Parkerizing at home…any experience?

[AER244]

So I am in the midst of completely refinishing a rem 600 mowhawk I got on the cheap. I assume some kind of harsh solvent got on the gun and it was put in a styrofoam case for awhile, based on the styrofoam adhered all over both the wood and metal surfaces. The damage isn’t rust, it’s mostly just removed the factory finish- along with some dents/dings/disfigured checkering to the wood. I’ve got the stock back to life. Now, it’s on to the steel. I’d like to do the entire refinish myself if possible. I’d like to have all the metal parts parkerized if possible but I’m not sure I have the equipment up for the task.

So my question is this: have any of you parked a gun at home? If so, what was your process and equipment? As of right now, I’m giving heavy consideration to “hot” perma-bluing using a heat gun, but would prefer to park the whole thing. Im open to any and all suggestions.

 

[Shadowrider]

It's totally doable on a camp stove in the backyard, but I'd wait on a nice and calm day. You can get the chemicals from various places in kit form. Use the correct containers, measure chemicals accurately, use DI or distilled water, get a good thermometer, practice regulating the heat beforehand so you know what's going to happen when you dunk it (it'll drop temp), and most of all, prep is the main thing. Totally clean and grease/oil free including oils from your hands.

I did a raggedy looking High Power for a friend in his backyard on a propane grill. It turned out great. It's not hard, but all the little details make or break the quality of the finish. You could do hot blue too, but park is a bit easier than blue.

 

[AER244]

It's totally doable on a camp stove in the backyard, but I'd wait on a nice and calm day. You can get the chemicals from various places in kit form. Use the correct containers, measure chemicals accurately, use DI or distilled water, get a good thermometer, practice regulating the heat beforehand so you know what's going to happen when you dunk it (it'll drop temp), and most of all, prep is the main thing. Totally clean and grease/oil free including oils from your hands.

I did a raggedy looking High Power for a friend in his backyard on a propane grill. It turned out great. It's not hard, but all the little details make or break the quality of the finish. You could do hot blue too, but park is a bit easier than blue.

Thanks for the advice. Especially the monitoring/regulating the heat beforehand part. I could do a pistol with the equipment I have on hand, but a rifle- even a short one like the 600- might require a different set up. Does anyone have a good workaround for that?

 

[Glockisgood17]

Any good metal fabricator could make you a stainless tank to do it in. Make it longer then the barrel length of the Mohawk, you might do it to another rifle with a longer barrel. Cost shouldn’t be too outrageous.

What caliber is your rifle? I’ve had several of these rifles over the years.

Regards,

 

[TedKennedy]

I've done a few. I bought the Parkerizing solution from DuraCoat.
You use distilled water and solution, drop in some degreased steel wool to get it "activating" (at or near boiling)

I used a big stainless cook pot to do this.

For the barrel I used a piece of 3 or 4 inch PVC and glued a cap on one end. This I put in a five gallon bucket and put a bunch of gravel in the bucket to stabilize the PVC tube. Poured the hot solution in, then suspended the plugged barreled action in the solution. It works fast enough that the solution stays hot long enough.

I parked my M1 Garand and my boy's SKS. Both turned out fantastic. Getting the metal prepped correctly is key.

 

[Snattlerake]

For the barrel, I would get a section of commercial steel rain gutter as a trough to hold the solution.

 

[AER244]

Thanks for the replies, The pvc and rain gutter ideas are just what I was needing, thank you. Either of those should be pretty easy to come by.

Those of you That have done a bolt action rifle, how did you go about doing the bolt itself? Did you take it apart and only dip the bolt handle and shroud or did you just do the whole bolt assembly? I’ve taken bolts apart before and have no desire to do it again. Is there a way to mask the bolt (the part thats usually jeweled/in the white)?

Glockisgood- mine is a 243, havent shot it yet, but am looking forward to getting it all finished. Hope it’s a shooter.

 

[swampratt]

At the camshaft shop they use Blue Dykem and some tape on the journals to keep them from getting parkerized.

 

[Gunbuffer]

I had parking tanks. What a pain

 

[GorillaG]

Your much braver than I. Theres some affordable refinishers out there that are much more affordable than you think, but I understand the desire to do things yourself. I had one of these rifles in .308! Wow, quite a "kick" to own! My boy was always borrowing it cuz he didn't have a deer rifle, so on his birthday I just gifted it to him. He's taken many a deer with it. It's so handy in the field due to the length. Now that he's acquired several rifles, I imagine it will be my grandson's first deer rifle in a couple years. They were not popular when they first came out but have grown a following in the years that followed. Good luck.