Stainless or Parkerized?
- Thread starter flynnguy
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Jim Watson
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Parkerized looks Army. Holds lube. Shows holster wear.
Stainless seldom rusts, shows wear less.
Stainless seldom rusts, shows wear less.
Zach S
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For a carry gun, I prefer stainless.
If I lived in PRNJ, I'd get the parked one.
If I lived in PRNJ, I'd get the parked one.
AK103K
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Depending on who does the park, it can be a decent finish. The finishes done by specialty/private shops are usually better than what comes on guns from the big name companies, or at least the guns I've had were.
The fact that it holds oil is one of the reasons it tends to be a little more rust resistant than blue. Like anything else, it will show wear from riding in a holster. Nothing is immune from that.
Stainless has its own issues. While it is rust "resistant", it will rust and corrode if you dont maintain it. You especially see this under the grips and in spots that are hard to get to on guns that are carried. It also is softer than carbon steel, and will show scratches and wear more quickly.
I think the best of both worlds for a carry gun is hard chrome. It holds up better to hard use than either of the others, but it too will show wear over time and like anything else, you have to maintain it to some extent.
The fact that it holds oil is one of the reasons it tends to be a little more rust resistant than blue. Like anything else, it will show wear from riding in a holster. Nothing is immune from that.
Stainless has its own issues. While it is rust "resistant", it will rust and corrode if you dont maintain it. You especially see this under the grips and in spots that are hard to get to on guns that are carried. It also is softer than carbon steel, and will show scratches and wear more quickly.
I think the best of both worlds for a carry gun is hard chrome. It holds up better to hard use than either of the others, but it too will show wear over time and like anything else, you have to maintain it to some extent.
kildar
Member
Go with stainless. Easier to clean and care for. Any scratches can be buffed out and you won't have to have it refinished if you do any mods to the gun.
Z-Michigan
Member
I own a Springfield 1911 mil-spec. It's a good basic 1911, and has been reliable. Unfortunately I really dislike the super-sharp slide serrations (where you grip it to rack the slide) and the tiny slide release lever. The former is not fixable. I would reconsider the model choice based on this feature alone.
Mine is parkerized and it's a good parkerizing job. However, the stainless version would be less maintenance worry. Parkerizing provides fair rust resistance but needs to be kept oiled, so you really should clean the gun and lightly oil all metal parts after each range session. With SS you don't worry about this. Most of my other guns are stainless or tenifer coated (carbonitriding). IMHO, tenifer is the best coating, but I don't know of any 1911's that have that coating.
Mine is parkerized and it's a good parkerizing job. However, the stainless version would be less maintenance worry. Parkerizing provides fair rust resistance but needs to be kept oiled, so you really should clean the gun and lightly oil all metal parts after each range session. With SS you don't worry about this. Most of my other guns are stainless or tenifer coated (carbonitriding). IMHO, tenifer is the best coating, but I don't know of any 1911's that have that coating.
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