As for the refin, hey, blame the Army, not me!
If it WERE in its original blued condition, I'd never consider using it as a carry gun, and I would instead have turned the world upside down looking for a pair of original two tone magazines for it.
Yes, 1918 is correct. Did you call and ask, or did you get that from a book?
Anyway, it's not like this gun gets shot or carried much anyway. Realistically it gets maybe a hundred rounds through it a year, averaged out over the past ten years.
It's a good shooter, and I'd like to shoot it more, but I don't want to beat it to death, either, so it gets light use. I'd trust it absolutely as a carry gun, though.
In actuality, for concealed carry I'd probably want to pick up something like a Colt Defender, which I tried and liked very much. The plastic trigger (and any other plastic parts) needs to be replaced with steel parts where practical, but the rest is quite nice for me. The trigger is quite nice for a factory gun, and I'm not all that picky about triggers anyway. I tried the LDA Para Ordnance design, and quite frankly hated the LDA action. Cocked and locked is better for my tastes.
CJ