Quote:
Originally Posted by Justin Julian
Had I viewed the V grade pictured in the opening post in person, I would have incorrectly concluded that the colors were not original and passed on it, assuming it were priced as an original. I have never seen a Parker with case coloring on the triggers, even the protected areas inside the frame. That would have led me to believe that the case coloring was not legit, especially considering the somewhat spotty color pattern on the belly of the frame.
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It might just be the light but I dont believe there are any case colors on those triggers. I am with you Justin, I have never seen color case hardened triggers except for aftermarket single triggers. The Parker Story might point out a few occurrences on high grade customs but the majority of those were usually high polish, plated triggers. Most triggers are well used so the only way to tell if they were color case hardened is to pull the bottom plate off and examine the hidden portions of the trigger like the blades.
If I remember correctly the Parker Story describes the factory heat treatment process for small parts like triggers but it isnt traditional color case hardening. I thought it was more or less heating up the parts on an old hand file followed with a quench in whale oil. This process would have also given the components a dark finish similar to bluing, although not as durable. On a lower grade production gun I would imagine this would have been "good enough" to get shipped out the door at the time.
Just like today - time was money in those days and if I had to guess the factory probably didnt encourage extra time being spent on the repolishing and charcoal bluing of these small parts after the heat treatment was done, especially not on lower grade standard production guns.