Do you prefer blue or parked M1's? (Or M1A1's)

[DukeNukem]

Without getting into the petty arguments about which is correct or more robust...which finish do you find more visually appealing for the m1/m1a1 series of thompson?

[full auto 45]

The blued always has a better classier look to it.

 

The parkerized has a more "use me" and "tough & roughless" look.

[Adg105200]

Definitely the Du-lite type II "bluing". I have an original M1 trigger frame in almost pristine unused condition and a battle-worn parked M1(A1? Not sure) trigger frame.

 

Thompsons definitely look better in the darker finish anyway. Of course that's just​ my opinion.

 

Andrew

[R67]

I get slaughtered whenever I say a Parkerized M1 or 1928 looks good on this forum. I actually like a clean parked gun for a military gun.

 

For a civilian 1921 or Navy28 I like blued.

[Normal1959]

Clearly blued and that's one of the reasons the parked ones are sitting on a dealers website for a year or more.

Eric

[DukeNukem]

Well ive made up my mind...I'm already planning to send my m1 (which is still transferring) to reconbob for some routine work and it currently has a mismatched finish between the upper and barrel. Now I'm going all blue baby

[gijive]

I get slaughtered whenever I say a Parkerized M1 or 1928 looks good on this forum. I actually like a clean parked gun for a military gun.

 

For a civilian 1921 or Navy28 I like blued.

R67,

 

You are aware, of course, that all the original M1 and 1928 guns were originally blued (Dulite finish if you prefer) when they were manufactured. They didn't come off the assembly line Parkerized, that occurred to many guns when they were rebuilt after WWII.

[Chromebolt]

Parked = Military, regardless of how they left the factory.

 

Just my preference.

[buzz]

Just about every M1A1 that I have seen has been Parkerized. Very few seem to have escaped being re-arsenalled.

 

The original Dulite finish on the guns looks like Parkerizing anyway, it's just a flat black. Sometimes gray Parkerizing comes out almost charcoal colored and it's genuinely hard to tell them apart.

 

I don't think it's too realistic to say that guns with Parkerizing don't sell. I've never come across any talk about the finish one way or the other. I think most people assume that a parkerized finish is original.

 

I think either finish looks fine.

 

Mine has a very old dark gray Parkerizing with a nice patina. I like it.

[huggytree]

i prefer whatever way it came from the factory......but realize parkerizing is part of its history if done by the military

 

is there such a thing as a police M1? ...everyone i see is parkerized

[JJX]

I prefer blued. Maybe in part because I know that is original.

[Normal1959]

If you look at the parked guns on a dealers website, in some cases, the new finish seems to have filled in the markings so much, they are getting harder to read. That's my beef. Look close. I try not to let it bother me, but it does.

Eric

[ron_brock]

i prefer whatever way it came from the factory......but realize parkerizing is part of its history if done by the military

 

is there such a thing as a police M1? ...everyone i see is parkerized

Huggy,

I believe, all M1s were du-lite blued originally. Parkerizing was a finish used when they were rebuilt. I think this is what you mean by "police M1". As far as I know they were not sold commercially as all production went to the war effort. Of course afterwards, many made their way into PDs.

 

Ron

[huggytree]

 

i prefer whatever way it came from the factory......but realize parkerizing is part of its history if done by the military

 

is there such a thing as a police M1? ...everyone i see is parkerized

Huggy,

I believe, all M1s were du-lite blued originally. Parkerizing was a finish used when they were rebuilt. I think this is what you mean by "police M1". As far as I know they were not sold commercially as all production went to the war effort. Of course afterwards, many made their way into PDs.

 

Ron

i meant all original/blued by police gun.....thats almost the only way the 1928's show up all original/matching/finish.....i think ive seen 1 M1 w/ original finish for sale......

 

i did not know police werent allowed M1's during the war though..

[full auto 45]

My M1 was bought by the B&O Railroad in 1946 after the war. Then transferred to the PD in West Virginia I bought it from. It was parkerized when the B&O got it. Mine was reworked at sometime in its war life at the Mt. Rainier Ordnance Depot.

[JJX]

If you look at the parked guns on a dealers website, in some cases, the new finish seems to have filled in the markings so much, they are getting harder to read. That's my beef. Look close. I try not to let it bother me, but it does.

Eric

Eric

I have noticed what you describe and maybe the finish is part of the problem, but I thought it had more to do with the preparation of the metal before being parkerized (sandblasting/buffing/?).

Some parkerized M1s look really good.

[buzz]

My M1A1 has an RIA rebuild stamp on it.

 

I don't think the gun was blasted when it was parked. The metal still shows the small tool marks from when the receiver was milled.

 

They rebuilt almost all WWII Garands in these huge rebuild programs, so it's possible that they did the same to the Thompsons

[Adg105200]

At a factory level, it is faster to blue since you only need to have the metal clean. I wonder if it was a production speed thing, since parkerization is actually a tougher finish. It does seem like most of the arsenal parked M1s don't have a very thick park. Not like my M1 Garand.

 

Andrew

[azboater]

One of my M1's never left the States in WWII & was never a Re-arsenal, original Black Oxide Finish, matching Upper & low serial number Savage #59061

No crossbolt in stock, It was guarding an Armory here, and in 1960 went on a Form 1 to a Sheriff Dept in Georgia, my other M1 is a Parked Re-arsenal, ,

I like any Military Thompson, as long as they have Auto Ordnance, Bridgeport, Connecticut on the side

Edited April 8, 2017 by azboater

[Adg105200]

Beautiful example!

 

I would take either blued or parked given the money (and living in a different state). Gotta love Thompsons!

 

Andrew

[Normal1959]

 

If you look at the parked guns on a dealers website, in some cases, the new finish seems to have filled in the markings so much, they are getting harder to read. That's my beef. Look close. I try not to let it bother me, but it does.

Eric

Eric

I have noticed what you describe and maybe the finish is part of the problem, but I thought it had more to do with the preparation of the metal before being parkerized (sandblasting/buffing/?).

Some parkerized M1s look really good.

Beautiful example and I would buy one that nice in a minute, but look at some for sale and (some) of the gun is almost hard to read. Not my cup of tea. I like to pay a tad more and get really, really nice. I don't mind age and character but parked so you can barely read it is an issue with me.

Eric

[Draz]

One of my M1's never left the States in WWII & was never a Re-arsenal, original Black Oxide Finish, matching Upper & low serial number Savage #59061

No crossbolt in stock, It was guarding an Armory here, and in 1960 went on a Form 1 to a Sheriff Dept in Georgia, my other M1 is a Parked Re-arsenal, ,

I like any Military Thompson, as long as they have Auto Ordnance, Bridgeport, Connecticut on the side

That's what one should look like! Virtually all Thompsons under US control at the end of the war were returned to the US, stripped and refinished. That's why original finish matching numbers are a bit if a rarity in the US. I've never seen a refinished example in the UK on the deactivated market so far.

[R67]

 

I get slaughtered whenever I say a Parkerized M1 or 1928 looks good on this forum. I actually like a clean parked gun for a military gun.

 

For a civilian 1921 or Navy28 I like blued.

R67,

 

You are aware, of course, that all the original M1 and 1928 guns were originally blued (Dulite finish if you prefer) when they were manufactured. They didn't come off the assembly line Parkerized, that occurred to many guns when they were rebuilt after WWII.

 

I have a few reasons for my odd ball preference. Firstly: A re-finished gun done by a civilian is one thing. But a arsenal refinished gun means that gun saw action, or use. It is history for the piece. I consider myself a historian before a collector so the added prospect that a gun actually saw combat is enticing to me. An arsenal rework is more military history to an iconic weapon. Second: I like the way park looks on a TSMG. Just something about the uniformity of the grey. It just looks professional, and not at all flashy. Just a hard core workhorse that is ready to do it's job. The military really did not put much stock into making a weapon "pretty", like the hot annealing process on the rear reciever portions of post-war reworked M1 Rifles that resulted in a two tone weird pattern on Garand receivers- not pretty but something about it is distinctly Army. It does it's job and does it well. Thirdly: Parked guns are cheaper. I'm cheap.

 

Now, I do acknowledge that the Military sand blasted the receivers before parking. I DONT LIKE that markings get worn away. However, you can find Parked guns with better and worse markings. So it depends on how many you want to look at before spending your money.

 

All this said, If I had the cash like a lot of guys here to buy multiple TSMGs, I would buy a shooter parked gun, and a nice collectable Dullite piece. As I said before I like the bluing on COLT and Early Savage guns. A parked 1921 or 1928 would make me hurl, because it just would not be right.... I hope this clears my position up a bit.... May I keep my neck? Kidding, thanks as always for the soapbox guys....

[azboater]

 

 

I get slaughtered whenever I say a Parkerized M1 or 1928 looks good on this forum. I actually like a clean parked gun for a military gun.

 

For a civilian 1921 or Navy28 I like blued.

R67,

 

You are aware, of course, that all the original M1 and 1928 guns were originally blued (Dulite finish if you prefer) when they were manufactured. They didn't come off the assembly line Parkerized, that occurred to many guns when they were rebuilt after WWII.

 

I have a few reasons for my odd ball preference. Firstly: A re-finished gun done by a civilian is one thing. But a arsenal refinished gun means that gun saw action, or use. It is history for the piece. I consider myself a historian before a collector so the added prospect that a gun actually saw combat is enticing to me. An arsenal rework is more military history to an iconic weapon. Second: I like the way park looks on a TSMG. Just something about the uniformity of the grey. It just looks professional, and not at all flashy. Just a hard core workhorse that is ready to do it's job. The military really did not put much stock into making a weapon "pretty", like the hot annealing process on the rear reciever portions of post-war reworked M1 Rifles that resulted in a two tone weird pattern on Garand receivers- not pretty but something about it is distinctly Army. It does it's job and does it well. Thirdly: Parked guns are cheaper. I'm cheap.

 

Now, I do acknowledge that the Military sand blasted the receivers before parking. I DONT LIKE that markings get worn away. However, you can find Parked guns with better and worse markings. So it depends on how many you want to look at before spending your money.

 

All this said, If I had the cash like a lot of guys here to buy multiple TSMGs, I would buy a shooter parked gun, and a nice collectable Dullite piece. As I said before I like the bluing on COLT and Early Savage guns. A parked 1921 or 1928 would make me hurl, because it just would not be right.... I hope this clears my position up a bit.... May I keep my neck? Kidding, thanks as always for the soapbox guys....

The Hot Annealing Process is very evident on my parked Re-Arsenal M1 Savage Lower / A.O. Upper Thompson

[R67]

Thats really cool.