Original finish??

[Bruce Day]

Bill, thanks for setting the record straight again. A person hears all sorts of things from so many people. What you just said again is the real story in my opinion based upon looking at
lots of guns over many years.

[B. Dudley]

If I am not mistaken, James Hayes was involved in sorting out some of the issues Remington had initially in their Parker case coloring process.

No Dean, I did not mean anything in regards to the war on guns. I was referring to WWII which resulted in the end of regular Parker production at Remington.

[Kevin McCormack]

It may very well in fact be a re-cyanide colored gun. Parker experimented with the cyanide coloring process well before the Remington buyout and documentation regarding the process and results exists in private hands. This gun may well be an original product (or a redo) of their earlier cyanide process; notice the 'splotchy' pattern coverage of the colors on the sides of the receiver as opposed to the vertical "zebra stripe" pattern(s) on the receiver body forward of the shoulder break extending to the hinge pin area.

"Splotchy' colors are most often the product of a true 'bath' effect, e.g., the area is swirled or washed slowly through the cyanide solution, whereas the "zebra stripe" effect is most often the result of dipping the work slowly up and down in small surface area increments (think the colors of the very earliest Perrazi guns imported from Itally by Ithaca in the early 1970s). They could have used both on this gun and the process could be factory original.

[Tom Flanigan]

Originally Posted by Allan H. Swanson

Rich

For what it is worth----the gun is what it is, you can not change that !!!!

Do not fool with changing the case colors, one could warp the frame in the process !! Not worth the gamble.

Allan

Actually annealing before case hardening removes the risk of parts warpage. All competent restorers will anneal the parts before case hardening. I have seen a few parkers that were case hardened without annealing and the floor plate on them didn't fit right. If you decide to have a gun re-cased, make sure it is a competent restorer who anneals the parts first.