I’m looking to refinish a slide and frame of my 1911 in desert tan. (Similar to Kimber Warrior finish).
I checked both websites but I’m looking for real world experiences. How durable is the either finish?
I’d also like to refinish the slide stop, safety, grip safety. So thickenss of the coating is also a concern.
Which one is better?
Thanks in advance
Paul
Gun Kote is better. It has a tougher finish, but needs to be cured in an oven.
People tell me Norrel’s MolyResin is quite good.
I haven’t used it, but I don’t want you to overlook any of your options.
Duracoat is the only finish Ive used so far
#1 Painting supply store get a small Air compressor and a decent airbrush(some thing that’ll last 4-5 finishes)
#2 Go to the supermarket and get some plastic measuring spoon’s & wax cup’s so you can mix the hardner and paint .
#3 Break down the firearm as far as you can and degrease it .
#4 with some gloves use 3m painters tape and tape off area’s you dont want the DC getting into and to avoid finger print’s . I put parts in the oven for a bit after Ive hit them with degreaser like brake clean,trustrip etc… so the oil I miss starts to run then I hit the part in question again .
#5 Go outside on a warm day or if you have a garage open the door to ventilate the air and proceed to spray the part’s .
#6 After you let the parts sit for a bit you can either let them sit on a shelf/table or put them in a oven to cure them . I let the parts sit for a week/s before assembling them back together .
Thanks for the info. I’m currently set up for powdercoating so I do have an oven available. All I would need is a small airbrush to start refinishing.
I’m going to blast the frame and slide with nickel slag (as I read that glass bead in not acceptable).
Does anyone know how thick either finish is?
Any more tips or info is appreciated.
Talk to Grant about Cerakote. He gets gun parts and mags done in this all the time. The mag I have with FDE Cerakote is holding up well.
I think he quoted me about $120 do do a 1911 Slide, but I could be wrong.
Off topic but you mentioned the “Kimber Warrior Desert Tan”- the Kimpro Finish is Junk! My fingers wear off the Kimber finish.
When I mentioned the Kimber I was only thinking about color. I heard that Kimbers don’t have a long lasting finish on them.
My recommendation would be to use one of the ceramic based paints for a handgun as other finishes like Duracoat won’t hold up as well. Cerakote and Duraheat are the ones I am familiar with. I am having Les Leturno of Custom Firearm Finishes www.customfirearmfinishes.com refinish two my Kimber 1911s with Duraheat.
Duracoat like finishes are more than adequate for longguns, however I think Duraheat or Cerakote finishes for handguns is the way to go due to holster wear. Of course Robar NP3 is superb, but you are limited on the colors last I checked.
S/F
I really like Duracoat.
I have Kimpro on my regular Warrior too. It sucks.
If someone did a reliable boron carbide finish or a DLC (diamond-like carbon), I’d go for it in a heartbeat. We use boron carbide at work to hone tungsten carbide tooling. Diamond has a hardness of 10.0 on the MoH scale. Cemented tungsten carbide is around 9.0 so boron carbide has to be up there between the two. I’m not sure what type of ceramic particles are suspended in cerakote but ceramics are definitely the group of hardest materials out there, though ceramics aren’t problem solvers if the binder is wimpy and lets the material shear off.
I’ve been less than impressed with Gun Kote. Seems to chip. Could be the craftsman, I’ll admit.
Cera Kote didn’t hold up as well as I wanted it to. This is after a few thousand draws, split roughly 70/30 between a G-Code kydex holster and a Sparks Watch 6 (that was REALLY tight when new). It had a nice texture when it was new, but it’s pretty much all gone off of the slide now. The beavertail and MSH are thin as well. I realize that all finishes are subject to wear, I just thought this one would hold up a little better.
Dang I was almost set on Gun Kote. Although we don’t have CCW laws in Kanada but I will use a holster when for class etc.
Keep them coming guys…
Doh, that’s kind of dissapointing. Ceramic is harder than metals, but it looks like whatever binder is used to hold onto the ceramic particles on cerakote isn’t very abrasive resistant.
I guess in practice, maybe PTFE and molybdenum filled epoxy coatings work better since instead of being super hard, they have great lubricity and low friction…probably helps for part-on-part wear. I can see where ceramic coatings might act like sandpaper-on-sandpaper for areas like the beavertail or slide.
I’ve been thinking about going in with a friend on a cheap Harbor Freight bead-blasting set up, just for guns. He has an upper he wants to do, and I have two guns I’d like to redo. I wonder if that wouldn’t be the answer for getting the finish to adhere better?
And they’d be right! 
I’m happy with Duracoat.
Me too!
Someone told me that this company has the refinishing contract for HK (which is stated on their website):
http://www.arizonaresponsesystems.com/
I like the finish on my USP45 Tactical, and I’m thinking that a custom M1911 would look nice in that as well.
Cerakotes ability to hold up, really comes down to if it is applied correctly. From what I know, very few companies do it correctly. The reason I say that is because Cerakote won’t generally show any signs of wear for a long time.
C4