Inland Barrel Questions

[thorin6]

I have three questions on Inland barrels and would appreciate any help.

1. At approximately what serial number (or range of serial number) did Inland switch from bluing to parkerization of barrels/receivers?

2. In the photo below, there is the outline of an I-I (two serif I’s with a dash between) stamped on the front of the gas cylinder. Does anyone have any idea why that mark is there?



3. In the photo below, there is a distinct change in the finish of the barrel. In that the stock is not the original stock, it appears to me as if the barrel has spent time in a stock with the long barrel channel (the change seems to appear at the point the long barrel channel would begin). Is this a reasonable explanation for this transition? Another possibility is this is where the barrel band sat when the barrel/receiver was finished.



Thanks for any help.

Information

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[ScottR]

The I-I on the gas cylinder is the sub-contractor Mfg. stamp of the Co. that made it. I do not know which one, there were three or four companies that made gas cylinders.

hth Scott

[BrianQ]

there were three or four companies that made gas cylinders.

hth Scott

five, with Inland being one of them. Care to guess who made the ones marked II or I-I.

[ScottR]

After thinking about it-.
1st guess- Inland made it and stamped it II.

Scott

[INLAND44]

'Another possibility is this is where the barrel band sat when the barrel/receiver was finished.'

This is one of the ways to tell original finish on a barrel, but your barrel looks like it was already blued before a matte finish was put on it, and the area of polished blue is longer than it should be if the barrel band clamp prevented finish getting under it. During Parkerizing, they slid the barrel band back until it stopped, then dipped the complete barrel (with plugs in the chamber, muzzle and gas plug). I don't know if they did it the same way for bluing, but you should not see two different finishes on the barrel. The barrel also has strange areas of finish loss, like paint flaking off. I cannot make any kind of call on originality of that finish.

[BrianQ]

On an Inland barrel with original finish there will be two different textures to the finish. Inland grit blasted the barrel/receiver assembly prior to applying the finish. The texture difference is much more prominent on the dulite finished carbines but is also evident on parkerized carbines.

Inland placed the barrel/receiver assembly in a jig and blasted the parts that would not eventually be covered by the stock or handguard. Hence the rough finish texture on the front portion of thorin6’s barrel and the smooth finish on the rear portion all the way back to the receiver.

The difference in the texture caused by the grit blasting is different than the area of thin finish where the barrel band rested during the actual finishing procedure. The thin finish can be seen on thorin6’s carbine just forward of the gas cylinder.