1911

Why you need to clean, lube and break in Rock Island Armory Pistols

As some of you may know, we make custom magazines for the Armscor Rock Island Armory (RIA) A2 HC family of .40 and 10mm pistols. Once in a while I get to talk to a new owner before they go to the range and either they ask for advice or I give it regardlesss 🙂 I will tell anyone that will listen that they need to clean, lubricate and cycle their pistols 200 times before they go to the range. I’ve been sharing this advice for years but never really had evidence. Guess what? Now I do and I truly hope people will take this to heart and do it.

I recently purchased a RIA 52000 Big Rock – this is their 6″ barrelled 10mm match pistol. I had one years ago that I sold when I needed money and regretted it – especially after I started making the custom mags. What I am going to show you is true of all Rock Island 1911-style pistols – not just the A2 HC models – and for almost all semi-automatic factory-produced firearms. They are not ready to go out of the box and if you take them straight to the range they are going to fail a lot, you’re going to get frustrated, blame the gun/ammo/mag/dealer and it’s not their fault so please read the following and heed the advice.

Opening the Factory Box

For RIA 1911 pistols, they ship them in a bag absolutely coated in some kind of oil – just what I am not sure. Do not look at that and think it is all lubricated and ready to go. It absolutely is not and it is actually pretty dirty – you need to get rid of all of that including the junk in the bore.

STOP is right. What is in the bag is not ready to go.
First off, wipe it down. It will be drenched in oil to keep it from rusting. The 52000 Big Rock is definitely big.
This is what your white towel will look like. Note it is not just clean oil – there is debris in it and it’s not inteded to lubricate but to prevent rust. This stuff is everywhere in the pistol and we need to field strip the pistol, clean and oil it to ensure proper functioning.

Now you may be thinking your Glock was pristine compared to that and while it was cleaner it was also pretty dry and needed to be lubricated. The Rock Islands are decent but they need to be cleaned up.

How about the barrel?

The anti-corrosion “oil” and grime are everywhere in the pistol.

This is a real photo of an area of the bore before cleaning. It was captured with my Teslong borescope. The brass or copper color is probably from the test firing they did but the main thing for you to see is all of the preservative and grime in there, You do not want to shoot with this junk in there as it could adversely affect the pistol in any number of ways including affecting accuracy, By the way, the Teslong Rigid Rifle Borescope with 1080P resolution is pretty remarkable. I really like mine – it’s many times better than anything I have experimented with that I could afford.
I have used Ramrodz for years – the giant Q-tips on the right – to clean pistols. I just started trying the Clenzoil Bore Stix (on the left) and they seem to be decent with the advantage of having a cleaner/lubricant on them already. The Ramrodz being unprepared let me decide what I want to coat them with given the situation at hand so pros and cons with both. BTW- the sticks can snap easily so you hold them close up by the “bulb” when you insert them and then run the back and forth with the stick.
Here’s what the first Ramrodz looked like after I ran it up and down the bore a few times. It was coated with Kroil penetrating oil to help break things free. You can see the grime that came out.
I then decided to try a Bore Stix with just its normal coating.
The Clenzoil BoreStix seemed to remove even more grime than the Ramrodz but it is hard to say because the Kroil was in there working as I switched from the RamRodz to the Bore Stix.
This is after cleaning and lubricating. Again, the Teslong borescope is a game changer for me in terms of actually seeing the bore in considerable detail.

What I want you to take away from this section is to clean the bore – you can absolutely use your favorite method – patches, boresnake, whatever – but definitely clean it.

Field Stripping the Pistol

Armscor includes a half-way decent manual about how to field-strip your 1911 and I recommend you read it. Some of their models have barrel bushings and they have at least two models of full length guide rods that I know of. You just need to break the pistol down into its major groups – do not start taking apart the frame unless you seriously know what you are doing or you are going to get a hard lesson in how a 1911 goes together internally and it is not simple enough for the average shooter in my honest opinion. If you are a person that assembles 1911s from the bare frame – go ahead and do it. Have fun. If you have never disassembled and reassembled a 1911 – don’t. You don’t have to at this point is the bottom line.

One unique thing about the Big Rock you need to know is the unique full length guide rod (FLGR) they used and as far as I know, it is not in any other RIA pistol. If you have one of the 10mms, you are aware of the FLGR design which uses a pin to capture the two halves of the FLGR from separating, The Big Rock’s FLGR is threaded. To remove it, you turn counter-clockwise quite a few turns to unscrew the two halves and separate them. Now pay attention – that is a 20 pound spring in there and it will launch one half or the other so capture or retain the assembly by securing it with your other hand to prevent you from digging around for a launched part.

That slotted part is the FLGR and it is removed by turning it counter clockwise. I was taking pictures here – remove it with the slide closed so there is less tension on the spring. Notice the dent in the outer edge of the barrek at about the 5 o-clock position. The crown was fine and that’s what really matters. I’m not going to bother sending it back.

I’m not going to write a comprehensive guide to lubricating a 1911, read your pistol’s manual. I will tell you I now use ALG’s Go-Juice which is a thin grease on anything that slides. Before the ALG, I used Super Lube Synthetic Grease applied with an acid brush and before that I used wheel bearing grease. I would at least recommend doing this while the weapon breaks in. If you want to go to an oil later after it has worn in, then do it by all means. Right now though, you need the extra lubrication the grease brings. If surfaces slide together, use grease.

If they turn, use oil. I am all over the place trying oils. Right now, I am using ALG’s biosynthetic stuff. Don’t ask me what is in it. Before that I have used a ton of different oils – MGW, Super Lube, Mobil 1, etc., etc., etc.

Getting a jump on breaking in the pistol

You will hear guys call it “breaking in”, “wearing in”, “letting the parts get to know each other” – they all refer to any firearm needing to smooth out parts through their normal cycling. Expensive guns, such as customs and semi-customs, an experienced gunsmith used huning stones, rubberize abrasive bits or whatever was their preffered tool, to get rid of the tooling marks and sharp edges to give you a smooth weapon right out of the box.

Well, RIA is not expensive and they don’t spend a ton of time fitting and tuning their parts for a perfect fit. You know what? I’m fine with that – it’s easy to smooth things out but first I want to show you why you need to do this via some digital photos courtesy of an Andonstar AD246S-M digital microscope.

The following are example photos showing the tooling marks on various areas that need to slide freely. The tooling marks are everywhere and cause friction until the places where surfaces contact start to wear down the protruding areas:

Bottom of slide
Sample of tooling marks on slide rail area
Tooling marks on the receiver’s slide area.
Front of the left side of the receiver – the shiny areas are already making contact with the slide and wearing in.

Again, the above are all examples. Areas starting to shine are wearing in and starting to smooth out. I’d maybe cycled the slide a dozes or so times before the above photos were taken as I wanted to show before.

Now, there are tons of things you could do with honing storines, rubberized abrasive bits and even with lapping stones. If you want to do one or more of those, go for it. I have an even simpler solution – rack the slide open and closed a couple hundred times. Literally, don’t have a mag in it and work it back and forth over and over. It’s a workout with that 20# spring but it will accelerate wear-in dramatically. Think about it, a lot of firearms get more reliable just under a 100 rounds. You are really smoothing things out at 200, What you will notice is that if you do the above, you will not waste a lot of time and money dealing with jams.

How do I know this? I have owned a number of RIA pistols over the years. My test pistols that I use to test each mag before they leave have been handcycled thousands of times and the slide feels like that of a high-end pistol – like it is sliding on glass.

The following photos show contact areas after thousands of cycles:

Shiny areas neans the parts wore together and smoothed out.
In this area the tooling marks are all but gone.
Again, lots of wear – only the deepest tooling marks are still there.
The bottom of the slide is worn smooth.

Guys are always surprised how smooth these pistols are and then even more surprised when I tell them they are unmodified RIA pistols that have had their slides cycled thousands of times.

So, do you need thousands of times? No, just go for 200 and you can do more if you really want to.

Last comment on the FLGR and reassembling it

I seriously started hating on the unique Big Rock FLGR design when it came time to put it back together. You are fighting a 20# spring and I couldn’t remember how I did my last one years ago or find any tips or tricks about how to do it. The best thing I can tell you is that you need to secure the back half against the barrel link with the left hand. Insert the front section with the right and try to get front threaded insert into the hood of the back, try to hold them in approximate alignment as you try to screw the front half back in. Translation – it sucks and I have no tips.

I haven’t gotten this frustrated iin a while. The FLGR assembly is those three parts – the 20# spring and the two sliver rods. The one saving grace, the only saving grace for that matter, is the design of how they come together. The two shafts need to line up with the front long part with the slot sliding into the short stubby back part hat has a hooded opening.
This photo was mere seconds before I launched the back half six feet away where it luckily hit a wall and dropped in plain sight because I wasn’t keeping it secure enough with my left hand. Note, I still have a 1911 recoil spring plug somewhere that launched in my shop and was never found.
This is just to prove it is possible to get them back together. Note the purple ALG thin grease on the slide.

Summary

I hope this post helps impress on you the need to clean, lubricate and cycle your pistol, or whatever firearm, before you go to the range the first time. I do this myself and have shared it with many, many folks over the years and the feedback has always been positive.

By the way, the majority of guys who contact me hating on the RIA pistols did not break them in so I walk them through this. The second largest majority are really frustrated with the OEM magazine.

If you need mags for your 10mm or .40 RIA pistol (notably models 52009, 52682 or 52000 – also called the “A2” or “HC” series pistols (the big staggered 15-16 round models), please think of us. Our mags are far, far better than the OEM mags that come with the pistols – better springs, longer, antifriction coating and more.

If you find this post useful, please share the link on Facebook, with your friends, etc. Your support is much appreciated and if you have any feedback, please email me at in**@ro*********.com . Please note that for links to other websites, I may be paid via an affiliate program such as Avantlink, Impact, Amazon and eBay.

Miscellaneous

Quick Post: Do you need to download Amazon Order History for taxes? There is a cheap fix

As a small business, I order a lot of tools and supplies from Amazon each year. Of course, when tax season rolls around, I need to start pulling stuff together for my accountant. Guess what? Turns out Amazon discontinued the order history report that I have used for years to download all of my orders so I can then work things out.

I read a ton of posts and Amazon changed order history to now be a special request that they say will be processed in days. You can do this if you have the time – go to your account, scroll down to the bottom and look for “Manage Your Data” and then find “Request Your Data” — or click here. One of the options is “Your Orders”.

Well, it’s been a day and still nothing. I don’t have time for this BS and if you search there are plenty of other ticked off people but for whatever reason, Amazon will not relent.

Now, here’s the tip – there is a legit Chrome extension called “Amazon Order History Reporter” by Philip Mulcahy. Now, you do need to use Chrome to use this – click here to read more and install it.

I thought I would be a manly man and not read the instructions. I quickly found out that it has a different way of working – not bad, just different so I went back and read the instructions and it works fine. Click here to read them and follow the steps – everything was smooth after that.

So, click here to read the instructions and the only thing I would add is you navigate to Amazon Order History – where you see all of your orders. Then, run the Amazon Order History Reporter extension – it will as you for what year you want the data and slowly create a table. It’s not a speed demon but that is fine – it was did in 10 minutes what was going to take me 2-3 hours if I had to do it manually.

Once the table is drawn, there is a an option button in the top left to download a CSV (Comma Separated Value) file that Excel an import.

It gave me all I needed – date, what was ordered, total and what credit card I used plus a number of extra fields that I didn’t need but others might.

Get it. Like I said above, I even paid the requested $7.95.

Conclusion

So, Amazon, this was a really uncool move on your part. Philip, thank you. You saved me a ton of time.

If you are reading this because Amazon’s move has left you in a jam, take a look at this extension — it works and is totally worth $7.95/year. I’ll be using it again next tax season I am sure.

If you find this post useful, please share the link on Facebook, with your friends, etc. Your support is much appreciated and if you have any feedback, please email me at in**@ro*********.com . Please note that for links to other websites, I may be paid via an affiliate program such as Avantlink, Impact, Amazon and eBay.

AK & Related Rifles

Hungarian Blue Stocks Do Not Have A Standard Color

Have you ever heard someone refer to a stock color on an AMD-63 other Hungarian AK variant and they called it “Hungarian blue”? Well, I’ve had a lot of guys ask me to make AMD grips in that color but I could never get my hands on the original and the demand was never really solid.

Fast forward to 2023 and Sean from Wolff Gunsprings convinced me there was enough demand and loaned me a grey-blue Hungarian butt stock for color matching.  Over the years, guys always told me these things were light blue or Robin’s egg blue.  Holding a real buttstock in my hand I would describe it as light to medium grey with a hint of blue.  Big difference. 

Wolff Gunsprings loaned me a grey-blue Hungarian butt stock for color matching.  Over the years, guys always told me these things were light blue or Robin’s egg blue.  Holding a real buttstock in my hand I would describe it as light to medium grey with a hint of blue.  Big difference. 

After a ton of trial and error, I worked up the color formula. Part of the trick is that how a piece of plastic is finished – gloss, satin, or matte – will affect the reflected light too so it wasn’t until I was hovering around the color of the stock that I actually polished a pair of grips to the point that they shined like the originals that I “hit” the color I was looking for.

Here’s a photo I snapped when I was done. This is the approximate color I produce but it will vary and the color you likely see on your monitor may be different as well.

Now, here’s the big question I get asked – is the Hungarian Blue color a standard and the answer is a resounding “no” and I have evidence to back that up.

As I worked on Sean’s grips and pre-orders for the new color were coming in, I knew I better get a few stocks of my own for reference. Why? Very, very little in the Communist-era AK world is consistent, especially plastic colors, and I was betting these were no different.

Now this is where my memory gets fuzzy. I ordered three of GunBroker and then Arms of America got another batch in and I bought three more. Arms of America is great to work with my the way – I’ve bought from them quite a few times over the years. The stocks I got from them still had their factory wrapping paper on them and metal hardware – all unused.

Regardless, here are photos I tool today of the six and you can see the color variations:

My color is more like the top two.

My color is more like the 4th and 5th stocks from the left.

My color is more like the 4th and 5th stocks from the left.

Summary

So, the Hungarian blue can look more grey, more blue and all points in between. My color formula will produce something close to what I did for Sean but because I count droplets of dye and a ton of factors can influence the size & shape of each droplet and thus the actual volume, my grips will vary as well. Sorry but I can’t custom match as a result.

I hope this helps you out. Here is the link to our AMD grips if you are interested.

If you find this post useful, please share the link on Facebook, with your friends, etc. Your support is much appreciated and if you have any feedback, please email me at in**@ro*********.com . Please note that for links to other websites, I may be paid via an affiliate program such as Avantlink, Impact, Amazon and eBay.

History, Military

Japanese Type 96 25mm gun and North American T-28 Trojan on Display at Villa Escudero

In my last post, I introduced Villa Escudero located near Quezon in the Philippines. I have a few more photos of static displays near their museum that I want to share in this last post from the visit.

Japanese Type 96 25mm Anti-Aircraft Gun – Single Mount

The Type 96 was a variant of the French Hotchkiss 25mm anti-aircraft gun and was made in Japan.

The Japanese produced the Type 96 anti-aircraft cannon with single (1943), double (1935) and triple (1941) gun mounts. The weapon was generally considered reliable but the mounts were very slow to move.

Note the rock keeping the gun pointed straight ahead. Layers of paint were helping to slow the rust.
As with pretty much every display I’ve seen, the breech and receiver internals are gone.

If you want to learn more, check out:

Japanese Type 1 mobile 47 mm Rapid Firing Anti-tank Gun

The Type 1 was produced at the Osaka Army Arsenal – reflecting it was the year 2601 of the Japanese imperial year and went inhto production in 1942 with a total of approximately 2,300 being built.

I don’t know why I only have one photo – if you look on the web, everyone has this photo. I wish I had more angles.

To learn more, check out:

North American T-28 Trojan From the Philippine Airforce

This T-28 was a trainer aircraft used by the US Airforce and Navy well into the 1980s. It was also sold to a nubmer of militaries including the Philippine airforce until 1994. A fellow on another page said the serial number of the plane at Villa Escudero is 174-565 and if I look that up, it was sold to the Philippines in November 1958 and disposal approved on February 22, 1977. I was there in 2016 so it showed up there sometime between those dates.

To learn more about the Trojans, check out:

Prop Gun With More Displays Visible

My best guess is that the gun mount is authentic – though I don’t know what it is, but the “gun” are mockups.

The mockup is on the left and the real Japanese Type 89B with a resort visitor climbing up the tread is on the right.

Closing

There was more to see at Villa Escudero. Why I didn’t take more photos, of the displays, I don’t know. It was a beautiful resort and I will end this with my favorite photo from there.

If you find this post useful, please share the link on Facebook, with your friends, etc. Your support is much appreciated and if you have any feedback, please email me at in**@ro*********.com . Please note that for links to other websites, I may be paid via an affiliate program such as Avantlink, Impact, Amazon and eBay.

Military

A Japanese Type 89B I-Go Otsu Medium Tank Is On Display at Villa Escudero in Quezon, Philippines

On July 16th, 2017, I had the opportunity to visit the Villa Escudero Plantation and Resort during a trip to the Philippines. Villa Escudero (VE) is a working coconut plantation about two hours drive from Manila near Quezon and was founded in the 1880s by Don Placidio Escuderio and his wife Dona Claudia Marasigan. It was opened to the public in 1981 and is definitely worth visiting either as a day trip or overnight.

The reason I am writing this is that outside their museum they have a number of interesting WWII Japanese artifacts on display. What caught my eye immediately was the aging hulk of a Japanese Type 89 I-Go Otsu Medium Tank. I vaguely knew the Japanese had some tanks in WWII but this was my first time actually seeing one in person.

Quick History of the Type 89

The Type 89 was designed in 1928 and fielded by the Imperial Japanese Army from 1932-1942. The light tank version waas based on the 10-ton French Renault FT tank and the 2o-ton design was based on the Vickers medium tank and so underpowered that it was redesigned to 10 tons based on the Vickers Medium C.

It had a crew of four, a 57mm Type 90 gun with 100 rounds of ammo and two type 91 machine guns on the hull and rear of the turret with 2,745 rounds of ammo.

Given the 1920s design, it was intended to support infantry and lacked the armor of allied tanks. The Type 89 was consideredd a poor match for the American M4 Sherman for example. The Type 89 was regarded as obsolete by 1939 but was fielded in the Philippines.

The Japanese produced a Type89A I-Go Ko with a gas engine and a machine gun on the right side of the hull. It could only hit 15.5 Km/h and 113 were produced.

The second variety was the Type89B I-Go Otsu. Production started on these in 1934 and they had an air-cooled Mitsubishi A6120VD 120HP diesel engine. The machine gun was on the left side of the hull, the front hull was a single plate. The diesel engine was preferred because they had better fuel economy, more torque at lower RPM and diesel is less explosive than gasoline during a fire. 291 Otsus were produced.

Given some digging, I found the following Imperal Japanese Army units with Type 89 tanks were in the Philippines:

  • 7th Tank Regiment led by Colonel Seinosuke Sonoda from 1941 to 1942. The 3rd company of the 7th tank regiment advanced south along Route 5 towards Manila.
  • The 1st Tank Corps also had Type 89s
  • The 3rd Regiment had 26 Type 89s
  • The 4th Regiment had four Type 89s

Villa Escudero’s Type 89B

I am unsure of where VE obtained the Type 89B Otsu, if it was retrieved locally or just what. We can definitely say it is an Otsu because the machine gun is located on the left side of the hull (Ieft from the vantage of the crew looking forward).

Also, note the camo paint. I have seen black and white WWII-vintage photos of Type 89s with camo paint. I just can’t confirm the pattern or exact colors match.

This photo is from Wikipedia and is of a Type 89B Otsu during field trials. Note the camo pattern but we can’t tell the colors.
This fellow climbed on the track and it gives you an idea of the Otsu’s size. The Otsu is 18′ 10″ long, 7′ 1″ wide and 8′ 5″ tall. The weight is 14.09 tons (12.79 metric tons).
The main gun was a 57mm Type 90 that was lower-velocity and no match for the US M3 Lee’s 37mm cannon not to mention it couldn’t penetrate the Lee’s armor. The main gun could have helped with machine gun nests and vehicles lacking armor. It’s interesting the gun appears to be there but the machine gun is lonmg gone.
Closer view of the front. The ring is off the tow point. There’s a closed hatch on the hull. I didn’t see any welds to lock up the track. I’ve seen static displays in other countries where the goverment welded parts so there would be no moving the vehicle. Front hull is a single plate riveted on.
Closer view of the front
Notice the rear mounted machine gun cupola on the turret and the heat shield on the exhaust. Now look at that wierd attachment on the back. My best guess is it was added in to enable the tank to better back up without getting stuck or maybe even to handle barriers – going up ror down.
Here’s a better look at that rear assembly. Clearly there are rounded skid plates. I see them in some historical photos and the video below but I didn’t find details on why they are ther. In some photos, there were supplies/boxes on top of it. I did find one very informative website that called this “unditching gear” that was added around 1937.
A view of the rear drive wheels and that rear skid assembly. Rust is taking its toll. Kudos to Villa Escudero for maintaining it as best they can. The heat, humidity and being surrounded by the ocean takes its toll on anything made of steel over time.
One last photo – I found the tread pattern very interesting.

Original Video

When I see something like this, I wonder what it looked like. Here’s a black and while video with sound from Youtube that shows the Otsus and you can see they have a camo pattern and also the rear skid assembly is present.

Conclusion

If you want to see some Philippine history, great views, and have some great food then visit Villa Escudero. I’d like to thank them for trying to preserve some unique history and make it accessible to visitors.

To learn more about the Type 89 Otsu tanks, see:

If you find this post useful, please share the link on Facebook, with your friends, etc. Your support is much appreciated and if you have any feedback, please email me at in**@ro*********.com . Please note that for links to other websites, I may be paid via an affiliate program such as Avantlink, Impact, Amazon and eBay.

Blades and Edged Weapons Including Khukuris

A Surprisingly Good Tomahawk From Amazon – The Nedfoss 12.2″ Tac – Yeah, I’d never heard of them either

I like axes, hatchets and tomahawks. I actually inherited a number of axes and hatchets from my dad and grandpa. I also have a number of CRKT and ColdSteel models among others – some are worth talking about and some are best forgotten or not mentioned out of sheer embarassment. This story is about a surprisingly good one.

You every buy something on a whim due to a photo? That’s what happened with me when I ordered the NedFoss 12.2″ Tac Tomahawk with G10 handle, full tang and 4.3″ bearded blade. I have a thing for bearded axes, hatchets and tomahawks (‘hawks’). Guess what? It’s surprisingly good – I’ve said that twice now – I didn’t expect to be impressed so let me tell you more – I’ve had it for almost five months now.

Let’s start with the ugly

I opened the Amazon box and saw the product box and wondered WTF I had just bought. It looked like the designer dropped acid and created the graphics. Literally, “what did I just buy?” went through my head.

Uhmmm…. what mall ninja shit did I just buy? Do I return it? Do I tell anyone I even bought this? — These were all going through my head when I saw the product box.
It was packed in a form fitting hard foam and when I pulled it out, the sheath, handle scales and rivets all caught my eye – they were all very nicely done both in terms of fitment and finish.

Details

After my intial panic over the box, I started taking a closer look at the little hawk. It was a fairly common size for people looking for a tactical or combat hawk. It’s just over 12″ long and the beareded head is 4.3″.

The hawk is just over 12″ overall.
The blade is just over 4″ and front to back is approximately 5″. Note the NedFoss lion logo that is elegantly cut into the head.
The back of the hawk’s head comes to a chisel point. Conceptually, it would hold up better striking a hard surface than the sharpened head.
The handles are two separate G10 scales (one on each side) held in place by brass rivets. The grooves give for a very sure grip. The bottom of the tang swells open and serves as an effective hand stop. The hole helps reduce the weight.
All of the rivets are well formed with no tool marks/blemishes on them.
The handle is about 1″ front to back. That size should fit different size hands comfortably.
The handle is about 5/8″ thick overall.
The whole steel part of the hawk – tang, head and all – is made from one piece of 0.213″ 8Cr14MoV steel hardened to 55 HRC.
I could have done without the hokey printed “runes”. I would have been more impressed if they cut them in like they did the Lion’s head. Note, it is a pretty deep beard – I like the profile.
It includes a leather sheat/blade guard. It doesn’t have a belt loop – it just protects whatever from the sharp edge of the blade it it did arrive sharp.

How did it hold up?

That’s the big question right? I really wasn’t sure how the edge or the finish would hold up and it just so happens I have a wood pile with a lot of dried hard oak. I whacked on some of pieces or oak and so did a friend of mine.

Guess what happened? To my surprise the edge held so so did the grey “titanium” finish. The hawk swings easy, balances well and hits hard.

I really expected the oak to do a number on it and at least roll the edge over or markedly dull it but the edge held. I did not expect that. The 8Cr14MoV steel with a 55 HRC hardness held up remarkably well.

8CR14MoV is a general purpose Chinese knife alloy is a clone of AUS-8 having an identical composition. If you’d like to read a very detailed analysis of it, click here for a post on KnifeSteelNerds.com.

In Conclusion

You can’t go wrong for the price – you just can’t. This hawk is $79.99 at Amazon and has free returns if you don’t like it. In terms of ratings, it is at 4.6 out of 5 with 113 reviews. It’s not a $400-1,000 hawk so don’t compare it that way.

I’m keeping mine and my friend was so impressed he ordered one the same day he handled it. I’m so impressed that I plan on getting more of their models. I especially have my eye on one of their bearded camping hatchets.

Here are links on Amazon for you:

I hope you found this post of interest.

Note, I have to buy all of my parts – nothing here was paid for by sponsors, etc. I do make a small amount if you click on an ad and buy something but that is it. You’re getting my real opinion on stuff.

If you find this post useful, please share the link on Facebook, with your friends, etc. Your support is much appreciated and if you have any feedback, please email me at in**@ro*********.com . Please note that for links to other websites, I may be paid via an affiliate program such as Avantlink, Impact, Amazon and eBay.

AKBuilds, Blades and Edged Weapons Including Khukuris, Firearms Building and Gunsmithing, Gunsmithing, Sten, Uzi Builds

How to do Home Manganese Parkerizing

2 Comments

The Following is a Basic Do-it-yourself Manganese Parkerizing Formula

A couple of friends online, Elkaholic and Ding, got me interested in parkerizing years ago and gave me a home brew formula and process steps they use.  I have been tuning that formula for a few years and thought I would share it as I use it both for blades and firearms.  It works great as either the base for a top finish, such as Molyresin or as a finish all by itself.  You may be wondering “why not just buy a premade formula such as the great parkerizing solution from Brownell’s” – the short answer is because tinkering can be fun and more rewarding.  I like to experiment and try different things.   So, with that said, here is the recipe:

Ingredients

– 2 gallons of distilled water  (it gives more consistent results because impurities have been removed – sold at supermarkets and drug stores)
– 2 “biscuits” of clean plain 0000 steel wool (thinner steel wool dissolves faster hence the use of 0000 grade)
– 1 cup of Klean Strip brand Phosphoric Prep & Etch (or other phosphoric acid etching solution around 35-45% concentrate per the Prep & Etch MSDS sheet. Dilute the acid if higher. For example, if 100% pure then go 60 water:40 acid – you can always experiment with the ratio that works for you)
– 6 rounded tablespoons of manganese dioxide (available at pottery supply stores, Amazon or eBay)

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Do this outside – never in your house or shop (unless you have a great vent hood).  If you do it indoors, you will likely make stuff rust fast!

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As you can see, I use a camp stove.  For the first couple of years I just used a Coleman stove but that was always a balancing act with my 48″ long stainless pakerizing tank that I used for barreled actions.  I found the above great Camp Chef stove at Amazon and it is fantastic but any heat source will work. I like propane because its portable and not electric (to avoid any chance of electric shock) and there are tons of propane camp stoves on Amazon.

Also, be sure to use stainless steel for your tanks.  I watch for sales or buy stuff off eBay.  The big cooker above is from Walmart and the rectangular pan shown below is from Amazon and is normally the water pan for buffet lines.

For tongs to move stuff around, use solid stainless.  I tried the plastic ones and they can leave a plastic residue on blasted surfaces and mess up your finish.

Just like baking, if you want more of the solution, take the recipe and multiply it by two, four or however many multiples you want. Just be sure you have a place to store it when done.  I use 5 gallon jugs and label them.

Steps to Follow

  1. Add acid to water in a stainless pan/pot and heat to 190F – don’t boil and waste it.  I use a baking thermometer clipped to the side of the pan.
  2. Spray each wool biscuit with brake cleaner to remove oils and allow each time to dry
  3. As the solution warms shred the steel wool into the liquid and add the manganese dioxide
  4. Let the mix simmer and dissolve the steel wool before adding parts
  5. I always blast my parts before I parkerize them – I’ve heard guys tell about using a wire brush on a buffer or drill press as well but I’ve not tried that.  Blasting removes the oxides and exposes the bare steel.
  6. Make sure your parts are very, very clean and degreased — only handle with rubber gloves after they are cleaned or oils from your skin can mess things up
  7. You can suspend your parts in the liquid with stainless wire.  Leave them until the fizzing stops or about 30-40 minutes.  The time varies.
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  8. Rinse the parts with boiling water thoroughly to remove the acid.
  9. Spray parts with WD40 to get the water away from the steel
  10. Wipe down with oil or apply whatever secondary finish you want – don’t do both 🙂  If you are going to apply a finish on top of the parkerized surface, use acetone or brake cleaner to remove any oils and then follow their instructions.

At the bottom of the post are links to Amazon products including long parkerizing tanks.

Cleaning Up

When you are done, let your mixture cool and strain the liquid through a coffee filter into a plastic can for future use. I use a blue kerosene 5 gallon container because it is a different color from all my other 5 gallon containers plus I label it.  Point being, you do not want to get confused and pour this stuff in when you meant to use a fuel, etc.

The precipitate, the stuff on the bottom, should be scooped onto a shallow pan, allowed to dry and be disposed of as a hazardous waste.  For example, where ever your community collects old paints, batteries, etc.

Brownells Has Great Parkerizing Solutions and Kits

Brownells sells very well regarded ready-to-use formulations. I have no hesitation at all to recommend the below items to you – they are top notch.

  • Click here for their manganese parkerization supplies. Their formula meets Mil Spec STD171
  • Click here for their zinc parkerization supplies
  • If you have a lot small parts you want to park, they have a bench top kit ready to go that you can buy – click here
  • Click here for their complete parkerizing tank system. This is a complete system for gunsmiths or others who need to park everything from small parts and pistols up to firearms and swords.

In Summary

I hope this helps you out. I’ve used the above many times and the results are solid.

Updated 2/13/24 with new sources and fixed some grammar issues.

Note, I have to buy all of my parts – nothing here was paid for by sponsors, etc. I do make a small amount if you click on an ad and buy something but that is it. You’re getting my real opinion on stuff.

If you find this post useful, please share the link on Facebook, with your friends, etc. Your support is much appreciated and if you have any feedback, please email me at in**@ro*********.com . Please note that for links to other websites, I may be paid via an affiliate program such as Avantlink, Impact, Amazon and eBay.

Israel, Uzi Builds

The Best Reference Book On Uzis

I recently wrapped up building a semi-auto Israeli Uzi in 9mm.  At the start, I researched about this iconic submachine gun and guys kept mentioning that I should get the book “The Uzi Submachine Gun Examined” by David Gaboury.  I ordered a copy from Amazon and must say I was very impressed. [Click here for Amazon’s page for the book].

Mr. Gaboury does an exceptional job giving the reader the historical context of what was going on in Israel with its fight for independence, the plethora of firearms they were using and then search for a new submachine gun.  Of course, this culminated in the creation and evolution of the Uzi design by Uzi Gal.

From there he covers the evolution of the weapon with the Mini Uzi, the Uzi Carbine, Uzi Pistol/Micro Uzi, Ruger MP9 and the Uzi Pro.  The book was published in 2017 and its coverage is very current.

One thing I did not know was how widespread the adoption of the Uzi was and Mr. Gaboury provides coverage of its use in The Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, South Africa, China and other countries.

He then covers a number of other topics in the book that I’ll skip for the sake of brevity.  For me, the last section of the book was very, very helpful where he provides significant detail on the weapon including:

  • Operation, Disassembly and Specifications
  • Parts Identification
  • Magazines
  • Accessories

Being new to Uzis, his coverage of the firing cycle, fire control group and how it all comes together in the grip frame (what some call the “grip stick”) was worth the price of the book all by itself.  For me, it was really the history and this last section the detailing of the operation and assembly that were hugely worthwhile.  I’d recommend this book to anyone wanting to learn more about the iconic Uzi.

Click here for the order page on Amazon to learn more and/or order the book. It has 68 ratings and is 4.8 starts – it’s very good!

Also, click here for a page that links to all of my Uzi posts for easier naviation.

If you find this post useful, please share the link on Facebook, with your friends, etc. Your support is much appreciated and if you have any feedback, please email me at in**@ro*********.com . Please note that for links to other websites, I may be paid via an affiliate program such as Avantlink, Impact, Amazon and eBay.

When Strength and Quality Matter Most