CeraKote on a Colt 1911?

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thomis

thomis

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I have a Colt 1911 (model O1991) that I bought brand new a couple years ago. I love the gun but it is very difficult to keep rust spots from forming on this gun. I don't know why. I have a dozen other pistols, some I have had for 20 years and I don't have this problem with them rusting. Its just the Colt. I called Colt to address the issue with them and they just wanted to offer me their finishing options that are pretty expensive and they would have it for 9 +/- months.
There is a local gun shop here in NC that offers a "CeraKote" coating for what appears to be much more reasonable prices. I was wondering if this would be a bad idea to put such a finish on such a classic gun. Would like to hear your thoughts.
Thanks in advance.

http://ramarmsinc.com/cerakote-coating-services/?mc_cid=8a2c0e378e&mc_eid=224adbe7e4
 
I think Cerakote would be a fine option.

I like 1911's a lot, and Colt's in particular, but there isn't a whole lot of collector value to a 1991, at least to the knowledgable. They are the baseline gun, nothing wrong with them, but Colt has made a bunch of them. They are a good solid gun, and as long as the modifications are done by somebody that knows what they are doing, you shouldn't hurt the value.
 
When the original 1911 came out, only bluing and phosphate finishes were available. It's been over 100 years and better options are available so you shouldn't worry about using Cerakote as a surface protectant. When done right, it looks really good on a firearm.
 
I had one Cerrakoted several months ago. It's a great looking job and the Cerrakote distributor that did the job was only 30 minutes from the house. It was only $200.00 for the slide and frame in blue titanium with all the external parts in graphite. I added some new grips from VZ and i couldn't be more pleased.
 
I had it done to a RIA 1911A1 last year to tone down the huge roll mark on the slide. It's a good way to refinish a non-collector pistol.
 
Be sure and polish the feed ramp when you get it back.
Click to expand...

Will do, thanks.

I just dropped it off, it cost me $220 to do my Colt 1911 and one mag, in socolm blue (which is the closest to the factory blue) with a 1.5 week turnaround. I will post a pic or two, when I receive it back.
 
Coincidentally, I was just working on a trade via my local Armslist, to get a Colt 1991 Government Series 80, that had the frame Cerakoted in OD green. It looked really good,IMO. It's very functional, and the 1991 isn't a vintage classic or anything with collector value, so I wouldn't worry about it, go for it.
 
I have a Colt that I'm thinking of Cerakoting, a local 'smith said $80 for a single color and that sounds like a deal to me. I'd get it done!

Post pics when it's done!
 
$80 is cheap. Takes a lot of materials to do a good job.

And 1911's are tough because they go back together so tight. We had hell with the safety lever being too tight with the layer of Kote on there
 
Colt puts Cerakote on new pistols, I think you will be fine.
Click to expand...

This is news to me. What part of their 1911's do they cerakote? Mine was made in March 2013 and tried to form rust spots everywhere.
 
While not a 1911, I had a local shop Cera-Kote my Sig P6. That was last year, and the gun still looks new. It rides in my console, yet hasn't shown any wear. Function of all controls, and the action, has been 100%.
 
OK, and now that I'm not typing from my iPhone, here is the link for the guy I was talking about.
His prices are pretty reasonable, and his product is supposed to be really good.
He's only about 20 mins from my house (heck, Colt is only about 10 mins from the house) so I may give in and give the guy my 1911 at some point.
 
I just had several semi auto pistols cerakoted. Some the slide, some the frame, one barrel. You need to realize that guns with very tight specs may give you some trouble after being coated. I had a hard time getting a Steyr M9 slide back on properly. Needed quite a bit of TW25 and repeated fiddling. Cerakote can be pretty rough and it adds 1/1000 or so (not sure) inch to each surface its applied to. Heard that 1911's may have issues, better talk to the people first before sending the gun in.
 
David E said:
Be sure and polish the feed ramp when you get it back.
Click to expand...
It isn't really necessary to polish the feed ramp on a properly Cerakoted gun.

Valkman, if the applicator is only charging 80 dollars for the job, expect 80 dollars worth of work. 80 bucks to properly strip, sandblast, degrease, spray without debris, cure and reassemble makes me think "where is he skimping to make the cost so low?"

A bottle of Cerakote costs 30 dollars so he is only charging you 50 in labor. That's only one hour of labor.
 
Don't forget he also needs to buy acetone, blasting media, tape,etc.

He's gonna lose money on that deal, after the cost of his equipment too.
 
There is a guy in Ohio that I have gone to several times, who will reblue for less than the cerakote is costing you. Nothing wrong with cerakote, you will probably be very pleased. But if it were me I'd have the bluing redone, maybe have him put e nice polish on the metal before finishing it to give it a really nice shine. Just aesthetic preference though, as someone mentioned, they aren't collector pieces or anything.
 
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