As a preface, this is my duty weapon… been with me a long time. I believe since 1995. Long after the first set of Tritium sites went completely dim. She was put up dirty more than once, yet never failed me, and has actually been as reliable as any “wheel gun” I’ve ever had. Lost count of rounds years ago, but many springs later, she’s still more than accurate enough for combat purposes. Her finish had seen better days though, and as luck would have it, I ran into a local gunsmith, Brad, of Selph Arms located in Buda, Texas. They are right down the road from me here in Austin. Brad had his AR with him that he had coated with NIC Industries OD Green Cerakote. I must say I was impressed. If you’ve never heard of Cerakote, you may find a quick search interesting. This was the first I’d experienced with this particular coating first hand. I was already familiar with coating processes of various types having come from Aerospace manufacturing years ago, and currently familiar with automotive ceramic coatings… the work was flawless. After conversing for a while, it was decided my poor, beat up old G23 would get a two tone treatment. So as to prevent me from rambling on forever, here are the pics:
First, sadly, I forgot to get the “before” pics… however, the finish was not much better than the rear site that came off of it.
Had the slide done in Black and the frame in OD Green… after seening some of his other work, might have to have him redo the slide in his rough, stainless matte finish.
Attenttion to detail is lacking neither outside, nor inside!
I was fairly concerned about coating the polymer frame… esp knowing how hard I can be on my “tools”. Yet, this is two weeks of use both in a full duty rig, and an inside the pants holster. I tend to throw my duty rig around as my POV has Recaro seats. So daily use is not just on my hip, but bounced around coming both on and off duty.
Another angle…
And the other side… I’m quite happy thus far. If the stuff holds up well enough, my shotgun and carbines will end up with their own schemes later on. As well as the Wife’s J-frame.
I’ll update the post as time goes on… the good, the bad, the ugly. Whatever may come. As I said before, I’m not kind to my gear, yet also have experience with various coatings in aerospace and automotive applications. A lot about prep can be told once work like this is completed. From what I see, I don’t expect any surprises here…
