Case color restoration?

[Dean Romig]

Who, in the collective opinion of our members, is best at replicating original Parker Brothers case colors?





.

[edgarspencer]

Originally Posted by Dean Romig

Who, in the collective opinion of our members, is best at replicating original Parker Brothers case colors?





.

That’s as dangerous as politics and religion.
I can’t speak to the present day, but Brad was, in my opinion, the closest. I honestly believe today’s generation is trying to get too exotic with their packing recipes. I haven’t seen any of Doug Turnbull’s Parker work, but I sure don’t think old Oliver would be too pleased with what he does to an 1886 or ‘92 & ‘94

[Steve Hodges]

Dean, that truly is the "ten thousand dollar question". A few years ago I sent off a PHE 16 Gauge ejector gun with Parker Steel Barrels for a "complete restoration" to include new case colors. I will not say who did the job but he is well respected in this community. I saw several examples of his work and felt confident that the job would come out great. When I received the gun back I was literally sick to my stomach. The case colors were splotchy and clownish in nature. Perhaps it was the way that specific guns metal took the process, I do not know, but it was horrible. I quickly sold the gun and moved on. I will never have another gun case colored again.

[edgarspencer]

Originally Posted by Stephen Hodges

Perhaps it was the way that specific guns metal took the process.

Steve, all Parker hammerless receivers started life as a forging. Billings & Spencer, and later, Bourdon Forge made these for Parker and they would have been received in a 'normalized and tempered' state. The short answer is they are a very uniform hunk of metal.
The reason for pattern variation (The Good, The Bad, and the Just Plain Ugly) is entirely dependent on the process, but not the part itself. Poor packing of one receiver, using the same recipe as another, well packed receiver, will be so entirely different, one could easily assume they were done by different heat treaters. The random nature of all Parkers is due to the fact that no receiver can be packed the same with respect to orientation in the packing box, exact mixture of ground charcoal, and other carbon bearing organic materials, heating, and final quenching.
At Colt's, 4 SAA receivers would be packed in the same packing box, cover then compressed, and clamped. After the quench, no two parts would look exactly alike.

[Marty K.]

These both were case colored by Brad just prier to his passing.....I was satisfied but do they replicate original colors? I will leave that to you.