It's down to the original Parkerizing, I got all of the bluing off with a combination of oiled bronze wool and soaking in 5% acetic acid (white vinegar). I may get this sandblasted and Parkerized, or try the Parkerizing myself if I can find a chemical kit. What do you think, David? I'll post some pics after church...

I think this may be your best bet...

Brownells "GunKote"

It will stink up your house for a while though. Second choice would be Dura coat, but you need a spray gun to apply it. Gun coat is in an aerosol can.

DuraCoat Firearm Finishes

Go with a matt finish or the old parkerizing underneath will make it blotchy.

After stripping almost all of the bluing off...
 

I still need to completely strip the gun and then get all of the bluing off...
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The metal itself looks good, no pitting or rust, the lines are all sharp and well-defined, so nobody took a buffing wheel to this gun when they blued it. The Parkerizing is still on the metal and I'll take the gun all the way down and clean off the remaining bluing on the smaller parts and nook and crannies. I'm careful not to damage the frame or slide. No abrasive will touch the gun except for oiled bronze wool, which seems to be very effective in getting the bluing off.

I don't know anyone who sandblasts guns or Parkerizes them, so I'll have to figure out what to do next. In the meantime, I'll continue cleaning up the gun and I'll keep it greased so it doesn't rust, while it's in this condition. The gun really looks better than the pictures represent it. No rust pitting, which is a big plus!

David,
I saw the videos on the DuraCoat and I'm leaning toward re-Parkerizing since the metal is in such good condition with no pitting or bad spots. Underneath the craptastic bluing is a really nice M1911A1 that I think would look great Parkerized and put back like it left the factory....If the metal was bad, with lots of pitting, I would go with DuraCoating, but this is really a very nice gun, believe it or not!

I was thinking about budget. These guys are in MI.

Handguns Baroda, MI - Red Rag Gunsmithing

David,
Great talking with you today! Here is the link for the gunsmith who is a neighbor of my brother-in-law. I sent him an email asking if he would sandblast and Parkerize the gun.

Customized Creationz Custom Gun Works Shop

Here's a fantastic link to a YouTube video series showing the restoration of an Ithaca M1911A1, which turned out great! There are 6 parts and you won't be able to stop watching it!

YouTube - Jason Ithaca 1945 1911A1 video 1 Restoration

David,
Great talking with you today! Here is the link for the gunsmith who is a neighbor of my brother-in-law. I sent him an email asking if he would sandblast and Parkerize the gun.

Customized Creationz Custom Gun Works Shop

Here's a fantastic link to a YouTube video series showing the restoration of an Ithaca M1911A1, which turned out great! There are 6 parts and you won't be able to stop watching it!

YouTube - Jason Ithaca 1945 1911A1 video 1 Restoration

is there an echo in here?

Yep... The new version of FireFox is buggy and driving me nuts... Anyway, I completely dissambled the M1911A1 and cleaned the parts, and they're soaking in oil right now. I can even see the Ordnance Dept. "crossed cannons" marking on the right side of the frame, The frame and slide are great with one area on the edge of the slide that will need to be corrected, but overall, the gun is fantastic, no rust at all!!

Ready to be sandblasted and Parkerized...
 

Cleaned and oiled parts ready to be taken to a shop to be sandblasted and Parkerized. The M1911A1 is completely disassembled and almost all of the bluing has been removed, the sandblasting will remove the rest. The parts are in remarkably great shape considering this pistol was manufactured in 1943. No rust pitting, the only "scar" is an small area that has been banged up on the edge of the slide that a craftsman with a file could repair.

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You could be that craftsman. Just go slow. You may be able to repair it with a piece of emory cloth and oil. Use a flat file as a block.

David,
I'm not going to learn on this gun, I'll get a FEG or Makarov and practice on that. I have 2 M1911A1's and I want to restore them to pass them down to our kids some day...

Do you want me to do it? just send it. It's only the slide. Just pay for the shipping I'll fix it for free.

David,

Thanks for the very generous offer, but I'll try to find a local shop to repair the slide, sandblast everything and then Parkerize it. I sent a few emails last weekend and I hope to be able to drop the gun off this weekend. If I can't find anyone willing/able in my area, I'll let you know.

I'm sending you a .223Remington "care pkg" on Friday and I hope you enjoy it!!

Thanks Art. I'm sending some RIG to you today also. My guess is that any smith you find will charge you around $70.00 per hour to fix that.

Art, David,

Thank you for sharing this thread. While I don't own and have never fired a pistol of any type, I am always fascinated with shiny gadgets. I have learned a lot about hand guns from this forum and it usually serves to remind me how little I know.

A question: Art, you mentioned a couple of times your reluctance toward using an abrasive to the 1911, but then say you are thinking about having a gunsmith sand blast it. (If I understand correctly).
Would it really be sand blasting (which I think of as about as abrasive as you can get) or media blasting which would remove the Parkerizing but leave the steel unharmed?

Thanks again for letting us 'listen in' on the conversation. I appreciate it very much.
Les

Les,
Good question! apparently, the manganese phosphate (Parkerizing chemical) requires the metal to be prepped with a very light application of sandblasting with Aluminum Oxide 120 to prep the surface and get it textured to accept the chemical properly.

I've seen guns ruined by guys with sandpaper, emery cloth, buffing wheels, etc... because they knock off the sharp edges, round everything off and soon the gun looks like a blob. They try to remove rust pits, scratches, etc... and take off too much metal, which weakens the gun and the bluing just exaggerates the poor metal prep they did. They usually remove stampings and marks that should be left on the gun and in their effort to make the gun "look good", they ruin it.

Since the metal is in great shape on this WWII M1911A1, all I really want to do is put a new Parkerize finish on it and repair the very small damaged edge on the slide.

Watch the video that I posted in a link for David and you'll see the entire process, it's VERY informative and you'll see how the pros repair what the idiots do to these guns.

I love watching these videos because I learn something ever day and I've learned that it's easier to avoid mistakes than to try and repair mistakes (usually cheaper, too!).

I found a shop in Mason, MI that will repair the slide and sandblast the parts, but they don't do Parkerizing, so it looks like I'll be learning how to Parkerize soon! I'll post the pics and document the process here if people want to see it...

I'm in.

Ok! I will take the pistol to the gunsmith next Monday and I hope he can do the work in a week or two. In the meantime, I'll order the Parkerizing chemicals, get my gear ready and study the process thoroughly. I figure if I can brew beer and reload my own ammo, I should be able to Parkerize the gun!