Questions on Winchester Finishes and Decisions to Make.....

[jesse_]

So, I have a conundrum.

I have a relatively early Winchester receiver. Q1 1942. The receiver was purchased by itself, the other parts in the pics are not in any way original to it (yeah, those are repro rear sight drums and spindle).

The park is worn, patchy at best. Zero rust. Zero pitting.

Could this be the original finish? What is left is dark grey with a slight green cast. In the second picture, in the middle of the flat behind the receiver ring there appears to be black under the grey. Hard to get it in the pic.

The very fine belt sanding marks on the receiver heel indicate (to me anyway) that it was not media blasted again after initial park (I don’t think that Winchester blasted much at all before park). All the rough machining lay, burr knife, and file marks are intact and only worn where there were other parts sliding against them.

What did Winchester finish with initially? Manganese or zinc (haha, yeah, some say dulite)? If they switched from manganese to zinc, do we know when?

I am setting up for both manganese as well as zinc. I am going to be playing with techniques to get the zinc to turn green.

For a stripped receiver as opposed to a complete rifle, does it have any effect on the value if I re-park it?

Is there any compelling reason to not refinish this? Will I be kicking myself a decade from now if I do? I know that in the vintage car and motorcycle world, there is the phrase, “It can be restored as many times as needs be, but it’s only original once”.

Thanks ya'll

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