restoring a shooter

[parhur]

I was wonder if anyone had a thought on restoring just a shooter m1 grande. Should I try to go back with the original managineze coating or just parkize it. would parkizing it hurt the collectable value of the gun? any thoughts.

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[parhur]

very good point I agree sanding the wood is a big no no I think I will keep her aging gracefully

[Patrick Chadwick]

...Should I try to go back with the original managineze coating or just parkize it. would parkizing it hurt the collectable value of the gun? any thoughts.

Any refinishing hurts collectable values, because, from the collecting point of view, it is a falsification.

Rifles were not made to look pretty, but to shoot ... and you were talking about a shooter ... so anything in the nature of maintenance to restore shootability is OK, but non-functional surface operations are not.

Read my posts to see that I practise what I preach. Some of my rifles may look like junk on the outside,

Attachment 100321

but they are OK where it matters for shooting.

Attachment 100320

[Sunray]

"...the original managineze(SIC) coating..." That is Parkerizing. It's just manganese based vs Zinc based(that comes out in shades of grey. Even the gas tube.) Re-Parkerizing requires the thing to be completely disassembled. As in all the springs must come out. It's not particularly difficult but you need to know how to disassemble the bolt and gently remove the barrel bands.
In all likelihood, a 'shooter' M1 Rifle has no collector value. It does have 'shooter' value depending on how well it shoots. Re-Parkerizing it won't affect its shooter value. Won't make it more collectable either.

[Bob Seijas]

"Spelling and Grammar count!" Totally agree... so does terminology. Could we use gas cylinder instead of gas tube?