Du-Lite Blued Carbines, Muzzle to Butt Plate
I just returned from the Crossroads of the West Gunshow in San Francisco and what a day. The very first booth had a large collection of Carbines for sale. The prices ranged from $1,500 to $6,000 and the selection ran from Inland to Singer. Every Stock set was ding free beautifully finished with nice crisp Cartouches and/or Crossed Cannon acceptance stamps. Almost all barrel bands were either type 1A (Unmarked) or type 2, neither of which had nary a dent or scratch. All the metal including barrel, sights, receiver, trigger housing and other parts I could see were finished in a dark Du-Lite type bluing.:confused:
I ask the man in the booth why all my parts on my Carbines were Parkerized except for the Mags, some bolts and a few small parts mostly internal and his were blued from Muzzle to Butt Plate. He explained to me that my weapon had probably been through rebuild and at that time it was parkerized. He went on to explain that the Parkerizing process was so top secret that the government did not share the process with the manufacturers until the end of the war.:eek:
Just as I was about to take out a Second Mortgage and scoop up a armload of these beauties I was distracted by other booths. One had a great deal on waterfront property in Florida and the other had to do with a bridge in New York, Brooklyn I think. Oh well, maybe he'll be back with more in the future.:madsmile:
P.S. I have a have a Repro Type 1A Barrel Band I picked up for a few bucks on eBay that looks amazingly similar to the ones I saw today on the Blued Carbines.:yikes:
