Off topic a bit but a true story.
The late Ed Banks was one of the best 1911 pistolsmiths in the country and a good friend until his untimely death. He was retired Air Force and worked Civil Service at Robins AFB, GA, until he retired a second time.
He once told me that his Parkerized finish on the 1911's he worked on was called to the attention of the people responsible for the Navy's arms. The Navy formally contacted him and wanted to know his "secret". He referred them to a military manual that listed GI specs for phosphate finishing. (His job at Robins AFB required him to work with the Navy on a regular basis so he was quite familiar with Navy Regs as well as AF Regs.)
When someone wanted a 1911 refinished, Ed would ask them if they wanted it black, gray or gray-green like the WW2 pistols. He once told me that the greenish appearance of the military issue pistols was created by the preservative grease they were shipped in. He could duplicate that finish by doing a normal gray Parkerizing job and then spraying Break-Free on the pistol parts and baking them in a toaster-oven for a few hours.
Ed was very conscious of the historical value of 1911 and 1911A1 pistols from the World Wars. He did everything possible to talk people out of modifying originals and would refuse the work if they insisted.
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