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Matte blue vs parkerized finish

M

Maverick

.22LR
Hi All,

I’m interested in picking up another 500, This model on sportsman’s warehouse caught my eye due to the matte look/finish. It’s listed as matte blue, but it looks similar to a parkerized finish. What difference, if any, is there between the two?

Thanks!
 
To the best of my knowledge Mossberg has been offering four different finishes.

Blued, parkerized black, matte blue, or a camouflage pattern.

Back a few years ago there was a lengthy discussion on the matte vs parkerized finishes which might shed some addition light on your question. Just search the forum for:

Confusion about 590 Finish (Model #50778)​


Maybe others, with more recent knowledge will chime in.

Regards
 
Ernst said:
To the best of my knowledge Mossberg has been offering four different finishes.

Blued, parkerized black, matte blue, or a camouflage pattern.

Back a few years ago there was a lengthy discussion on the matte vs parkerized finishes which might shed some addition light on your question. Just search the forum for:

Confusion about 590 Finish (Model #50778)​


Maybe others, with more recent knowledge will chime in.

Regards
Click to expand...
Thanks for the reply! That thread was indeed very helpful. Led me to another question however, do you know if Mossberg has ever offered the regular 500 (as opposed to the 590/590a1) with a parkerized finish?
 
Parkerizing (phosphating) may appear to be a dark greenish grey depending on application and mfg. Matte blue is usually just that but more black than blue. With Mossberg and many other mfgs, it is less labor-intensive to have matte finishes like blue or cerekote.
 
Parkerizing usually starts with cleaning the item with warm soapy water or pretreating the surface to remove any contaminants. Then heat the metal for Parkerizing to be more effective. Parkerizing is then applied with a phosphoric acid solution and the metal (e.g., steel) is placed in the Parkerizing Tank. The Parkerizing solution contains sodium or potassium cyanide, bisulfate ions, and iron sulfate heptahydrate. Once Parkerized, the part enters an etching tank, which removes the Parkerizing solution from the surface. Parkerized parts are then oiled to reduce corrosion and/or painted with a compatible coating or color.

I'm certainly not an expert on finishes but I think the matte blue is a result of sand or bead blasting before the "normal" blue finish is applied. So on the blue finishes you can get a polished blue or a matte blue depending on the above process.

But totally different from parkerizing which is much more durable finish.

Hope this helps.

Regards
 
Bobster said:
More than likely. Usually the "tactical" models. I would speculate the M500 (military 500) is parked.
Click to expand...
That was my thought too, found This model on sportsman’s as well. Out of stock online at least, hope it’s not discontinued. Not crazy on the pinned forend but that can be replaced.
 
This has got me thinking and I'm pretty sure that a Mossbeg aluminum receiver can not be parkerized. Aluminum can be anotized but not parkerized as I remember.

Regards
 
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