Posted: 8/9/2005 7:34:37 AM EDT
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What's your favorite finish for a 1911 in the following categories? 1) Appearance 2) Longevity/Wear resistance 3) Rust resistance 4) Overall |
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1) Appearance: Master Blue (high polish) 2) Longevity/Wear resistance: Hard Chrome 3) Rust resistance: Stainless steel, hard chrome, Black-T, Armor-Tuff (Wilson) 4) Overall: Master blued slide, hard chrome frame with polished flats and matte rounds or flats and rounds both polished. |
That is the correct answer. Lock the topic. 
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Thank you!  Now if only someone could come up with a Master Blue finish that had the wear and rust resistance of hard chrome. 
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| I live about a 10 minute drive from Ford's refinishing. They do custom finishing/refinishing for Magnum Research, STI and others as well as individuals. For a Master Blue, Horace the owner will blue the metal then use #555 polish to get it really "shiney". Think of a blued gun polished to almost a mirror-like finish. When it's done by someone that really knows what they're doing it looks absolutely beautiful. |
Website? Do they do Black-T? 
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Link to Ford's They do black chrome which isn't as wear resistant as Black-T or hard chrome. See their website for other finishes and prices. If you want to go with hard chrome, Virgil Tripp does great work and has a faster turnaround time than Ford's. Link to Tripp's The only place that does Black-T is the company owned by the person that invented the finish, Walter Birdsong. W.E. Birdsong & Associates Inc. 1435 Monterey Rd Florence, MS 39073 (601) 939-7448 |
Thanks for the info DocGun, always good to have options. Tripp did some work on my Kimber including Hard Chrome, and they did a fantastic job. 
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Overall my favorite finish for a 1911 has to be good ol’ bluing. A 1911 just looks right while wearing it and for a carry gun a bit of character and holster miles can sure tell a good story. Even in this day and age of spray-on/bake-on wonder finishes bluing can still hold it’s own for the overwhelming majority of users. That being said, IMO the number one most durable finish available is still hard chrome. I’ve got guns that were chromed and used well and are now over 30 years old and the chrome still shows no signs of giving up. Short of 100% rust protection hard chrome is the most durable finish available. Quite a few of the guns that Swenson built found their way to SEA and most are still around and useable due to their hard chrome finish. |
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How about Cerakote? ETA: www.jobrelatedstuff.com/forums/topic.html?b=1&f=5&t=362865. |