Park or park not? how, should, or why you take that finish off??

[HILLBILLY-06]

Well, how do you get that Park finish off your rifle? Or why would you want to in the first place? Well, lets just say the color match is poor, or perhaps you like the blue'd finish better.
So how do you remove it? Especially if it makes no difference as to the value, and all you have is a mixmaster, or self made correct looking rifle in the sense, would this kind of project be a worthy effort?
I am only asking because winter is coming on, and sometimes things are a little slow in some places. We get board, we get frustrated and lack a good project to get through the dull winter months, so what do you say.... Any suggestions, input or reasons why or why not??

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[Johnny Peppers]

Without a lot of mess and fuss, the best way to remove the phosphate finish is to have you local gunsmith bead blast it off. If you like to fool with such, muratic acid will boil off the phosphate coating, but requires a degree of safe handling.

The phosphate coating on military firearms was not universal in color. Barrels and receivers were finished separately and are not normally the same color. Same for small parts.

[browningautorifle]

Johnny's quite right. Bead blast is the best. Muriatic is downright dangerous if you haven't used it before. If parkerizing, make sure the solution is clean so you get a nice grey finish, any steel residue in it will produce a blacker finish. Oil will pollute and discolour.

[HILLBILLY-06]

That sounds simple enough, and sounds like a great project starter either way. Now, I have heard the phrase "original finish" on WW2 Garands and such... What would the original finish actually be, as produced by say Springfield, or Winchester, back around the early 1940's when they were new & before all the rebuilding took place?
My cousin has a bead blast cabinet, a large one, but he has always warned me about puting certain parts in there, and heat stressing the metal. I have only used it on automotive parts, and things of that nature, never a firearm. So I would not want to take that on myself yet, Like You Said... "a gunsmith can do that" & I wouldn't ruin anything myself not knowing about that heat stress or what ever my cousin was trying to say with the "certain parts" that you put in there. I did do a tin garden figure in it one time, that had rusted bad, I saw what happened to that real quick. Took me a minute to unroll it after I blasted the one side "maybe too good" So I guess he had a point there about something.

[Johnny Peppers]

Have no idea about heat stressing something in a bead blasting cabinet. Find out from your cousin about that one.

The media you use and the pressure (volume) will determine how aggressive the media is. Gunsmiths use them every day and should have no problem removing the finish.

[Chuckindenver]

never use a beadblast cabinet thats used to clean car parts, to strip your rifle.
grease gets into the media, and will get into the surface of the metal.
if done correctly, even the best so called expert would be able to tell if it was aa commecial repark, or military park.

[browningautorifle]

The heat stressing thing...I've done springs in the BB cabinet and watched them do angles and curves sometimes. Sawblades have curved like a banana. Strange. I've done lots of guns though and never had any ill effects from bead blast. Like Chuck says, use clean Silica Sand or you will have problems. Get a new 50 lb bag for the job. Don't know about the cabinet though, could be filthy'd up from the car parts.