Parkerizing in So NH/No MA

ScottS

ScottS

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I need some small parts park'd, and I'd rather not send them on "vacation" for a few weeks. Specifically, I need to park an FAL lower and associated parts, an M1 bolt, and some mag bodies. Anyone know of someone doing parkerizing in the So NH or No MA area that can turn some parts around fairly quickly, maybe a gunsmith or even someone with a park setup in their garage?

Thanks in advance,

Scott
 
If it's a receiver (per Fed Law), the place doing the work must have an FFL. That might narrow down the places that can do the work legally.
 
Keeping the law in mind. I had my Mac 11 done by a guy that does Harley Davidsons. He just threw it in with the same batch of parts.
 
How does one usually have a firearm parkerized?

Does the customer have to detail strip it before the person doing the work parkerizies it, or does the person doing the work strip it down, parkerizes it, then reassembles the firearm?
 
LoginName said:
How does one usually have a firearm parkerized?

Does the customer have to detail strip it before the person doing the work parkerizies it, or does the person doing the work strip it down, parkerizes it, then reassembles the firearm?
Click to expand...

Yes.

[grin] Most commercial "parkerizers"* out in WA state charged an additional fee for doing the break-down & re-assembly.

Eventually, I realized that the cost of the park-ing chemicals through SARCO was about as much as the the other guy was charging me to do one batch of parts. And the 1 pint Sarco kit was good for 5+ batches. So the next few I did at home (outdoors) on the coleman stove.

Hmmm. Did a quick check. Neither Sarco nor Numrich lists a parkerizing kit on their websites. Luckily, Brownells still does.
Brownell's phosphating kit

Tools aren't too complex, you just need a heat source for boiling the water-based solution, and an iron or steel pot to hold your parts in the solution.
Warning: Don't expect to cook food out of that pot again.

*technically, Parkerizing was a proprietary process from the 30s. The correct term is "Phosphatizing".
 
LoginName said:
How does one usually have a firearm parkerized?

Does the customer have to detail strip it before the person doing the work parkerizies it, or does the person doing the work strip it down, parkerizes it, then reassembles the firearm?
Click to expand...
Depends. If you're going the FFL/gunsmith route, they will generally disassemble, park, then reassemble. The price usually reflects that expertise and service, and is one of the things you discuss in advance.

In the "throw it in along with the Harley parts" or "I've got a tank in my garage" scenario, you're doing the stripping and reassembling yourself.
 
Interesting. Brownell's parkerizing instructions are based on a true parkerizing process, and are a bit more complex than the phosphating process I used. I'll search some more for the "starline" brand I used. Also, the govt had a good pamphlet on phosphatizing a while back as info to parts contractors. If you are interested, I'll see if I can find it & pdf.

Here are additional sources: shootersolutions.com
calvan.com
 
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FWIW, the Shooters Solutions kits are well-regarded on boards such as Falfiles or AR15.com. The Calvan kits are also available on eBay. Don't know if they're cheaper/more expensive than the website.
 
Ray P said:
Yes.

[grin] Most commercial "parkerizers"* out in WA state charged an additional fee for doing the break-down & re-assembly.

Eventually, I realized that the cost of the park-ing chemicals through SARCO was about as much as the the other guy was charging me to do one batch of parts. And the 1 pint Sarco kit was good for 5+ batches. So the next few I did at home (outdoors) on the coleman stove.

Hmmm. Did a quick check. Neither Sarco nor Numrich lists a parkerizing kit on their websites. Luckily, Brownells still does.
Brownell's phosphating kit

Tools aren't too complex, you just need a heat source for boiling the water-based solution, and an iron or steel pot to hold your parts in the solution.
Warning: Don't expect to cook food out of that pot again.

*technically, Parkerizing was a proprietary process from the 30s. The correct term is "Phosphatizing".
Click to expand...


I've done a few home parkerizing jobs from instructions found on the Internet.

They came out fine enough as a base for applying GunKote (which was what I wanted), but they were less than desirable to leave as is.

I have a couple of projects that I'm working on and I'm considering having one of them parkerized as the final finish by someone with more experience and better equipment/materials. I just have to decide between a charcoal grey or black phosphate finish.

Edit to add: the Shooters Solution sounds pretty good, I just might have to give it a try (thanks for the link).

As for the 'cooking vessel', I have an 18" industrial type stainless steel steamer pan, a couple of inexpensive ss bowls and ss wire basket (for immersing small parts) I used for the home brew.

I also have about 5lbs of powdered manganese dioxide if anyone needs some [grin]
 
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I've done a few jobs that came out pretty good. It's relatively inexpensive, and not too difficult to do if you have the time. Try it on a few junk pieces and have at it. Prep is absolutely essential. Cook temp is very essential.
 
LoginName & codenamepaul:

I found through my experience that a good bead-blast surface finish was mandatory for the best results; and that a 2 or 3 day grease-soak afterwards went a long way to preserving the results. Good degreasing at the start was vital.

The Brownells kit sounds a bit more complex than the others, but they also claim deeper protection. Hmm. If I were to do this again, I'd probably give it a try. I still have my 316 CRES trough (6x6x24) floating around somewhere.[thinking]
 
Pilgrim said:
Strickland's in Berkeley will dismantlte, blast, park and reassemble.

How long he takes, I;m not sure.

Berkeley is a little far south of north though. !
Click to expand...

Yep, I saw some of Mike's work when I met him a week ago. Nice job and the parts look original military finish. He said they usually wait untill they get enough items to go and then parkerize them. Its more cost effective that way for a business to do a large batch of parts, but from what I saw, worth the wait.
 
I live in Nashua and have a complete setup to do parkerizing, including bead-blasting if you need prep work done. I've got a stainless tank big enough to do a 1919 Browning so part size isn't a problem. Here's a couple pics of my recent work:





If anyone is interested drop me a line. I also do paint over park as well.

Thanks,
Mark
 

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