Duracoat Two-Tone Opinions

[Olympus]

I just bought a new Citadel compact and this thing really looks sweet. I've read a lot of reviews and they seem to get good raves. But I've never been a big fan of parkerized finishes and I think this will be a good platform to do a Duracoat project. I'm a BIG fan of two-tone 1911s, so I want to do a two-tone Duracoat job on this. I'm having difficulties deciding what two colors I want to do. I don't want to get too crazy with the colors.

If anyone has pictures of pistols that they've Duracoated, I'd love to see. I like the black sides on green frames, but I see a lot of pictures of people who have gone with that color scheme. I was also thinking about doing a black slide with a desert tan frame.

 

[Olympus]

Here are some pictures of it.

 

[TimeIsRunninOut]

Not mine but looks good, http://www.hunt101.com/data/500/medium/11373IMG_2774b.JPG

 

[19-3Ben]

In my mind, other than military applications, coyote brown and OD green on a handgun are stupid looking (With OD being the significanly less awful of the two).

 

[Olympus]

I agree. I want to go with two-tone, and there's just not a lot of options other than black and silver, either black over silver or silver over black. I will probably end up using this a truck gun/backpack gun/ATV gun/whatever else gun. It's not going to be a show piece or a safe queen. I just want to give it a little different look.

 

[Olympus]

How decent are the Preval Aerosol Sprayer that they advertise? http://www.houtsenterprises.net/product190.html

I don't have an air compressor or airbrush or really have access to one. I've looked all the inexpensive compressors and airbrushes from Harbor Freight and other places and those start to add up on price, especially since I'm only going to be using it on this one gun. I could justify the price if I was going to refinish more than one gun, but for just one, small gun that is going to be a knock around gun, it just seems kind of like more expense than I need.

I've also been looking at the Gun Kote since it is aerosol as well.

 

[sarduy]

Black and chrome

 

[owlhoot]

To each his own, but I think your pistol looks far better as it is (and it is a nice looking piece). Painted finishes may have their place, but not on any of my guns. However, if I had to do it, I would certainly go for the flat black. Save the two-tones for the 57 Chevvies.

 

[Olympus]

I was only considering the Duracoat because it's a tough finish and I bought this gun to be used pretty rough. My experience with parkerizing is that it doesn't hold up very well with rough use and tends to be less corrosion resistant. And it just feels like frosted glass to my hands and that feeling gives me cold chills.

I've been looking at all these companies that advertise on forums and GunBroker for their refinishing services with Duracoat and comparable finishes too. They are charging $125 to $150 to have a pistol two-toned like I'm thinking about. I have a gunsmith who does an amazing hot reblue for $80 that I've had one rifle done already and it looks gorgeous! So I could have the gun blued as well.

 

[Olympus]

I finished the Duracoat project this weekend. So far, my only complaint is the slide. I chose HK Black which is a semi-gloss color. The sheen actually makes it easier to see all the imperfections in the metal and the tool marks. It it just a little too glossy for my taste. But I'm going to wait and see how the durability is before I decide to change the color to a more flat black. I'm super pleased with the stainless steel color though. It looks really good. The HK Black was quiet a bit thicker and was harder to get to spray evenly. I didn't think I would need any reducer so I didn't buy it, but next time I will thin it down a little and it will spray more evenly. Here are some pictures...

 

[19-3Ben]

Now that's a darn fine lookin' pistol.

I can see what you mean about the semi-gloss being a tad shiny. But you say it's for rough use. So once it gets knocked around a little, it might knock the shiny right off it!

 

[Olympus]

Thanks. And I was thinking that same thing. Maybe some holster wear will take the sheen out too.