Trigger guard colour

[J. A. EARLY]

David,

According to The Parker Story and as evidence the original condition guns, they should be restored with Nitre Bluing. Page 439 of TPS says the parts were "stirred about in saltpeter for about five minutes or until the desired color is obtained." Then rinsed in hot water and rubbed with whale oil. The triggers on the lower grades were also done this way.

When I needed a trigger guard done and the smith told me it would be $75 I decided to do it myself. About $125 worth of supplies (Brownell's Nitre Blue, their thermometer, and a stainless pot and piece of flat steel to suspend the thermometer) I was in business. I already had a single burner and propane tank for heat. Quickly one will learn why someone would charge $75 to do a trigger guard. Each 10 degree increase of temperature gives a different color, and it is only a matter of seconds from the time that your perfect black-blue trigger guard will go to royal blue. You are also dealing with 600 degree liquid so one needs to be careful. Really don't know where to get whale oil now. But anyway, one can easily redo their trigger guards and triggers on guns where you would like to have them correctly colored. This is the only way to redo your gun screws as well. Some you may have to do multiple times as the steel is different in each one it seems, and I did one guard ten times and decided to just be dissatisfied with it as it never would turn black-blue. Here is a VH with Nitre-blued parts. The salts start out pink, and then after skimming stuff that works to the top, will turn back to a solid once they cool. They never wear out and you will only lose them by accident so they will pay for themselves.