Marshall
Member
Can anyone tell me the benefits to one over the other?
The products are Springfields Loaded 1911's.
The products are Springfields Loaded 1911's.
Parkerized Finish vs Armory Coat
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Sean Smith
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Both finishes are ugly, but the Armory Coat will have much better corrosion resistance than parkerizing. Parkerizing by itself isn't that good a finish.
Harold Mayo
Member
Armory Kote is a spray & bake finish that offers corrosion resistance just because it blocks water from touching the metal. I don't personally find it very attractive but some like it. It will scratch and show wear more than a lot of finishes.
Parkerizing is a GREAT finish, IMHO. I always go with either a regular bead-blasted blue or with a parkerized finish when I have a choice. Parkerizing is really VERY rust-resistant as long as there is oil in it. I will normally detail strip a parkerized gun and soak all of the parts in an industrial-type open gear and chain lube, wipe away the excess, reassemble, and then I'm good to go for quite some time. Only normal cleaning is required. I have had more success with keeping a good-looking gun without visible wear and without rust by using a parkerized finish than I have with any other dark finish.
Neither of these finishes are as good as hard chrome, but that wasn't your question.
Parkerizing is a GREAT finish, IMHO. I always go with either a regular bead-blasted blue or with a parkerized finish when I have a choice. Parkerizing is really VERY rust-resistant as long as there is oil in it. I will normally detail strip a parkerized gun and soak all of the parts in an industrial-type open gear and chain lube, wipe away the excess, reassemble, and then I'm good to go for quite some time. Only normal cleaning is required. I have had more success with keeping a good-looking gun without visible wear and without rust by using a parkerized finish than I have with any other dark finish.
Neither of these finishes are as good as hard chrome, but that wasn't your question.
Marshall
Member
Thank you, that helps tremendously!
I prefer the parkerized finish. I usually soak the outside finishes in something like CLP with teflon. Once it soaks in really good it protects great. For the inside I use something else as I don't like how the CLP will gum up over time, but for the outside this is a good thing for protection.
natedog
Member
Is there just a standard blue finish for the loaded pistols?
Harold Mayo
Member
Yes, you can (or could...I haven't checked them out for a year or so) get the "loaded" pistols in a regular blued finish.
bokchoi
Member
The pictures of the Parkerized finish on Springfield's website probably aren't the best indicators as to how the finish looks.
Parkerizing is an excellent finish, inexpensive to apply, and very rust and corrosion resistant, especially if you follow the advice of other members and give it a good oil treatment. Contrary to the picture, Parkerizing is actually more of a grey-ish color than it is black, though much of that depends on how much and what kind of oil you treat it with.
Armory Kote, or any teflon-based coating, is also an excellent finish, very rust and corrosion resistant, and has inherent lubricity which reduces overall friction, though oiling is still a good idea.
Personally, I prefer teflon, simply because I'm not a real fan of the rough feel of Parkerizing nor the grey-ish color, which I can never seem to shake off no matter how much oil I try to treat it with. That said, however, I do own a Springfield Loaded with a Parkerized finish, simply because the low cost justified my purchase, and I can get it teflon'd at a later date once I wear through it.
Parkerizing is an excellent finish, inexpensive to apply, and very rust and corrosion resistant, especially if you follow the advice of other members and give it a good oil treatment. Contrary to the picture, Parkerizing is actually more of a grey-ish color than it is black, though much of that depends on how much and what kind of oil you treat it with.
Armory Kote, or any teflon-based coating, is also an excellent finish, very rust and corrosion resistant, and has inherent lubricity which reduces overall friction, though oiling is still a good idea.
Personally, I prefer teflon, simply because I'm not a real fan of the rough feel of Parkerizing nor the grey-ish color, which I can never seem to shake off no matter how much oil I try to treat it with. That said, however, I do own a Springfield Loaded with a Parkerized finish, simply because the low cost justified my purchase, and I can get it teflon'd at a later date once I wear through it.
cratz2
Member
I like blued guns... Even if they are worn quite a bit. But I'm a cleaning fanatic. My carry guns are well lubed (but not over-lubed).
Parkerizing can be attractive and I find it more attractive than the poly coats. By all counts, the spray and bake coatings are more corrosion resistant and certainly more wear resistant. The parkerizing looks consistant and looks finished... the Armory Kote has more of a tendency to look 'goopy'. On the other hand, the Armory Kote is consistant in color and sometimes the parkerized Springfields look a bit mismatched from slide to frame. For the kind of person that takes pride in appearances and will take regular care of his or her guns, I think it's just a personal decision. For those that want to by a gun, shoot it regularly and clean it once or twice a year, hard chrome or poly coats are what I would suggest.
As a side note, Springfield's bluing is very black but it is very attractive in my opinion. Considering how little polishing and final finishing they do before bluing, the blued guns look very good. Main reason I sold mine is it came with the Cylinder & Slide Safe Action thingy. Loved how it looked though.
Parkerizing can be attractive and I find it more attractive than the poly coats. By all counts, the spray and bake coatings are more corrosion resistant and certainly more wear resistant. The parkerizing looks consistant and looks finished... the Armory Kote has more of a tendency to look 'goopy'. On the other hand, the Armory Kote is consistant in color and sometimes the parkerized Springfields look a bit mismatched from slide to frame. For the kind of person that takes pride in appearances and will take regular care of his or her guns, I think it's just a personal decision. For those that want to by a gun, shoot it regularly and clean it once or twice a year, hard chrome or poly coats are what I would suggest.
As a side note, Springfield's bluing is very black but it is very attractive in my opinion. Considering how little polishing and final finishing they do before bluing, the blued guns look very good. Main reason I sold mine is it came with the Cylinder & Slide Safe Action thingy. Loved how it looked though.
Sean Smith
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That could be said of almost anything, including a matte blue job. To me, it doesn't say much about a finish's qualities if you have to soak it in oil to make it work. Hell, rub enough FP-10 on a piece of bare carbon steel & it won't rust. Recall that the military didn't adopt parkerizing because it was better than bluing, but because it was CHEAPER.
By the way, many of polymer finishes are applied over parkerizing so they stick to the gun better. Roguard and Armor-Tuff are both applied this way. You can also have Gunkote applied over parkerizing. Any of these options would be better than just parkerizing or a polymer finish by itself.
Prodigalshooter
Member
My Champion came from the factory parked, I had them do the black Armory coat later and I'm very pleased with the resulkts. It's only been a couple of months, so I can't speak to long term as of yet.
Harold Mayo
Member
Who did the stippling on your Champion, prodigalshooter?
cracked butt
Member
Parkerization is very god corrosion resistant coating. And it should be treated with oil- the parkerized finish actually soaks up the oil and provides good lubrication, unlike other finishes where the oil just sits at the surface and can be easily wiped or washed off.
Prodigalshooter
Member
Sorry Harold, just getting back to this thread. I sent the Champion to the SA Custom Shop, they did the stippling and the Armory Coat. Very good job too! I'm very satisfied with the work.
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