I purchased a Makarov off Gunbroker from a local dealer that needed refinishing. I took it to the gun range and fired 50 rnds through it flawlessly from 6 different magazines. I was very happy with this "find". I was confident after studying the various parkerizing methods available that I could do this. I had everything I needed and was ready to go.
I found a local supplier of 85% phosphoric acid, and purchased a gallon for $30, and ordered some fine Manganese Dioxide from a pottery supply store for 2 lbs for $18, delivered. The rest was just a couple of stainless pots, distilled water, and steel wool.
I painstakingly cleaned my parts to absolute bare metal.
I added 8 oz of phosphoric acid to 1 gallon of distilled water (too much), and one oz of manganese dioxide, at precisely 195 degrees. My test batch went well on some old steel parts.
The reaction seemed just right. I left my parts in for about 45 minutes. (here is another one of my errors) and had what appeared to be awesomely blackened metal at the end of dipping. I parkerized the frame, the slide, and a bunch of small parts ( another error ) .
First, I wondered how steel wool was dissolved in the process, but the gun metal was deposited with magnesium phosphate?
Since I used too strong an acid dilution, and the steel wool was utilized in the reaction completely, and I left my parts in for too long, and I also parkerized small parts, here's what happened.
I suspected something was wrong when the trigger bar came out and the two parts separated at the hinge point. Although the parts appeared black, the acid bath began to eat away at the steel parts once the steel wool was utilized. The frame has several notches that were enlarged, and the small parts were modestly reduced from the acid. As a result, the trigger was loose, the trigger bar hinge point was damaged, the hammer notch became bigger and the hammer pins/catches smaller. I attempted to parkerize some springs and damaged them.
I have a complete parts repair kit for my Makarovs, so I pulled it out and started to replace "bad" parts.
When re-assembled, the parts were loose, and the black phosphate coating came off profusely. When I attempted to fire single and double action, the gun would not operate properly. I replace all the internal parts with new parts, only to find the acid bath had slightly changed the notch locations of the hammer and trigger, and consequently the gun does not work in double action mode any more, properly. The hammer kicks out to the side slightly and doesn't make it far enough back to release.
In essence, the frame's holes have been slightly modified, and in my opinion the gun is useless.
Now it only cost me $168 for the gun, and it needed refinished, anyway. I did salvage a grip, grip screw, seer and spring, firing pin, trigger guard, trigger guard spring, and barrel. However, I spent $100 in materials on parkerizing stuff.
Overall, this appears to be a $200 lesson in what can go wrong, and I thought it would be good to share with you all.
Make sure your acid bath is not too strong.
Make sure your sacrificial steel wool is not gone.
Make sure you do not parkerize too long.
Do not parkerize small parts and springs.
Now what do I do with this frame and slide?
D
I found a local supplier of 85% phosphoric acid, and purchased a gallon for $30, and ordered some fine Manganese Dioxide from a pottery supply store for 2 lbs for $18, delivered. The rest was just a couple of stainless pots, distilled water, and steel wool.
I painstakingly cleaned my parts to absolute bare metal.
I added 8 oz of phosphoric acid to 1 gallon of distilled water (too much), and one oz of manganese dioxide, at precisely 195 degrees. My test batch went well on some old steel parts.
The reaction seemed just right. I left my parts in for about 45 minutes. (here is another one of my errors) and had what appeared to be awesomely blackened metal at the end of dipping. I parkerized the frame, the slide, and a bunch of small parts ( another error ) .
First, I wondered how steel wool was dissolved in the process, but the gun metal was deposited with magnesium phosphate?
Since I used too strong an acid dilution, and the steel wool was utilized in the reaction completely, and I left my parts in for too long, and I also parkerized small parts, here's what happened.
I suspected something was wrong when the trigger bar came out and the two parts separated at the hinge point. Although the parts appeared black, the acid bath began to eat away at the steel parts once the steel wool was utilized. The frame has several notches that were enlarged, and the small parts were modestly reduced from the acid. As a result, the trigger was loose, the trigger bar hinge point was damaged, the hammer notch became bigger and the hammer pins/catches smaller. I attempted to parkerize some springs and damaged them.
I have a complete parts repair kit for my Makarovs, so I pulled it out and started to replace "bad" parts.
When re-assembled, the parts were loose, and the black phosphate coating came off profusely. When I attempted to fire single and double action, the gun would not operate properly. I replace all the internal parts with new parts, only to find the acid bath had slightly changed the notch locations of the hammer and trigger, and consequently the gun does not work in double action mode any more, properly. The hammer kicks out to the side slightly and doesn't make it far enough back to release.
In essence, the frame's holes have been slightly modified, and in my opinion the gun is useless.
Now it only cost me $168 for the gun, and it needed refinished, anyway. I did salvage a grip, grip screw, seer and spring, firing pin, trigger guard, trigger guard spring, and barrel. However, I spent $100 in materials on parkerizing stuff.
Overall, this appears to be a $200 lesson in what can go wrong, and I thought it would be good to share with you all.
Make sure your acid bath is not too strong.
Make sure your sacrificial steel wool is not gone.
Make sure you do not parkerize too long.
Do not parkerize small parts and springs.
Now what do I do with this frame and slide?
D