Cleaning Parkerized Finish

[peregrinvs]

Hi,

I have carried out my threat to get a MkI(m) Lithgow Bren and you can view said mint and matching beast (plus commentary) here:

www.wwiireenacting.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=121&t=57793

I wondered if anyone had any tips on 'sprucing up' the Parkerized finish? On blued metal I use oil lubricated wire wool, but I'm not sure that would be appropriate in this case.

(Yes; I know it doesn't *need* sprucing up, but I like my guns to look lightly oiled and 'shiny' ;D)

Also, if I refurbish the woodwork - would boiled Linseed oil be 'period correct' as a coating?

Thanks,
Mark

[Peter Wells]

That looks a great gun Mark. Congrats

Parkerising is incredibly tough but a gentle rub down with fine steel wool and oil will improve it's looks if that's what you are after. Do a small test on some less obvious area to determine how much is enough for you. In service life the guns would have been cleaned/rubbed down anyway and that would have smoothed the granular finish of the park.

As for the wood - DO NOT SAND IT! The same fine steel wool dipped in boiled linseed and gently rubbed 'with the grain' in long strokes loosens a lot of gunk then wipe with a dry patch/cloth and see what comes off. Again, take it very easy to preserve markings etc.

I personally like my guns to have 'character' but others have different opinions on either side of that, but in the end it's your gun!

Enjoy!

[peregrinvs]

Thanks Peter. I shall conduct some subtle experiments and see how it looks. The primary 'problem' with the finish at present is dried cosmoline stuck in various nooks and crannies, but this is only a minor imperfection.

Rest assured nothing stronger than fine wire wool will be going anywhere near the wood. It has some nice crisp markings which I don't wish to damage. I was thinking purely in terms of lightening the colour of the wood a little via giving it a new BLO finish.

My own cleaning / restoration ethos is to get things looking clean and tidy, but not artificially perfect. Therefore I will only very rarely resort to such things as sandpaper or cold blue and only then when something is in very poor condition. This hasn't applied to any of my Brens.

Mark

[britplumber]

Hi Mark, I've left you a note on the wwIIreenacting forum too but I thought I would just mention that I would leave it as is. The only thing I've done to my Original Lithgow is oil the stock with linseed oil and light oil on the metalwork. I forgot to mention on the other post that the deac mag you got is the one that was DA proofed with the gun and the other is a spare that Rytons threw in with a sale because of the original being deac'd. Did it have a box? They usualy did.

[peregrinvs]

Fair enough. I think I'll just confine myself to going over the metalwork with an oily cloth and see how it looks. It isn't the gun cleaning 'campaigning season' at the moment anyway.

Needless to say the deactivated magazine went straight into storage when I got the gun home and it's now wearing a mint and 'live' Australian MkII* magazine.

The previous owner mentioned it had a transit chest, but he sold it separately. Nice looking things, but they take up a lot of space.

Cheers,
Mark

[Kev]

Glad to hear you have not decided to go for the 'dunked in a deep fat fryer' look ;D

ATB Kevin