Anyone know anything about doing this? I have an older mil spec model that has a lot of wear and tear that I got used. I would like to refurbish this gun myself if possible.

Also let me know if I'm in over my head to parkerize myself. I know nothing about it.

Thanks in advance.

Do you want to do it yourself? I've parkerized a few things. It's relatively easy for a pistol. You can get the solution from Midway. You mix it with hot water and then dunk the parts. It takes a few minutes and you're done. Oil it once it comes out of the water to keep it from rusting. I generally don't like bare parkerized finishes. They require more maintenance than I like to keep guns from rusting. I'd look at doing park for a base coat and then spraying cerakote over the top for a bit more maintenance free finish. Park is a great base for cerakote.

So I would just dunk the completely stripped slide and lower?

Rebel E Ag said:

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So I would just dunk the completely stripped slide and lower?

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Yep - first you'll need to thoroughly clean/degrease the surfaces. I'd completely strip the frame and park the small parts on their own so you get complete coverage. I generally use a plastic dip "bucket" to keep the metal parts from touching the sides of the park "tank". You can use a metal bowl or pot, but I wouldn't use something you make food with. I'd go to a thrift store or walmart and buy a pot you'll only use for the park process. Once you're done, you can store the park solution in a jar/bucket and mark the pot so you know it's only for parkerizing.

How did you do the media blasting?

I have a small blast cabinet. If you have an air compressor, you can pick up an inexpensive media blaster at Harbor Freight. Another option to strip it is naval jelly.

If you're only going to do 1 gun, it would likely be cheaper to find a gunsmith who can do it for you. The process is easy, but to buy everything you need you'll be close to the cost of having a professional do it.

This is the park solution I use:

http://www.brownells.com/gunsmith-tools-supplies/metal-prep-coloring/parkerizing/parkerizing-supplies-only-16-oz-manganese-parkerizing-sku082-200-016-24778-3964.aspx

https://texags.com/forums/34/topics/1787464/0

Here's a thread I made a few years ago when I re-parked an '03. I don't know if all the pics will show up, but it gets the point across. It was really easy, just a little time consuming.

I think I'll just leave the finish the way it is. It doesn't seem practical for the value of the gun. Thanks for the answers!

Rebel E Ag said:

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I think I'll just leave the finish the way it is. It doesn't seem practical for the value of the gun. Thanks for the answers!

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Look in to Cerakote or something similar if you want to just get it looking better. It's relatively inexpensive and easy to apply. Cerakote goes on well with an airbrush. If you don't have one, Gun-Kote comes in aerosol cans and applies well.

http://www.brownells.com/gunsmith-tools-supplies/metal-prep-coloring/paint-finishes/bake-on-aerosol-paints/gun-kote-oven-cure-gun-finish-prod1150.aspx

I've applied it to a lot of suppressors and rifles and the finish has held up really well.

Yeah I may look into that.