Recommendations Someone To Black Oxide My 1928?

[drbones2nd]

Sorry for all of the posts but as I stated before, been out of the thompson loop a while. Just got in a 1928 with a parkarized finish. However, not really happy with how it still shows the heat treating area on the receiver so thought about having it refinished in a black oxide (blued) finish?

 

Who is doing this type of refinish work? I think the industry calls it Du lite? Not sure.

 

I like the look of the black blue shinier finish over the parkarized look.

 

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

 

Thanks,

[reconbob]

The gun bluing process is known throughout industry as black oxide. It is only in the

gun business that its refered to as "bluing". Black oxide is a hot dip immersion process

which causes the surface of the steel to turn a dark color. If you sandblast a part before

processing it comes out flat black. If a part is polished before processing even though

you run it thru the same tank you get the gun-blue finish typical of firearms. Du-Lite is

a brand name of black oxide chemicals, but there are dozens of suppliers of these

chemicals and you really can't tell the difference in the end result.

So, if you want the shiny finish the problem is you have to polish the parts. Unless

your gun is a real dog, no matter how careful you are doing the polishing you will be

reducing the value of your gun. There is simply no way to polish off the parkerizing

without it being obvious when the gun is blued.

The prep for parkerizing is sandblasting, and while this is also changes forever the

original factory finish, it does not alter the surface as much as polishing.

My recommendation would be to black oxide the receiver and trigger frame, and

replace all of the other parts with EXC condition parts which are still available in the

parts sets. This will get you as close as you can get to original - many of the WW2 guns

had flat black (i.e. sandblasted but not polished) receivers and trigger frames with all

of the other parts polished. An EXC condition parts set will cost you approx $1000 but

you can retrieve 1/2 of that by selling your parkerized parts. (maybe more).

You can black oxide over or thru parkerizing so it will not be necessary to polish

the receiver and trigger frame. The exception would be if your parkerizing is one of

the later light grey processes which can result in a thick, coarse finish. WW2 parkerizing

is iron-manganese phosphate which is dark and smooth and the thickness of the finish

is only 0.0002"-0.0004". (yes - those are ten-thousanths).

The debate of to-refinish-or-not-refinish has raged here before but your case is a little

different since your gun has been parkerized. But please, please do not have someone

polish the receiver and trigger frame unless they are already so damaged that it wont matter.

 

My $0.02

 

Bob

[Sig]

There are two companies that do charcoal or carbonia bluing finish as Colt and others did in the early days.

Big $ but these web sites might give you and idea of the different finishes out there.

 

 

http://www.turnbullmfg.com/

 

http://www.ronsgunshop.com/pricing.html

[drbones2nd]

Thank you for the info. Sounds like the black oxide is the way to go.

[james m]

The last time I saw something like this done the gunsmith first sandblasted the parts to get rid of the parkerizing then glass beaded them. The resultant matte black finish was uniform and looked very much like the original finish applied during WW II. I believe the black oxide chemicals he was using came from Brownells.

Jim

[emmagee1917]

Had a blued WH M1A1 that we had to re-machine the mag well in. I then had the local gunsmith re park it a dark blue/black . Came out a very light gray . Would not correct it.

At our last spring shoot , the front sight pin broke and the sight came loose , and the rear sight pulled it's rivets almost out.

As per recomendations I contacted Tommygunner to fix . He reinstalled the front sight , rear sight , replaced the foreend hanger with a one -piece , and blasted off the old park and "blued" it with the black oxide.

Just had her out this last weekend after getting her back a month or so ago. Function perfectly and all six shooters gave the refinish two thumbs up. Works for me.

http://tommygunner.com/pages/services/index.htm

Chris

[TSMGguy]

How nice a job do you want? How much time do you have? If you don't mind just a bit of a wait, PK is the best Thompson smith in the business. His finishes cannot be told from factory original, if that's what you want.

 

p-k@q.com

[drbones2nd]

How nice a job do you want? How much time do you have? If you don't mind just a bit of a wait, PK is the best Thompson smith in the business. His finishes cannot be told from factory original, if that's what you want.

 

p-k@q.com

 

I agree 100% with you on his quality of work and reputation. However, he is also back logged a long time and i would not rather wait a year to get my thompson back. I am not the most patient person...lol

[Motorcar]

I waited a year for PK....it was worth it.

[kickstartit]

From the most resent post I've read on the subject you may be in for a 3 year wait for PK. I've been on the waiting list for a year and a half, but I agree it is worth the wait.

[drbones2nd]

3 years??? Wow. Hell, i might be dead by then...lol

[reconbob]

Since Tommygunner and PK have been mentioned here I will throw my hat in the ring.

Most people know of Phila Ordnance as as supplier of high quality 80% machined receivers.

We also have a production line set up and running to produce M1928A1 and M1/M1A1

working/shooting guns for Police and Class 2 manufacturers. The guns are made by assembling

original U.S. military parts on new manufacture ordnance specification receivers.

Most people cannot buy a post-1986 Thompson, but anyone can take advantage of the

barreling, gunsmithing, and bluing services which are here in place for the production of

the guns. Because we do so much of this work we can provide highest quality work at a good

price. Turn around time for barrel, bluing, and gunsmithing work on full and semi auto

Thompsons is 4-6 weeks or less depending on what gets done.

For info call Bob at Phila Ordnance 215-576-0259 or email Philaord@aol.com.

 

 

[drbones2nd]

Email sent. Thank you for the information. 4-6 weeks sounds more appealing to me.