Question re: parkerize finish color

[mediatech13]

I'm close to sending my Carbine off for re-parkerizing. Two finish tones are offered: Zinc and Manganese. The Zinc is very close to a gray color tone while the Manganese is more dark gray. Can anyone comment which is closer to the correct finish tone for a Winchester Carbine 1,2xx,xxx serial number range?

The shop is doing a complete disassembly, followed by metal oxide media blasting and then applying the new parkerizing.

Is it correct to have the trigger, magazine release and safety switch parkerized to match the trigger housing? It seems every Carbine I see has these parts with a different color tone. Maybe it's just the hardness of the parts.

Any comments or suggestions regarding the parkerizing process are welcome. I'm just a few days away from shipping the rifle. Thanks!

[1mark]

If not blue, the parkerization finish was an olive green. Sometimes a little darker green, but not gray. Contact Chuck in Denver. His finish is very close to the correct green color. Also, his price is good to refinish. He posts on this and the M1 and 1903 borads a lot.

[steve12]

I like the manganese parkerizing finsh better. Here are a few pics of several of mine that I did.

[Tuna]

Most of the small parts on early carbines were blued not parkerized. Triggers,hammers,pins,safety and mag release were mostly blue as well as the bolts. Parkerizing came later and during rebuilds.

[Sunray]

"...parkerization finish was an olive green..." Nope. No such thing as green parkerizing. The green tinge comes from long term storage in cosmoline.
Zinc gives shades of grey. The shade depends on the metal it goes on.
Manganese gives black.

[Johnny P]

I thought it was green, but I guess not. Anyway the barrel is gray instead of green.

[BrianQ]

The green tinge comes from long term storage in cosmoline.

No matter how many times you repeat it, it will never be true.

[chuckindenver]

that is something we will always disagree on....
and thats ok...

[BrianQ]

So every M1 Carbine or M1 Garand that has a greenish tint sat coated in cosmoline for years and years. Wonder wht they used during the two wars if all these weapons just sat in storage.

Now I wonder why all the NOS parts that have been packed since they were made escaped the green monster cosmoline.

This is a brand spanking new WRA carbine butt plate that I unwrapped and cleaned just for an article. Not a hint of green. Is cosmoline so selective it only changes some parts green?

[chuckindenver]

easy now...its ok for someone not to agree with you....
i may not know everything about M1 Carbines...but.
i know phosphate finishes, very very well, its what i do for a living...
your right...thats a grey buttplate. slober some brown grease over it. likely it will have a greenish hue.
clean it off with a solvent, the green goes away...
most...not all WW2 rifles iv seen that have a green tint, are usually grey under the wood line.
it is known that Winchester used a yellow cromiate{spelling} in the curing oil, and that gave them a greenish hue.
but that proccess wasnt done long.
so,
some, green tinted parts may be from that, but..others were from grease, dirt, oil, ect. on the surface for many years..something a restoration cant duplicate.

id like to see the metal below the wood line on the nice A3 JP has pictured.