Plum M1 Finish?

[jesse_]

Greetings!

I am in possession of a mid '42 receiver and the finish is entirely plum. The same color as a K98k ejector box spring, but not as bright.

There was many pics taken, but only the one shows the color halfway decent. It's a little more red in real life than in this pic even. Sorry

Was this something that happened during refinish by a foreign nation or something that can happen with a US rebuild if the chemicals aren't mixed correctly?

Warm Regards,
Jesse_

Information

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[browningautorifle]

I wish the picture was a bit more overall...usually it means the subject was BLUED with a bath that wasn't strong enough. With a Winchester it means the subject contains some nickel and can either be blued with Oxynate 84 stainless salts or perhaps using a very fresh strong solution will make it dark. This is supposed to be parkerized but some folk don't really understand the difference and by the streaks present I suspect it was partly stripped and blued instead of parkerized at one point. I don't think military did that. Easy to reverse, just have it glass bead blasted and parkerized by a gunsmith that has those facilities.

[RCS]

M1 rifles will always have receiver color variations based on many factors from service use, oil and cleaning to camera angles and light. here are some photos of my mid 1942 receiver, barrel is May 1942 dated and stock is short channel SA GHS (faint cartouche) Type 1 lock bar sight is originalAttachment 111685Attachment 111686

[browningautorifle]

variations based on many factors from service use, oil and cleaning to camera angles and light

Agreed, but I think if he shows us his will be blued. Just what we can see shows streaks like parkerizing that has been polished off instead of bead blasted. Can't be sure.

[jesse_]

Thanks for your input everyone. I'll work on getting some better pics.

[Buntlineguy]

Purple color can happen if:
1. solution too cool
2. solution to weak
3. removed from solution too soon
Learned the hared way
Ron

[jesse_]

Thanks!

A plum park job would be a home job as opposed to any arsenal job then?

So there is absolutely no reason not to refinish? Not like X or Y country refinished them like this?

Also a few more pics Attachment 111704Attachment 111705Attachment 111706

One more question; would a mid '42 SA receiver be manganese parked or zinc parked?

Regards,
Jesse

[no4mk1t]

One more question; would a mid '42 SA receiver be manganese parked or zinc parked?

Zinc was used during WW2, manganese came later. If an M1 went thru a rebuild/refinish after the switch to manganese, that's what it got.
The color you get will depend on several factors. With fresh solution and correct immersion time, it will be a very dark slate gray. If you spray it with WD-40 while it's still hot, it will get even darker. You can even achieve the WW2 green tint by swabbing with the old green GI rifle grease. That's what I did to the Browning High Power pictured below years ago.
As you can see in this pic, the color can vary quite a bit. The really light gray M1D was dry packed after refinish and the solution was probably not fresh either. The black one is manganese. It came from the CMP that way.

[browningautorifle]

A plum park job would be a home job as opposed to any arsenal job then?

So...looking at the better pic, I am sure this is blue over a stripped receiver. Not a very good job of either. You should bead blast before finish to make sure your coverage and finish are even. That one looks like a liquid strip was used, maybe muriatic acid or even simple like lemon juice or original Coke... The into the bluing. There's no crystalline structure like Parkerizing. If they'd used a good strong solution at correct heat and time it would still be blue. Even if you parkerize poorly and it rusts, it won't come out like that. It comes out rusty.

I'd send it off to a guy to bead blast and grey park...