Finishes For Handguns

[Hokus Grey]

Just wondering what options are out there for finishing a pistol.

I'm looking for the full range, so I know about Duracoat, but what about cheaper options?

Anybody do any coating for a decent price?

Just checking to see what's out there.

 

[Nonus]

Paint
Bluing
Parkerizing
Plating
Powder Coating
Polished metal

That is all I can think of at this moment. However if you have the sprayer/compressor then the cheapest and easiest would be painting the bugger. Just strip the finish, degrease and paint.

 

[OneBarfly]

do it at home parkering is the cheapest

 

[tjhaile]

Hard chrome plating isn't cheap, but it is extremely wear and scratch resistant.

 

[BCRider]

Hard chrome also builds up a layer that is almost as thick as many paint options but without the same ease at masking off areas. Keep that in mind when it comes to slide or other clearance issues.

 

[Wendell]

Iron oxide is the cheapest, and you can get it anywhere.

 

[tjhaile]

Iron oxide is the cheapest, and you can get it anywhere.

The tricky part is getting the black kind, rather than the red kind.

 

[rodagra]

The tricky part is getting the black kind, rather than the red kind.

Please elucidate.

 

[tjhaile]

Bluing is black iron oxide.

Rust is red iron oxide.

 

[rodagra]

Uhh Huh. It's the 'tricky' part I was referring to. The old plumb brown is a more durable finish than any cold blue as far as I can see, but harder to find around here than the blackest blue.

 

[Wendell]

The best kind of blue, certainly not the easiest, but the best if you would invest sweat equity, is rust blue.

Search rust blue.

 

[tjhaile]

Uhh Huh. It's the 'tricky' part I was referring to. The old plumb brown is a more durable finish than any cold blue as far as I can see, but harder to find around here than the blackest blue.

It's a joke! Presumably, one would want to have their gun blued and not covered with rust. I did not realise that browning is a controlled red oxide process, but, according to Wikipedia, it is.