First time out in a while.

[B. Dudley]

Originally Posted by Brett Trimble

Brian,

Thanks so much for sharing these pictures.. so very interesting!!

I have the impression that the case colors look like Del Grego more than Turnbull colors. Am I imagining that?

Brett

Remington Ilion factory colors circa mid 1940s. Which is where the Delgrego shop had them done.
To my understanding Ilion used the bone charcoal process on the guns like Meriden did when they made the move from Meriden to Ilion (in 1937). But they were having issues with some parts warping using that process, namely the top lever. So for a time you will see Ilion made guns with bone charcoal colors everywhere but the top lever was cyanide hardened. Then eventually they just went to all Cyanide. But I THINK it was during the War, meaning after normal Parker production. When you got into the Service only period, they used the Cyanide process. I have another gun here that was refurbished by Remington in the 1950s and it is cyanide colored.

This gun records as being “available for refurbishing” in 1942. But who knows when the work was actually done.

[Brett Trimble]

Brian,

Thanks for the thoughtful reply. Fascinating details!

[Kevin McCormack]

Originally Posted by Mike Franzen

So how did you get that beauty off the museum wall?

Ditto Brian - was this part of the selloff of materials when the factory was shut down after the buyout/bankuptcy? I followed the auction of the machines and other materials but no guns.

[Dylan Rhodes]

Originally Posted by Brian Dudley

That is what they looked like when new. I also have a Meriden gun that never left the company that is the same way. And people ask me why I darken the checkering on Parkers I stock. Because that is how they were done.

Is it an added finish or an artifact of how they were cut? I’ve tinkered with rechecking some low grade beat up guns and the checkering grooves always bothered me. Most recently to combat this I’ve dusted some fine carbon black into fresh cut checkering then applied a single layer of sealer over top to “lock it in”.