Need Colt 1911A1 Help

G

George R

New member
Have a Colt 1911A1, 741XXX,made just after Colt switched from blueing to parkerizing. The bbl is Colt 45 marked. Were the bbls and mags blued, or also parked? Any help will be really appreciated. Thanks.
 
All barrels and magazines of that era were blued. A parkerized barrel or magazine was either made or refinished in the post-war period. The barrel marking "Colt 45 Auto" should be at the bottom left, not visible through the ejection port, and the letter P on the bottom lug indicates the barrel passed the proof test (as a barrel in a test fixture, not on a gun).

Jim
 
Parked or Blued?

Thanks, Jim. I appreciate the help. How about the "two toned" magazines of that era that have two different shades of blueing? Any info on that?
 
The mags were dipped - top half - in some sort of boiling acid to temper the feedlips, and it removed the bluing in the process. Most WWII-era mags, those made during the U.S. involvement, are not two-tone.
 
IIRC, the tempering was done in oil, not acid. The flame heating removed the blue. It could not have been done the other way at the time, since the oven bluing process then in use would have taken the temper back out of the feed lips.

Later, the bluing process was changed and the bluing was done after tempering, giving a uniform color.

Jim
 
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