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Early in 1945 Ordnance allowed Colt to switch to Parko (Parco)-Lubrite which was a manganese phosphate finish. At about the same time Colt discontinued the sandblasting of the slide before finish, and also did not sandblast the top of the receiver. Since the top of the receiver was no longer sandblasted, Ordnance did not require Colt to polish the finish off the feed ramp as had been previously required.
Pictured below is a Colt 1911A1 that dates to April, 1945, and was finished in Parko-Lubrite. The slide was not sandblasted, but the receiver was. The difference in the finish is hard to see until view close up where the effects of the sandblasting on the receiver is evident.
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...5/r10nxk-1.jpg
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...5/vngos5-1.jpg
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Distilled white vinegar removes rust great. Takes some time but it gets it pretty clean. Also removes bluing however so not good unless it is a small part you plan to refinish. Vinegar is all I used on that Swedish Mauser I brought back from the grave.
And it's cheap. $2.50 for a gallon of the stuff and I only used about half a gallon on the Swede and that was a full barrel dip.
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How fast does the vinegar remove bluing? BTW, vinegar is good for killing pet stain odor.
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I didn't really time it as the rust was so heavy I soaked things over night and all day with some scrubbing in between. If I remember correctly, the bluing would be gone in an hour or so.
The end result is very clean metal. although if you don't treat it quickly a grey form of oxidation will start.
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Cheap is good, clean metal even better!!...
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I wished it was that easy to keep rust at bay on my old 1972 MGB they rust for fun.....
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MGB's were made from a special water soluble steel that came from Llanwern steelworks to Swindon, by deck cargo on a submarine. Living in Shrivenham during the 70's and at Abingdon in the 80's we'd see MGB and C roadsters and GT's plus the little Midgets being transported in the bare unprotected white metal, 12 to a lorry along the A420 road from Pressed Steel in Swindon to Cowley in Oxford. Then, after the bodies had been assembled with doors and bonnets/boot lids, they'd be brought by road to Abingdon for another round of assembly. This tooing and froing took place in all weathers. And I mean ALL weathers. Sleet and snow and driving rain plus sun on the occasional sunny day.
You couldn't make it up! No wonder MG cars were rusting out before your very eyes and BL were losing money hand over fist on each car! But y'know what? I still love 'em to bits. I just wish my VW's were as simple to maintain
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After reducing or removing the rust and having touched it up or gone for the full parkerizing then have a good think think of the oil you will apply, there is a very interesting article in the Journal of the HBSA regarding protective surface coatings for firearms, the Royal Armouries (Leeds) now have changed there cans of WD40 for BrunOx oil and have ditched 3 in 1 as its no longer considered an ideal lubricant.
I,ve said it many times but an old book that covers many solutions for bluing etc is : Firearm Blueing and Browning by R H Angier
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Various acids have been used to derust. Obviously they remove blueing just as easily... Acetic acid has been mentioned (vinegar, I use 20% as a cleaner), citric acid, oxalic acid and boric acid have their proponents. I have to buy cheap rusted guns so I use an oxalic acid soak followed by a brief citric acid dip (to remove the green chelated iron surface left by oxalic) and then a wash with a weak sodium bicarbonate solution just to kill any acids. Don't let the oxalic acid drip onto any wood. It is used as a wood bleaching agent.
BTW. The reason why 1970/80s Fiats, and especially Lancias, rusted away so fast is the the old Soviet Union had no foreign exchange to pay Fiat for the factory they built in Russia so they paid the bill in steel. Sadly it was steel made from unsorted scrap so it was like a sheet battery with all the dissimilar metals in it.
