Chances are if it saw decades of service, it's been refinished. It's military, it happens continuously.

 

Thanks. I have a KRAG rifle that I really like but a guy made a comment that it had obviously been reblued at some point, that there should be more patina. Seemed like he felt as though that somehow made it a lesser value, not to me. Maybe that’s just a collecting thing but I was wondering if that was ever a bad thing. The only thing I can imagine is that if the bluing or refinishing job was poor or incomplete, like peeling,…
Also, is the presence of “light” frosting a bad or unexpected finding, as typically these rifles are around a 100 years old. I would think shooting and a good cleaning would be the best treatment. Any thoughts?
Thanks again.

 

I don't recall off hand what the dates were when the finishes were changed from blued to parkerized,

however, most Rem or Smith Corona will have a mix of parkerized and blued parts,

however, a lot , whether they needed it or not, went thru inspection/rebuild after WW2, and I am sure WW1 as well,

@Rick the Librarian2 or @John Beard would likely be able to give you better dates etc

re the frosting, M1 and M2 ball were corrosive until the early 50's so it would not be out of line to see light frosting if not cleaned correctly,

 

I don't recall off hand what the dates were when the finishes were changed from blued to parkerized,

however, most Rem or Smith Corona will have a mix of parkerized and blued parts,

however, a lot , whether they needed it or not, went thru inspection/rebuild after WW2, and I am sure WW1 as well,

@Rick the Librarian2 or @John Beard would likely be able to give you better dates etc

re the frosting, M1 and M2 ball were corrosive until the early 50's so it would not be out of line to see light frosting if not cleaned correctly,

Thanks

 

Mine was parkerized…remember a lot of these the CMP were selling came from Greece, Norway, and other lend-lease countries. Sold mine a year ago…hated to but the kids weren’t interested on it. Keeping my Garand…and hoping…Semper Fi

 

As has already been mentioned, most US rifles and sidearms have been refinished at one time or the other, some multiple times. I have a few that I am positive that haven't been refinished, but they are not common, nor do they tend to be inexpensive.

Probably the easiest to tell if it has been refinished is the M1903A3 rifles as original ones had different finishes on different parts, some parts are blued like the bolts, trigger guards and bands and other parts are parkerized like receivers and barrels

 

Thanks. Still new to this hobby and learning a lot.

 

Right. The most absurd myth is the "matching finish", which was virtually never the case on military arms from most places. In fact, with many, a uniform finish is a sure sign it's been re-done, and in some cases, quite recently.

Yet, one sees "newbies" auguring for "finish match". Truth is, with different metals, heat treats, and polish standards, even going through the same solutions and quenching processes, most firearms won't "absolutely match", especially not military rifles.

 

Right. The most absurd myth is the "matching finish", which was virtually never the case on military arms from most places. In fact, with many, a uniform finish is a sure sign it's been re-done, and in some cases, quite recently.

Yet, one sees "newbies" auguring for "finish match". Truth is, with different metals, heat treats, and polish standards, even going through the same solutions and quenching processes, most firearms won't "absolutely match", especially not military rifles.

add to that different subcontractors making parts and finishing them in house, so the solutions may vary day by day or lot to lot,

 

I bought these around 2011 from the CMP auction, these VMF/Foreign Legion turn-in rifles. Later I inquired about the blue finish on these
early receivers. I was informed that before Springfield Armory started to parkerize around 1918, they applied the light blue finish on early rebuilds

 

If the rifle has a High Standard barrel then it was refurbished and the barrel replaced.