I am going to have the slide of my Sig P229 chambered in .357-Sig refinished.  The slide is "American" factory stainless steel finish and it sucks!  Should've just made the gun 100% in Germany.  Damm mutt gun!

The finish on the CQB looks pretty nice.

Anybody have any comments about Armor-Tuff or Bearcoat?

I feel sorta cheesy responding because I have no personal experience,but I've only ever heard that it dosn't wear very well and doesn't last long.

This was over the last couplea years,I used to hang over at the 1911 forum alot,so take it for what its worth.

Unless they've changed what they call "armor tuff"

www.1911forum.com  you'll get plenty of personal experince from those guys.

Damm that doesn't sound too good.  Maybe I should look into Bearcoat and that finish Les Baer uses.

oops!

I didn't even notice your mention of Bearcoat.
When I was on that forum it was still relativly new,so there wasn't much useage feedback on the  BearCoat.

As far as Armor Tuff was concerned the guys that were dissapointed were using pistols that were being holstered and unholstered frequently.

I'd definatly check out that forum Dweller.they have wilson,bear and finish forums.By tommorow you'd have all the info you'll need.

I edited the post to inlude more options.  

Thanks for the link, I'll check it out.

I think Bearcoat may be the way to go, it's Dupont Teflon-S.  

I have personal experience with both parkerizing and Armor Tuff on the same 1911.  I own a great Wilson Combat 1911 (see sig pic).

Originally it had a parkerized finish which I loved.  Extremely durable finish, rust resistant (or rust-proof is more like it) and good looking.  The park tolerated a great deal of holster wear before showing wear around the edges.

This past summer Wilson did some warranty work on the pistol and refinished it in black Armor Tuff.  I've followed the threads about "Armor Scuff" and was really worried about the finish.  I do believe that they now lay a thin park layer underneath the AT to help stabilize the finish.  I also believe that the AT finish chemically bonds to the metal and, even when it looks like it's worn to the bare metal, the AT properties are still there protecting it from rust.

Here are my observations about AT:

1.  Looks great NIB.  Flat black with an almost rough texture, kind'a like the dry lube on NIB USGI mags.

2.  The AT finish has a HIGH level of lubricating properties built into it.  A very slick finish.  It's not slippery to hold, mind you, but it feels "different" than a park finish.  I would trust this gun with zero lube -- the finish is that slick.  The action also feels much smoother after the refinish.

3.  AT cleans up really well.  Just a quick wipe down and you're done.  Heck, if I didn't have to clean the SS barrel, I'd be done cleaning it in a matter of minutes.

4.  WEAR: Okay, even Wilson Combat admits that AT wears quickly at contact points at first but "quickly stabilizes."  My experience leads me to believe this is true.  After a summer of IDPA and practicing draws from a leather holster, there are exactly TWO points of wear on the front edges of the left side of the slide.  Both points are through to bare metal -- one is about the size of two sharp pencil dots, the other is about the size of four sharp pencil dots.  About 1/4" behind those marks the AT is worn slick smooth, but is still black.  There is also a slight two dot wear mark by the ambi-safety.  There is no other wear on the gun.  The front slide wear marks showed up relatively quickly, but I think that things have (as WC puts it) "stabilized" after that.  No major chipping behind the ejection port, etc. as was characteristic of the "old AT."  EDITED to add that areas of the slide rails also have the AT worn down to bare metal, though the AT is still there protecting the metal.

Bottom line: I'm pretty impressed.  The park finish seemed to scratch easier, but was more resistant to holster wear.  The AT resists abuse very well, and the minor holster wear has "stabilized."  If WC asked me what finish I preferred I would have said park, but I'm very glad in retrospect that I got an AT finish.

YMMV

EDITED for typos and to add a comment noted in text to #4.

The OD green Armor Tuff wore off on my CQB...that kinda pissed me off.
The black Armor Tuff holds great on my Tac Elite.  For me, it seems the only problem is the OD Green.  How about everyone else?  Everyone I know who has a CQB have their OD green worn out, but not their black.  Hopefully Wilson made some improvements on the Armor Tuff issue.

Seadweller,
My experience is with Gun Kote, teflon impregnated coatings.  They have a "super-impregnated" teflon coating as well as their regular Gun Kote finishes.  This "Super" finish,  is comparable to that of Les Baer's Dupont finish.

I just re-finished my new/used police auction SIG P220(slide and controls) using their basic flat black and it's turned out great.  After 300+ rounds, no wear has shown on the frame or slide's rails.

Here's a site I threw together about this project.

[url]http://www.geocities.com/sigteq/The_Beginningx.html[/url]

I forgot to add this last night, but you should really consider going to Lauer.  They seem to have great prices and are supporters of AR15.com (and the BRC, IIRC) to boot.  I'm considering a slide refinish on my P226 at some point and will probably give them a shot.

Their finishes should be as good as or better than others, though I don't have any first hand experience.  Anyone want to chime in on Lauer's finishes?

I do not know anything about the companies you have listed but I had a couple of my AR's done in Durakote by Lauer Custom Weaponry and they are excellent.  Very durable.  

I had a P32 slide done by Bearcoat.  showed wear almost immediately, and they were not pleasant to deal with.  

I wanted everything possible coated, as this is a deep cover, 24-7 gun.  They said send the whole thing (which required very specialized "firearm" shipping$).  They only did the slide and barrel.  I could have sent that USPS.  Didn't even do the pins, let alone anything out of the lower.  

BTW, everyone screws up once in a while.  I've had screw ups by highly respected service/goods providers on this board.  You won't find me "bashing" many.  Bearcoat was actually antagonistic towards the issues and resolution.  

Not satisfied with product or service.