Adventures in Parkerizing

[L1A1Rocker]

Well, it was time to parkerize the muzzle brake and barrel threads. So into the bead blasting cabinet went the brake. (I did not bead blast the threads) The after photo. . .



And then a good soaking in some Simple Green degreaser



Then into a hot water bath to clean off the degreaser and bring the part up to temp.



And then into the solution.



Say, did you know that parkerizing dissolves aluminum? A lot of people know that, but here's a cute point of trivia, it also dissolves Melonite. Yep, I found that out the hard way. . . more on that later.

Here's a short vid of the bubbling action.



And then into the cooling tank.



And then a good oiling to neutralize the parkerizing salts. And now I ran into a problems. Notic all that black on the paper towel? The park was wiping right off the brake.



And here you can see my beautiful two tone barrel - 1/2 Melonite, 1/2 Parkerized. And I have a partly parkerized brake with most of the park having wiped away.



Close up.



The next day Ian was to come over. He is graciously loaning me his wood fired smelter to melt down a few WW's I've got piling up. I showed him my beautiful barrel and he, like me, was concerned about the bore being part melonite and part parkerized. So I decided to try things again and drop the whole barrel in to strip off the rest of the melonite. I also decided to re-do the brake and made up some new solution to try.

Well the barrel came out "decent" but not great. You can still make out that it was done in two stages and just make out the line in the middle. But oiled up it's not bad, and of course it's hidden under a handgaurd. The brake??? Did the same darn thing!!!

After some discussion with Ian I was convinced to try again with a few changes. Ian believed that there was something on the surface of the brake that the Simple Green just wasn't getting off. (or the 4140 roundstock was mismarked and really some kind of metal that wouldn't take parkerizing) So I tried a third time changing two variables. I cleaned the brake with ether and added a LOT more concentrate to the solution.

Results were GREAT - it worked. God Bless Ian, he wound up babysitting the brake this last time while I was putting things away. He even did the messy job of oiling the brake afterword. THANK YOU IAN!

Now some pics.







Well, this barrel was for my second SBR and I decided to go ahead and assemble the upper today. But I ran into ANOTHER problem. I've been amassing all the parts over the last year or so and have most everything I need. I buy things on sale and picked up a great buy on the upper. It's a PSA blemish that was only 40 bucks. But I forgot something, the parts kit needed for the stripped upper - DHO!

So I decided to just put this barrel on my other SBR sense it was disassembled anyway. I'm going to hae to eventually get a shim kit to get the brake installed correctly. But right now my silencer is not done so I can just use a crush washer to install it. Without further worderness, here it is.









Next up, shooting it. I anticipate that I'll have to open up the gas port a bit. The barrel was 10.5" long with a .093 gas port. Chopping it down to 7.5" I'll prolly need to open that up to around .104 or so. Stay tuned. . .

 

[Ian]

Those green-ish sights look great with the other furniture. If anyone gets close enough to notice the slight blotch on the barrel......well, that'll probably be the least of their worries! Can't wait to see that compensator with a nice haze of bullet lube and soot on it. It will look even better with a can on it. Now how are you going to get that titanium blackened? A jacket maybe?

I got mine together tonight, first scratch build and the mystery is over. It took longer to get the gas tube bent to compensate for the off-center gas port than it did to screw the rest of my store-bought pieces together. The good news is that if I were to do it again, I don't think I'd change anything except I'd get a crush washer for a freakin' 5/8X24 flash suppressor instead of a generic "AR-15". DOH!! At least I was paying attention on the flash suppressor and the hole IS big enough for .30-caliber.

Oh, and I concur with all those who reviewed the Del-Ton upper parts kit and mentioned that it is missing the C-clip for the dust cover rod. If you don't have a spare, get a different kit or buy an extra.

 

[Ian]

I know I know, pics or it didn't happen....

Forgive the UGLY $15 Tasco scope, it's the only spare I had and will be ditched for something better as funds allow and the accuracy testing is completed.



BTW, I plugged all the pin holes with tight rolls of paper and bead-blasted the whole lower at work today, it smoothed things right out. I was fully intending to spray paint everything a nice khaki color and sponge-paint some variety of Hill Country Camo on it before putting it together, but I chickened out. The hard-coat finish on the forearm tube and upper are some of the best I've seen, and I can't think of anything else that would be as durable.

 

[L1A1Rocker]

I got mine together tonight, first scratch build and the mystery is over.

And with that, your journey to the black rifle side is complete.

Looks good.

Next up, an SBR

 

[Ian]

Next up is a can, a light, a decent red-dot sight, and next year an AR-10 in .45 Raptor done up in walnut and Duracoat Blue. I'm going to leave the .458 SOCOM up to you!

 

[Brad]

Poor Ian, being led down the path of darkness so willingly.

Ian, I hope you realize how lucky you are to have such a guy so close. I do expect to see some range reports.

 

[45 2.1]

next year an AR-10 in .45 Raptor

You will like that..... a lot! Get a rifle butt stock for it though...... and a good suppressor. Pay attention to which magazine works the best and plan to build around that. They can be very accurate with the right bullet and load.

 

[carpetman]

I am a caveman, I haven't warmed up to the AR style. Probably some great work shown, but to me it's a chrome plated road grader.

 

[Brad]

I may not appreciate the aesthetics or want such a firearm but I do appreciate the work that goes into making one. Must be the affect of my wife, the art history buff. She often tells me she doesn't care for an artwork but she appreciates the effort and work it took to produce it.

 

[Ian]

I hear you, Ray, but they have their place. Once I had a need for one, I found that a DI AR in .45 ACP fills the "ranch patrol" niche very well here in the close, brushy hills. And if it falls out of the truck onto the rocks, I won't be crying over the gouges in the plastic.

 

[Ian]

I may not appreciate the aesthetics or want such a firearm but I do appreciate the work that goes into making one. Must be the affect of my wife, the art history buff. She often tells me she doesn't care for an artwork but she appreciates the effort and work it took to produce it.

I feel that way about a lot of things.

 

[L1A1Rocker]

I just ran into something new today. Did some test firing and as I suspected, it's undergassed. But, when pulling it down I was looking to check all the typical problem spots and noticed something. The soot ring around the gas port was WAY off. Now I had properly set the gas block apx a credit card thickness off from the shoulder, but that was a problem. Setting the YHM clamp on gas block up against the shoulder had it lined up right. I wonder where the out of spec part is. It's either the gas port on the barrel, or the gas block.

I just thought you folks should know, the rules aren't always followed.

 

[carpetman]

Undergassed--sounds like the fuel pump or the carburetor. Could be the fuel filter too. (I'm an expert on these things).

 

[smokeywolf]

I have a deep appreciation for almost any fine art or craftsmanship. Particularly if it was done without access to the best of tools. I never cease to be amazed at what the firearms makers were capable of prior to the 20th century. I of course have a weakness for great machining and fine woodwork.

I greatly enjoy seeing Bens stock work and L1A1Rocker's machining projects.

My latest era military style or type firearms are the 1911 and the 03 Springfield. That's not to say I don't want an AR. Once we get out of Kali I'd like to build an AR-10.

 

[Ian]

I just ran into something new today. Did some test firing and as I suspected, it's undergassed. But, when pulling it down I was looking to check all the typical problem spots and noticed something. The soot ring around the gas port was WAY off. Now I had properly set the gas block apx a credit card thickness off from the shoulder, but that was a problem. Setting the YHM clamp on gas block up against the shoulder had it lined up right. I wonder where the out of spec part is. It's either the gas port on the barrel, or the gas block.

I just thought you folks should know, the rules aren't always followed.

Crap. I should have mentioned that to you. I may trust but always verify, same thing with engine valve/piston clearance and camshaft grind specifications. Yes, the hole in the YHM clamp-on block is dead nuts centered on the barrel's gas port when the block is all the way against the barrel shoulder. I found out simply by taking out the back screw, rotating the block upside down on the barrel, and looking straight down through the holes. Lo and behold they all lined up.

It's pretty good engineering if you ask me, I don't think the block is out of spec at all if you consider that 99.9% of folks buying them will be using a FF handguard and won't be using their block with an A2 forearm and front plate so there's no need for the space......I'll bet they did it very much on purpose to avoid the customer support headaches they'd have from the "modern" AR-variant DIY builders who likely wouldn't know about the difference the milspec handguard hardware makes anyway.

 

[Brad]

Always trust the wrench monkey!

Was it really under gassed or was it a case of the gas not going where it needed to be?

 

[Ian]

Undergassed--sounds like the fuel pump or the carburetor. Could be the fuel filter too. (I'm an expert on these things).

It's what happens to me when I don't eat enough pinto beans, sourkraut, or boiled eggs.

 

[yodogsandman]

Did anyone mention the type of Parkerizing solution used? I'd like to do the trigger guard of a used 1911 pistol that I picked up with holster wear.

 

[L1A1Rocker]

Did anyone mention the type of Parkerizing solution used? I'd like to do the trigger guard of a used 1911 pistol that I picked up with holster wear.

Manganese Park from here: http://www.alleghenyarsenal.com/

 

[Ian]

You don't get to just touch up a spot with phospate finishes, you gets to strip and do the whole frame (not much more trouble, really, from watching L1A1 do it).