Parkerizing question

[Lennyjoe]

How hard is it to parkerize a barrel/reciever on a shotgun?

I stripped my shottie with Burchwood Casey blueing remover and am now trying to decide to duracoat or parkerize the thing. It has some nice waterfowl mirages etched into the sides of the reciever and I'd like to keep it visible.

So, how long, how hard and what not to do with parkerizing? How do you keep the solution out of the inside of the barrel and what size pans/bowls ect am I gonna need?

 

[loadedround]

Parkerizing

Get a copy of Brownells catalog. They have all the information on Parkerizing from cold finishing, spray on finishing, and hot finishing. Plus they have an excellent technical service dept to help you decide.

 

[ribbonstone]

Even if you intend to paint the gun after, a good layer of parkerizing (either Zinc or Maganese) makes a great base coat. parkerizing works becasue the resulting finish is kind of spongy...will suck up oil and hold onto it. Will also suck up paint and hold onto it, so the over coat is kind of locked in (besides, it's best to have a protective base finish).

Yes..can be done at home...isn't difficult. Do need a container large enough to hold the longest part and some way of heating the solution to 180-190degees. Traditional way to keep it out of the barrel would be to plug the barrel tightly (usually wooden plugs...but f you have a selection of rubber stoppers, they'll work too). I've been varnishing the barrel (and the external parts I don't care to have parkerized) a day ahead, letting it cure, and then plugging the barrel. Once done, strip the varnish...find that this is the best way to assure you don't parkerize the bore if a plug leaks or pops out when heated in the warm/hot solution.

 

[Gordon]

As per my prior post: You really have to blast the surface with a aluminum oxide (or sand not beads) as you need some tooth to the finish for the park to sink into. It must be BARE metal , cleaned and hot water rinsed to stick. Brownells sells some Amerelene stuff that is more forgiving to apply that parkerizing. The Zinc Parkerize is much easier to apply than Manganese Parkerize. The zinc actually stops rust better, so is a better under finish. The Manganese is a harder and more durable finish if used as the finish coat.

 

[Sam]

Lennyjoe,
Setting up to do your own parkerizing on a long gun is not really cost effective. Sandblast gear, tank solutions etc.. Less expensive to send it out unless you have 5-6 to do.

Sam

 

[Lennyjoe]

Sam, that's what I was thinking. Only have 1 to do so I figured I'd ask around to see if it was cost effective to do it myself or send it out.

Thanks all.