun is supposed to look and that's fine but compared to the original finish it's a sad substitute. People also say "its original only once", and yes that's true but unless the firearm came that way, patina is not original either.
 
If it was chrome plated without washing the markings, it deserves a nice refinish, maybe a true restoration. 1941 Colts are uncommon enough not to bubba them up.
 
parkerizing

I had everything to parkerize b4 I deployed to Iraq. And I'm sure I can handle it at home. I have reparked 3 M1's and they all sold over a grand. The Colt has a matching slide and the letters r still crisp.
 
If you like later on I can help posting photos. Right now I have to go to the supermarket before everybody, their brother, and his dog show up
 
To post here, the photos need to be hosted somewhere, I don't think you can upload from your PC. Even if you can, the most flexible method is to have them hosted online.

I use photobucket ( www.photobucket.com ) although I dislike how they have made so many changes in a comparatively short amount of time But it works.

You'd register at a hosting site- photobucket is still free for the basic service- and then use their 'upload' feature to put photos into your library. Then you'd click on the photo in your library. This takes you to a new screen, with code listed on the right side. You're interested in the 'img' code.


You copy the code- for photobucket currently just clicking the code will copy the code - and then you paste the image into a message here (I have screwed up this code below on purpose so you can see what it looks like)

URL=http://smg.photobucket.com/user/Chuck_Older/media/19031911-1.jpg.html]IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v441/Chuck_Older/19031911-1.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

And if you copy it without screwing it up on purpose, it ends up doing this:
 
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