[azasadny]

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!).