Need advice--Want to refinish 1911

[snakeman21]

I will be the first to say that I know very little about gun finishes, and was hoping some of the more experienced people could lend some advice. I have a Rock Island Armory Tactical 1911 that is parkerized. I settled on the parkerized finish even though I really wanted a 1911 in nickel or chrome... really any version of the "silver" look. I have been thinking about refinishing my 1911 or selling it to buy one with a different finish. I am fond of this particular gun, so I would rather refinish it if possible.

I am still debating whether I want to leave a few things black, like the hammer, trigger, safety, slide release, and mag release.

I have very little money to spare so I cannot have it refinished by a gunsmith.

I was doing some research and am considering two things. One is beadblasting, but that raises an issue of equipment. I'm sure if I ask around, I can find a place that has a beadblaster and try to work out a deal.

The other method I am considering was suggested to me by a local gun dealer. It's a product called Quickstrip that claims to remove blued and parkerized finishes in a few minutes without damaging the metal. Can anyone verify this stuff works? If so, where can I buy it, besides online?

Link here:
http://www.iosso.com/MivaStore/merch...de=GunCleaning

Oh, and once the parkerized finish is removed, how much harder will it be to protect the gun from rust?

All things considered, would it be better to simply sell the gun and buy a new one?

[red dog]

do yourself a favor send a message to cruzans on this forum. he just had a gun refinished and it turned out great. sort of a satin silver grey look(hot). i do not think the costs were prohibitive. you could leave some parts parkerized and have a nice two tone like no other.

[mollymayhem82]

Whatever you do, don't beadblast it. If it's parkerized or blued, that means it's carbon steel, and prone to rusting. Bead blasting is basically putting tiny little holes in the surface of the metal; what happens to sponges that are left wet on the kitchen counter will happen to the surface of your gun. All the holes in the sponge traps moisture, which attracts bacteria. The holes in the finish of the metal will attract rust. Bead blasting is fine for stainless teel, not carbon steel.

[Neko456]

I'd suggest just buying another in Nickle or Chrome it may cost you near the price of your gun to get a new finish. Though I would say its not worth it I've seen some pretty nice looking ILamas or Sams chromed and two tone that I thought were NICE.

I own a two tone SAM that some one else customized its a good looking Gun, I bought it used for $399 at a Military surplus store. Same features as my $600 and $800 1911s.

[Brian Ahearn]

There ar a wide variety of ways to refinish your pistol from cerakote to duracoat ,gunkote I do those three types of refinishing . You could have it plated chrome ,nickle boron , ceraplate, cerahide, np3 and robar. It really boils down to how much money you want to spend. 2 color cerakote would run about 190.00 plus tax. Single color $170.00 duracoat is your cheapest option and could be done at home if yoy wanted to try it for yourself. Check my website out and see if it gives you any ideas. Also watch the gun pictures forum at the end of next week I will be building a Fusion Scout 1911 in 357 sig and documenting the build from a raw unfinished pistol to a finished product in cerakote. Take care guys and gals.

[cruzans]

Hey Snakeman - ahh Vermont, spent many winters there skiing I know Red Dog has seen my CZ with the new finish and it is a great way to re-finish at a very resonable cost! No offense to others, but I have never liked Cerakote or Duracoat, to me it looks like someone spray painted a finish on from a can.
The guy who did mine is in PA, check out his website

http://www.mahovskysmetalife.com/index.htm

Doing the whole gun with 1 magazine is $155 plus shipping.
Here is my CZ that I bought surplus and had re-done with metalife This picture really doesn't do gun justice, it is a flawless and tough finish.
Good luck and enjoy !

[Python73]

I'm going to vote don't do it. If you wanted a custom refinish I'm liking the cerakote results that have been posted about the net (and here) though I haven't gotten hands on one of them myself yet.

As for plating, my dad bought a 1911 that a guy sent out to get nickel plated and then couldn't get it back together. Nor could my dad. I ended up taking it to a smith to get assembled, and he had to replace several parts that were thrashed by the process.

There are plenty of nicely priced SS 1911s you could trade yours into. That is your best bet. Good luck with whatever you decide... and post us some pics.

ps - that is a sweet looking piece Cruz

[mrnyman]

Keep the RIA the way it it is, it is great just the way it is and save up for the shiny gun you want.

[Brian Ahearn]

When coating or chroming/plating care must be taken to keep the thickness to a bout .003 to .004 especially on new or newer firearms. If you are working on a well used firearm you can actually tighten up the fit which will improve performance overall, but on a very tight pistol you can actually create problems by over plating or coating. Any of you considering the rock island 22 tcm / 9mm combo pistol, I have been bugging my supplier every week waiting for that one to arrive. Should be a fun combo pistol to shoot. Take care.

[wellcraft]

i would just buy a new or used 1911 with a stainless steel finish before i fooled around with trying to re-finish the gun you have. the new ruger 1911 looks like a great pistol and they are affordable. springfield armory makes a stainless version of there GI 1911 and there are other good choices available as well. if you insist on a re-finish nickel plating can flake off but hard chrome is a good option but might be a little pricey.