Black/blued barrel and hammer for colt series 70 1911?

[guitarguy314]

Hi all,

I'm looking at buying a new Colt series 70 1911.

I really like the look of blued/dark metal with wood grips, but it seems that the series 70 comes with a bright silvery hammer and barrel. I know this is the least of my concerns, but does anyone make black/blue replacements for these parts (that will blend in with the rest of the gun)? ie. not blacker black or shinier black etc...

Is there any reason I don't want (or shouldn't have) these parts in the darker coloring?

Thanks!

L

 

[nettlle]

Although I agree a black barrel looks nice this will wear with firing. As far as black hammers and triggers Brownell's has a pretty good selection of black 1911 parts.

 

[JTQ]

You can see the wear pattern on this blued Les Baer barrel

http://john1911.com/les-baer-trs-1911-30000-rounds/

 

[guitarguy314]

Thanks! How long do you think a blackened barrel would last? Would it wear right away ...or gradually? Would it be more overall wear, or minimal "turn ring on a revolver" like wear (wearing only in certain areas)?

 

[JTQ]

I think the barrel hood would probably show wear, if it is just blueing, with the first box of ammo shot through it. There are several more durable dark finishes than blueing, but all would show wear eventually.

 

[nettlle]

Not very long. Barrels in the white show wear marks pretty quickly both on the hood and were the barrel rides inside the bushing.

 

[guitarguy314]

Thanks JTQ. That's very helpful!I like the look of the barrel at 30k rounds than the shiny new stock one. haha.

 

[guitarguy314]

Would the new dark barrel match the exterior bluing of the gun if I got it in another finish? (Froghurr and JTQ)

 

[nettlle]

What other finish?

 

[guitarguy314]

JTQ mentioned that a blued barrel would wear fairly quickly and mentioned other more resilient finishes. I assume these would be vastly different color wise, cerokote, matte black etc...

 

[JTQ]

Rogers Precision Cerakote's all kind of stuff. Here are some of his new, unused stuff. Note the barrel hood.

http://www.rogersprecision.com

He's commented on a few forums that he thinks the finish is pretty tough. I searched for some worn pictures (I'm pretty sure I've seen them - I can picture in my mind his well worn gun with a kydex holster repaired with mailing tape), but couldn't find any in a quick look.

I seem to remember his other comment about Cerakote is it is fairly easy to apply (by a skilled Cerakote person), and not that expensive, that he just reapply's it when the gun gets to a point where it bothers him.

 

[guitarguy314]

Ah I see, that's where they've recoated the whole gun right?

 

[JTQ]

The PhotoBucket backlash has taken down a lot of pictures across many forums. I've seen some from a guy that couldn't stand the stainless barrel on his Auto Ordnance, so he coated it with something that I can't remember. It wasn't a real close match to the AO parkerizing, but it didn't stand out as much as the stainless hood did. However, I believe it showed wear pretty quickly.

 

[JTQ]

Ah I see, that's where they've recoated the whole gun right?

Yes. He's a custom builder, so he did the whole thing to match.

 

[nettlle]

The barrel wear is metal to metal both on the hood against slide and barrel against bushing. A coating, now matter what it is made of, is going to wear off in time. If barrels were made of a steel that was black all the way through that would work best of all. Or knife blades of black steel that wouldn't have a white shiny edge when sharpened.

 

[guitarguy314]

JTQ. Thanks again. That's definitely something to think about

Froghurr: Do they make such a barrel?

 

[nettlle]

If we could figure out a way to dye steel black both of us would be millionaires .

 

[JTQ]

Robar has some finishes https://robarguns.com/custom-firearm-finishes/blackened-stainless-steel/

 

[guitarguy314]

Froghurr: Ha. So you're saying Brownell's probably isn't going to have one in stock? XD

JTQ. Thanks! I'll definitely be looking into different finishes as an option.

 

[Reloadron]

Something you may want to give a little thought to is not all standard 1911 barrels are a simple drop in. Most of the better barrels also come with the barrel bushing fitted to the barrel and there is a matter of the linkage or barrel links for barrel to frame fit. The term "semi drop in barrel" is pretty popular. These are just a few things you may want to give some thought to when considering a 1911 barrel swap.

Ron

 

[NIGHTLORD40K]

I blued the rust-stained bolt on both my 10/22 and one of my SKS, they turned out bretty snazzy lookin- no significant wear yet.

 

[Malamute]

I think youre way overthinking this. Youd buy new parts to get them blue? Why not either cold blue the parts on the gun or have them hot blued by a gunsmith? Cold rust blueing is also a home done possibility. Brownells oxpho blue has been the best cold blue Ive used.

Ive blued some 1911 parts, the sides of the hammer show scratches from the recess in the slide it goes into when down, the barrel top also shows wear. Neither particularly bothered me, though the inside of the slide lugs could be carefully polished to reduce that, as could the inner edges where the hammer touches. ive done it on revolver frames also.

Ive cold blued and had hot blued all my hammers on 1911s Ive had as seemed easiest at the time, same for Ruger SA revolver hammers and triggers, I never cared for the polished sides. Same for several rifle bolts.