Parkerized 1911 a real pain to clean because of the finish?

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avalys

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I have had a stainless steel Kimber for a while, and a Springfield XDm. Both are nice and easy to clean - apply some solvent, wipe, and everything just comes right off.

I have since bought a Springfield Range Officer. It has a parkerized finish, which feels great in the hand and looks very cool - but man, is it a pain to clean. The finish is so rough that dirt, oil and debris stick to it and are almost impossible to remove. Wiping with a clean cotton cloth, there is so much friction the cloth almost seems to get stuck, and actually gets abraded and torn up in short order. Forget about q-tips. It is next to impossible to get all the debris and gunk out of the slide rails/rail slots - no matter how much I spray, wipe and pick at them, there are still little pieces of gunk and specks of debris stuck in there that don't want to lift off the surface. When I wipe, they move maybe a few millimeters down the rail, and that's it. The friction of the parkerized surface makes it almost impossible to wipe down. It takes me like 10x longer to clean the Range Officer than any other pistol.

Is this just how a parkerized 1911 is? Should I try using a more aggressive solvent? I have been using Break-Free CLP, and also Gunslick Ultra-Klenz. These work great on my other guns, I've never needed anything more aggressive. I have a few rifles with what I understand is a "parkerized" finish, but it is nowhere near as abrasive as the Range Officer.

Maybe I am just being too anal. It is so easy to clean the stainless 1911 that it takes almost no effort to get it to factory-new condition, so I have become used to wiping every little speck of dirt out of every nook and cranny.

Any thoughts?
 
Too anal. A parkerized finish holds oil well. That is it's strong point IMO. I have an old SA that is parkerized. Wipe it down with a slick oily rag and call it good.
 
It won't ever look as good as one if those glossier finishes, but it can look cool in its own way.

The park'd finish is considered "unfinished", in that it needs something to fill in all the micro-roughness. I like to heat mine up a little by holding it over the stove, and then smearing Vaseline all over it. Let it sit a day and then wipe it down with a paper towel. It will remain "wet" and looking good. And a lot tougher.
 
Old JMB knew exactly what he was doing when he developed the 1911. No need to use Q-tips to clean the recesses. Do you think the Marines in the Pacific in WW II had Q-tips? Like Walkalong said, wipe it off, clean any excess dirt off, oil it slightly, and call it a day. The parkerized finish is one of the most durable and rust-resistent finishes that has ever been developed. If you really, really think it needs a good cleaning, get a can of aerosol brake cleaner, remove the grips, and squirt away.
 
My concern is that the grit and debris I am unable to get out of the slide/frame rails will accelerate wear in those areas. Not worth worrying about?
 
If its small enough to stay behind with a wipe of an oily rag its small enough, it's small enough to not be of concern. Parker does like to be bathed in oil and wiped down. I much prefer the look of a parkered gun just wiped down.
 
Clean it completely oil it with a clean rag and put some car wax on it for the summer.
Keeps it from rusting from sweat a little more.
 
Buy an air compressor. Soak, brush, blow. Reoil. Compressed air will make you life so much easier and WILL get all of that crud out of the nooks. You know you need one anyway. And then you can start buying air tools. Don't worry about the "grit" in the rails. It will take care of itself.
 
It's not the parkerizing itself. It is the grit blasted finish that goes on before the park. I have a stainless 1911 with the same mil spec coarse sandblasting and it also takes an extra wipe or two to get clean even though there is no park there.

J.
 
I bought a RO,about a month ago, probably my fifth Parkerized gun. Dissatisfied with the finish on all the others, and wanting to keep the RO nice; I used the net to research how to care for the finish. Here's what I found:

Park does little to protect the steel but it does provide a porous surface to hold the oil so as to prevent rust. Therefore, oil is the best friend of the finish. Did find a few,threads recommending to bake the,disassembled, well oiled frame and slide for a few hours at the lowest heat setting of your oven. I did this,a,few times but it didn't seem to be any better than just oiling the gun at room temperature. But wiping with a micro-fiber or lint-free cloth does cut down on streaks and dust.

One guy posted that the worst thing he ever did to Park was to wax it;'said it took him hours to strip it off.

I'm trying to oil it down at least once a week and wil continue to do so until I fall in love with a new gun. It does seem to look a lot better than when new.

YMMV.
 
I traded for the parked SA I linked to around 25+ years ago and it has no rust. All I do is clean and rub oil on it. I usually just use my fingers to rub oil on guns. I wipe off excess with a rag.
 
I do like Walkalong but I wear rubber gloves when cleaning my guns. Just dab some oil on the glove and rub it on with my fingers. Then blot the excess with a rag. No lint. It does get easier to maintain with age and oil absorption.
 
Retire to the Platoon office.
Lock the door.
Open lock on foot locker.
Remove non-residue parts cleaner donated by the motor sgt.
Field strip 1911.
Liberally spray parts with cleaner.
Hit stubborn build up with tooth brush as needed.
Run patch down bore.
Repeat if needed.
Spray parts again as needed.
Let air dry.
Apply CLP as directed in manual.
Return to secured storage the "magic" cleaning materials.
Turn pistol (works for the M16 also) into the arms room.
Don't let anyone know how you got your pistol Armorer turn in inspection passing clean in record time and on the first try.
Supervise your troops struggling to pass turn in inspection.

The good old days.
 
I'd stay away from the brake cleaner's and degreasers many of these guys are recommending. You want as much oil on that parkerized finish as possible, you don't want to strip it off.
 
Yup. Buy a stenciling brush and just "paint" a thin layer of oil all over the gun. Forget about using a rag. Park and rags do not mix. It's like trying to clean a piece of sandpaper with a Kleenex. Just brush some oil on it. If you use any kind of solvent that strips the oil off you must replace all of it ASAP. I just use CLP to clean and leave a thin layer on the metal. It doesn't need to be "dripping", just wet. You don't need to use any brake solvent crap. Just CLP. Knock the crud off with an M16 brush and blow it off with air. Any Park on the rails will polish itself off with use. Just keep it coated with a little oil or CLP. I have an old Mil spec from 1990 that has never had anything but CLP used on it. It still looks like new.
 
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Just use patches soaked in hoppe's (or clp) to clean. Toothbrush for the rails. Oil soaked patches to finish. You have a dark finish that'll always show specks after cleaning and oiling, don't worry about it.
 
"stay away from the brake cleaner's and degreasers" Thank goodness I use carb cleaner for its carbon build up cutting ability.

Personally I prefer to remove the remains of the lubricant that has become contaminated with dirt, grit, carbon, metal particles, and such and start over with a fresh application CLP. A shaving brush makes an excellent applicator. With practice you can leave a thin even coat even getting into the crooks and nannies without leaving the towel fuzz everywhere.

As long as the LGS does not jack the price up too high the ones I have that get heavy use will continue to get their annual ultrasonic bath which really does remove any trace of oil from them.
 
"Oil Buffing" (saturating the micro nooks and crannies with oil/CLP/whateva) seems to be a lost art.

I have always started by stripping a new (or new to me) firearm of any old grease oil & crud using hot water and simple green (Rinse REALLY well!) or whatever strong degreaser I could lay my hands on, and getting it really dry. If you don't have a compressor handy, you can get some good results using a can of 'Dust Off' or similar can o' air for cameras/computers.

Slather it with a thick coat of CLP and leave it in the sun, or on a radiator- any where it'll get good and hot. Wipe it with a clean dry absorbent rag ( I like a cloth diaper). Repeat. Repeat. I've even alternated the sunshine with a few hours in the freezer.

Done properly, the Parkerizing will have a slightly greasy feel, but it won't wipe off on a cloth (or clothing!) and will have a faint sheen in strong light.
 
I learned that parkerizing and cosmoline go together. Military buys parkerized guns, packs them in cosmoline, puts them in a 150degree in the summer warehouse for years.
The heat "opens up the pores" in the metal (not really but the idea is valid) and the cosmoline soaks in to the parkerized finish. When it's time to use the gun, the extra cosmoline gets cleaned off and you've got a gun that can go into the jungle without rusting away in a week.
For me personally, I'll take my parkerized guns, coat 'em in froglube, sit them either outside in the sun for a day or blast it with the hair dryer. One to two treatments of that, and they stay perfectly clean from there on out.
 
jdh wrote,
"stay away from the brake cleaner's and degreasers" Thank goodness I use carb cleaner for its carbon build up cutting ability.

Personally I prefer to remove the remains of the lubricant that has become contaminated with dirt, grit, carbon, metal particles, and such and start over with a fresh application CLP.
Click to expand...
You probably run your cast iron fry pan through dishwasher too.;)
 
Nope. It is well enough seasoned it cleans up very well with the wipe of a dry cloth or, heavens forbid, a paper towel. Oh BTW, it is also well over a hundred years old now also. AND it was one of my few possessions that survived the conflagration. Wire brushed the rust off, it was buried in wet ash for two weeks, and re-seasoned with lard. It is now back in service but with only 12 months of accumulated blackning instead of a hunderd years worth. The fire was hot enough to melt anything made of aluminum yet my antique skillet is still cooking.
 
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It seems to me, you'd be better off to treat your parkerized pistols the same as your cast iron skillet? It's the same concept of seasoning. Heck, you don't even have to eat anything that comes off your pistol.

I never degrease my cast iron fry pan and I never degrease my pistols. They get wiped down and are clean, and they get extra oil, but they're never degreased.
 
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