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Anyone know of a good place to send my rifles to get them parkerized a


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Im looking to parkerize and duracoat my rifles and after doing some research I have come to the conclusion that i cannot do this my self so i am looking for someone to do it for me. anyone know a good place to do this? anyone done this themselves and can give me some advice? i have read this more than a few times http://www.sksboards.com/smf/index.php?topic=10478.0

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Die,

Manganese phosphating is not really difficult. It is just having the right equipment: SS tank big enough to hold and the ability to shot blast the receiver and barrel are the two biggest obstacles. Chemical Surface pretreatment is what I do for a living and I have several manganese phosphate customers. Unfortunately, they are all non military and not job shops. If you decide you want to take it on yourself the link in your post is pretty good. Cleaning is a must before and after shot blasting. If you shot blast before cleaning, you can drive any oils into the metal and come out with uneven coatings. Shotblasting is also a must as opposed to trying to sand the receiver and barrel. Shotblasting removes any oxides or inorganic compounds which may interfere with the chemical reaction of the coating process, and will give a uniform surface and coating.

 

The link provided makes the chemical used sound like it will instanaeously give you cancer while eating the flesh off of your body. This is not true, while you need to take precautions (gloves, eye protection) as the manganese or zinc phos solutions do contain a considerable amount of phosphoric acid, they are not going to send you to the hospital if you get some on you. Just wash the area with soap and water. The most dangerous part is the temps of the solution (180F-200F) for manganese and around 125F-130F for zinc. Manganese will produce an almost black finish that will be resemble the finish on a factory AR barrel. IMHO manganese with oil looks awesome on any gun and is very durable. Zinc will be a lighter grey and normally looks better with a top coat (duracoat, etc)

 

The typical steps are clean, rinse, shot blast, clean, rinse, activator, MnPhos or ZincPhos, rinse, oil or paint. You can omit the denatured alcohol nonsense, it is not required. The link also talks about mixing your own MnPhos with phosphoric acid and additives. I would recommend just buying the solution premade. Brownells as well as most Duracoat distributors sell these solutions ready to use.

 

One last note is the activator step. The activator is a grain refiner. Both Mn and Zn coatings are crystalline in structure. If you look at them under a scanning electron microscope they look like corn flakes piled up on the surface. This structure is what makes them a great conversion coating for paint and oil. They provide a lot of "tooth" for the paint to bond with and absorb oil. If you don't use the activator it will yield larger crystals and higher coating weights, and a rougher finish. The activator increases the density of the crystals, while reducing the size, yielding better absorbtion and a smoother finish.

 

If you have more than one AK or gun with a rough finish, it may be worth it for you to do it yourself. If it is for just one firearm then I would try to find a place, but it probably won't be cheap. There are alot of companies on the web that offer gun refinishing services, but I would do a search for a local job shop that does powder coating or automotive parts refinishing. You may also want to contact a local gun smith as many of them have contacts for refinishing.

 

Hope this helps

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  • 4 months later...

I have looked into the cost of the set up to do Parking. I came to the conclusion that it is not cost effective for only a couple of guns. I also would have a problem disposing of the used solution properly. Randy Kline (ak Sledgehammer) in TX, Mark Graham (ak Gunplumer) in AZ both do great work at reasonable prices.

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