Dark Bore- could it be Parkerized?

[oldtirediron]

I have seen a lot of US Military fireams that were re-parkerized and the plugs leaked the parkerization fluid into the bore--FWIW i have never seen a U.S. Military re-park with this problem-- usually these firearms were refinished after they left the military stores or were refinished in a foreign country like the early Blue Sky Korean imports!! Some that I looked at appeared to not even have had the bore plugged when refinished but most of those guns had poor or junk barrels on them anyway-- Typical Blue Sky M-1 Garand had a barrel with a 6 or 7 TE and a 35 caliber muzzle and were stove pipe condition inside- however maybe the people who brought them in figured most would be re-barreled anyway so why should they take the time to plug the barrels before sandblasting and refinishing-- I concur with the JB Bore paste but don't leave Shooters Choice in a bore for more than the recommended time- or your barrel may suffer from ammonia related pitting!

[Col. Colt]

I have worked on two M1917 barrels that had LAYERS of fouling. I used the "Wipe-Out" Foaming Bore Cleaner, and on the worst one I found seven alternating layers of powder/copper/powder/copper/powder/etc! Wipe-Out is used by Benchrest Shooters, and will not harm the bore, no brushing. Foam it, leave it set an hour or two, push out a layer. Repeat. It is not quick on badly fouled bores, but will do no harm. A stainless brush reportedly will scratch up a barrel, but is a quick older method. If you are hoping to reclaim a good barrel, I would not use a SS brush, until I was satisfied nothing else would work. CC