Springfield MilSpec. I have a Ronin, Garrison, and an SA-35. I’m very happy with all of them. This is my going outdoors gun. Just never had a parkerized.
Care of parkerized MilSpec 1911
- Thread starter Flyin4awa
- Start date
Thanks Snake. This is a “working” gun, hence the MilSpec.Or even better, Birchwood-Casey Barricade. Great stuff.
The biggest threat to your Mil-Spec is not rust, but scratches. Parkerizing and most other matte/flat finishes are susceptible to scratches. The other enemy of your finish will be holster wear. If you carry it a lot in a holster, expect the finish to wear off on all the sharp edges, and bright metal to show through. If this happens, just make sure to keep the surface oiled and you'll still be fine.
The time will come when you learn to show off your gun's scratches and honest wear with pride. Don't think of it as wear or damage--the technical, classy term for this is patina, and it's proof that it was no "safe queen," it's proof that you loved the gun and carried it and actually shot it from time to time, just as God and John Moses Browning and Jeff Cooper intended, and that is a GOOD thing, a very, very GOOD thing.
Others can keep their fancy, pristine "barbeque guns." I like a gun with a little character, and a story to tell.
KillerFord1977
SAINT
Snake45
Professional
You laugh, but I actually have a 1911 with a baked-on finish.
I built it in the late '80s out of a bunch of leftover and castoff 1911 parts I was tired of looking at in the "cigar box." Sarco was blowing out some re-parked GI slides for some ridiculously low price, like $25, so I ordered one and it came through as an Ithaca that looked brand new. I ordered an Essex frame for it (it would be my fourth Essex) and unlike the other three, this one came through with a weird purplish-brown finish. The other "cigar box" parts had a variety of finishes, mostly some sort of bluing. The assembled gun looked like ass.
So I bought mail-order a green can of some product I remember the name of as "Gun-Kote." Directions called for thoroughly degreasing parts before spraying, which I did for the frame and slide, and then masked off the slide rails. This paint smelled gawdawful--it no longer looked like ass, but it now SMELLED like ass. The directions said to bake the thing in an oven for one hour at 400*F, which I did in our kitchen. When cured, the paint no longer stank, it just looked like medium gray, semigloss Teflon. Sounds funky, but this was actually an improvement.
Now, here's the punchline: This thrown-together backbirth, built out of leftover and unloved junk that had been taken off of four or five other guns (including a barrel I considered junk), turned out to be flat-out the most accurate 1911 I've ever shot, and I've shot some good ones. It's not easy to shoot with its tiny USGI 1911A1 sights, but it's capable of printing cloverleafs @ 25 yards if you can concentrate on those wretched little sights. Not bad for a gun I have less than $100 cash money in (slide and frame).
Very nice!
Old_Me
Ronin
Maybe just a little. Add extra cheese and it’ll be fine.
Old_Me
Ronin
then i'll get "extra" diarrhea.......thanks a lot....
Then grill up a steak. Problem solved. Next.
Old_Me
Ronin
and you're worried about extra cheese giving you the runs?
Old_Me
Ronin
how 'bout the trots?
The Night Rider
Professional
IMO this is everything you really need to know about lubricating your firearm. Before you read the article, Grant Cunningham is a spokesperson for Lubriplate but when he wrote the article he wasn't.
Also, I have no connection with either Lubriplate or Grant Cunningham
Also, I have no connection with either Lubriplate or Grant Cunningham
Old_Me
Ronin
Ouch. I rolled my foot on a lacrosse ball for months and that helped a lot. Mornings were the worst!
Old_Me
Ronin
i have to wear "inserts" for the rest of my life. not even barefoot walking in my house..!
Snake45
Professional
And I finally found the pic of it on the puter. Here it is in all its wretchedness, my Looks-Like-Ass, Smells-Like-Ass, Cigar Box Teflon Backbirth 1911:You laugh, but I actually have a 1911 with a baked-on finish.
I built it in the late '80s out of a bunch of leftover and castoff 1911 parts I was tired of looking at in the "cigar box." Sarco was blowing out some re-parked GI slides for some ridiculously low price, like $25, so I ordered one and it came through as an Ithaca that looked brand new. I ordered an Essex frame for it (it would be my fourth Essex) and unlike the other three, this one came through with a weird purplish-brown finish. The other "cigar box" parts had a variety of finishes, mostly some sort of bluing. The assembled gun looked like ass.
So I bought mail-order a green can of some product I remember the name of as "Gun-Kote." Directions called for thoroughly degreasing parts before spraying, which I did for the frame and slide, and then masked off the slide rails. This paint smelled gawdawful--it no longer looked like ass, but it now SMELLED like ass. The directions said to bake the thing in an oven for one hour at 400*F, which I did in our kitchen. When cured, the paint no longer stank, it just looked like medium gray, semigloss Teflon. Sounds funky, but this was actually an improvement.
Now, here's the punchline: This thrown-together backbirth, built out of leftover and unloved junk that had been taken off of four or five other guns (including a barrel I considered junk), turned out to be flat-out the most accurate 1911 I've ever shot, and I've shot some good ones. It's not easy to shoot with its tiny USGI 1911A1 sights, but it's capable of printing cloverleafs @ 25 yards if you can concentrate on those wretched little sights. Not bad for a gun I have less than $100 cash money in (slide and frame).