Letter 20457

Coloring Manganese Parkerized Finishes [Iowa] 

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I repair and refinish firearms. Recently I installed parkerizing tanks to refinish or restore old military firearms. I am using a maganese parkerizing process which I understand comes close to matching the older processes used. The process I am using produces a gray to dark gray color on the firearms which I understand is correct for the process. My problem is that a good portion of my customers are asking for a gray green color which is seen on some of the older firearms. I understand that this gray green color was produced by aging the finish (50 or 60 years)in the chemical that were used to preserve the firearms, (oils, grease ect). My question is "can a maganese parkerize finish be given a gray green color either during the processing or after the process"? I hear it is being done with dyes of some sort.

Dennis Klocke
- Waverly, Iowa, USA

Manganese phosphate is usually oiled afterwards. Colored oils do exist that can be used for this purpose. Suppliers like Fuchs or Texaco must be able to help you out.

Piessens Peter
- Belgium

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