P14 metal finish questions

[bob4wd]

Attachment 35005Attachment 35004[Eddystone P14 with fat stock, volley sights, etc. in fair condition. the exposed metal appears to have been parked after abrasive blasting, (now has brown patina all over), but the barrel under the wood looks to be pristine. I can't tell for sure if it's a dark (black) blue or if it's been parkerized. I thought they were all originally blued, but were some parked afterwards at rebuild?
The barrel markings are all sharp, including the daisy, but the exposed receiver markings are significantly rounded. very little obvious sand-blasting marks are visible, absolutely none on the barrel. Barrel marked "'27", BTW.
So what gives- did they actually pull the barrel before parking and then reinstall it? or mask it from the blasting media? or install a new barrel and number to match? or was it used in N.Africa and caught in a sandstorm?
the rifling is pretty sad, so it was obviously used a lot with that barrel on it.
any ideas??

Information

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[jmoore]

A rebarrel in 1927 seems logical. Many of these rifles were completely rebuilt after WWI.

[Patrick Chadwick]

Many of these rifles were completely rebuilt after WWI.

Yes, but weren't the volley sights usually removed as part of the rebuilding procedure?

[jmoore]

Mostly, but there's also the possibility that they were re-installed post-service. If the "27" is a " '27 " then it would be the most likely scenario.

[Chuckindenver]

finish is not phospate, and looks to be a form of black oxide, likely cold blue..rub your finger on the surface hard to it warms,..smell your finger...does it stink??if so,.its cold blue

[bob4wd]

finish is not phospate, and looks to be a form of black oxide, likely cold blue..rub your finger on the surface hard to it warms,..smell your finger...does it stink??if so,.its cold blue

There are so many ways I could respond to this, but I'll just say I'll go down to the gun room tonite after chores and check it out, report later.

[bob4wd]

There are so many ways I could respond to this, but I'll just say I'll go down to the gun room tonite after chores and check it out, report later.

Inever thought I'd find myself smelling my gun (OR) finger, but I did. Insert your own punchline here. A faint odor of bluing can be detected, so I repeated the whole thing on an old Remington that I cold blued, same results. Very faint, maybe in my imagination. The color is about the same, except that the cold blue that I did is not real even, a little thin in spots, but the Eddystone barrel is absolutely uniform, perfectly even. Could be the
difference between pro and amateur, too.
But even if reblued, cold or othetwise, a host of questions remain. Was the barrel serialized before rebuild? Did they really go the trouble to pull the barrel, blue it and park the receiver, number it before reinstall? Or use a brand new barrel and serialize it to match?
One other little tidbit, the exposed endof the barrel, front sight, et al, patina exactly matches the patina of the receiver, color-wise.
None of this is too important, of course, but it does present an interesting puzzle, to me at least.

[Calif-Steve]

Thew rifle SN and barrel SN appear to be identical. Likely an original barrel. Inspected in 1927? Not sure, but a real chance. Yes, cold blue a real possibility, common even today.

[Chuckindenver]

finish on your rifle pictured was not done by any military...and likely done by a past owner, Cold blue doesnt meet any military specs..not even one.
black oxide{hots salts blue} meets 3. manganese and zinc phosphate meets all 9 specs for rust prof coatings of metal..
Euro specs are not as cut and dried as US..so. some paints meet rust proofing coatings specs on small arms.. and one of the reasons you see many Brit, and other common weath weapons painted , rather then oxide coated.
your rifle originally was rust blue coated, and usually during repair or rebuild was painted black with a commercial grade paint..
if your looking to have it done correctly like it was when new..have it rust blue, or hot salts blue....
your welcome to chuckle all you like....however...iv been a metal refinisher for a few years, and can spot cold blue pretty quick.

[Mk VII]

Pulling those barrels is usually so difficult that I doubt they would have attempted it, not just to screw them on again afterwards.