Light Stamping/Re-Parkerizing

The barrel on my Quality HMC has very light stamping. You have to look in bright light to read "Underwood, 12-43, (ordinance bomb)" I emailed Tim Shufflin (Shuff's Parkerizing) about this, and he said in re-Parkerizing, "You will lose metal on the order of about two tenths the thickness of a human hair." My question is, if the Parkerizing obliterates the markings in whole or part, have I devalued the carbine? I would think it would. Can anyone who has re-Parkerized a very lightly stamped carbine barrel or other part tell me how it worked out? Thanks.

I've participated in parkerizing for a great many firearms and parkerizing is a solution that forms on the surface of metal. It has nothing to do with removing anything. Bead blasting before will enhance the lettering and as far as I know, the only thing that will remove metal other than polishing is sand blasting. Sandblasting gives a real rough finish but if you're not careful, you can obliterate markings. Ask Chuckindenver, he'll probably confirm this. Some of the others too.

It goes without saying that any refinish done in the civilian world devalues any military gun as far as collectibility. A careful re-Park will not degrade markings, but the carbine is no longer like it was when in service, hence the value reduction regardless of quality of finish.

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Originally Posted by INLAND44

It goes without saying that any refinish done in the civilian world devalues any military gun as far as collectibility. A careful re-Park will not degrade markings, but the carbine is no longer like it was when in service, hence the value reduction regardless of quality of finish.

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And that's another rub. My choice is to leave it as is, like my Rock-ola and Inland. Thanks to both of you.