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Finishes: Blued vs. Parkerized vs. Nickel

EM87

EM87

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If I want a black 1911, is that 'blued'? Or is a blued finish just dark but not black?

What's parkerized mean?

I know what nickel looks like but thought I'd include it in case anyone wants to comment on it.

Let this be a discussion on finishes.
 
B

Bikenut

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I don't care what finish a carry gun has because a carry gun is supposed to be with me and work when I need it so the emphasis is on reliability and dependability... not how it looks.

And not only is holster wear a foregone conclusion but bumps and scrapes will happen when practicing with said carry gun.

Come to think of it... with the exception of a very few collector pieces... every pistol I have has at one time or another served as a carry gun.
 
EM87

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Bikenut wrote:
I don't care what finish a carry gun has because a carry gun is supposed to be with me and work when I need it so the emphasis is on reliability and dependability... not how it looks.

And not only is holster wear a foregone conclusion but bumps and scrapes will happen when practicing with said carry gun.

Come to think of it... with the exception of a very few collector pieces... every pistol I have has at one time or another served as a carry gun.
Click to expand...

For a carry gun, I can agree with you. I think my GLOCK is kind of ugly, but it works. Thing is, I want a pretty gun now, so I'm getting a 1911. It probably will end up as a carry gun if I like it enough.
 
EM87

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So if I want a black 1911, what finish do I look for? From what I can tell, blued and parkerized don't make black, they make a dark blue or gray.
 
Big Gay Al

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When I lived in the People's Republik of Illinois, I knew a Cook County cop who used to serve warrants with a nickel plated 12 gauge. I asked him why, his answer, he wanted to be sure the perps saw the gun. "The shinier it is, the bigger it looks, the more likely they are to come peacefully."

This is the same guy that I went into a NW Cook County biker bar with, to stop a bar fight, him and me (I was working as a part time officer in a nearby suburb at the time), go in on opposite doors, close them, and he fires a shot from his shotgun into the ceiling, and then yells out loudly, "Ok, we've got you surrounded. put down the weapons and put your hands up!!" And they did.

That's when I realized, I didn't get paid enough.
 
B

Bikenut

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EM87 wrote:
Bikenut wrote:
I don't care what finish a carry gun has because a carry gun is supposed to be with me and work when I need it so the emphasis is on reliability and dependability... not how it looks.

And not only is holster wear a foregone conclusion but bumps and scrapes will happen when practicing with said carry gun.

Come to think of it... with the exception of a very few collector pieces... every pistol I have has at one time or another served as a carry gun.
Click to expand...

For a carry gun, I can agree with you. I think my GLOCK is kind of ugly, but it works. Thing is, I want a pretty gun now, so I'm getting a 1911. It probably will end up as a carry gun if I like it enough.
Click to expand...
Ahhh but... :) if you wind up liking it enough you won't want to take the chance of holster wear or the possibility of nicks and scratches....

Please don't ask how I know that...:D (says the owner of a couple of guns that live inside the safe.)
 
WARCHILD

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It's all personal preference but I have found over the years, nickel is a nice "show" finish; but the maintenance is way to high if you don't enjoy cleaning them whenever you handle them. My experience was no, not worth the time and effort to use as an everyday carry gun.

JMO
 
O

office888

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Blued finishes vary, it can be a very medium blue, all the way to a black.

Blued finishes aren't very durable, but they benefit from the fact that they're "pretty", and they're easily reapplied in "scuffed" areas.

Parkerized finishes come from an old military finishing process. It's a pretty durable finish, that's impervious to most solvents, it's hard to scratch off (but it CAN come off), and it gives it a nice matte finish that's non-reflective.

Parkerizing CANNOT be reapplied. The entire gun would have to be stripped down to nothing, the old finish would have to be removed via media blasting, then the entire finish would have to be reapplied.

Nickel is blingtastic.

-Richard-
 
EM87

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office888 wrote:
SNIP

Parkerized finishes come from an old military finishing process. It's a pretty durable finish, that's impervious to most solvents, it's hard to scratch off (but it CAN come off), and it gives it a nice matte finish that's non-reflective.

Parkerizing CANNOT be reapplied. The entire gun would have to be stripped down to nothing, the old finish would have to be removed via media blasting, then the entire finish would have to be reapplied.
Click to expand...

Sounds like a pain to refinish a parkerized gun.

How would I determine the blackness of a 'blued' gun? I can have a certain blued 1911 ordered for me, but I don't know what it will look like...
 
O

office888

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EM87 wrote:
Sounds like a pain to refinish a parkerized gun.

How would I determine the blackness of a 'blued' gun? I can have a certain blued 1911 ordered for me, but I don't know what it will look like...
Click to expand...

Extremely. My Springfield is starting to look a little "used"..haha.

Best way? Look at it in person. Most of them on the market are pretty dark. If all else fails, you can apply MORE bluing on top of the factory bluing to darken it.

-Richard-
 
Big Gay Al

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WARCHILD wrote:
It's all personal preference but I have found over the years, nickel is a nice "show" finish; but the maintenance is way to high if you don't enjoy cleaning them whenever you handle them. My experience was no, not worth the time and effort to use as an everyday carry gun.

JMO
Click to expand...
I dunno. I've owned blued, nickel and stainless. Stainless is the most maintenance free, but I LOVE nickel finishes. "Precious." :D
 
WARCHILD

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Nah...stainless all the way...durable, low maintenance and if you get the polished instead of the matte finish, it can be mistaken for nickel.

JMO
 
kwikrnu

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I had a springfield 1911 with a black T finish I carried for a year or so. It was a nice handgun, I shouldn't have sold it.

9.jpg
 
kwikrnu

kwikrnu

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That was a professional. I think they do the trp in the finish also and maybe the TGO2. They will also refinish other guns, I think. You would have to contact the custom shop to find out. It looks good, but it does get scratched. I was pretty careful with mine and always worried which is one reason I sold it.
 
Bronson

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When we went to the range together the full sized 1911 was blued and the compact was parkerized.

There are also different types of nickel plating. Hard chrome is a type of nickel plating that is reputed to be very durable. The big problem with a nickel finish is that you have to use different cleaning solutions. Anything with ammonia (Hoppes 9 solvent) in it or that is designed to dissolve copper is bad for a nickel finish. Well, it doesn't hurt the nickel itself but if there are any scratches in the nickel layer and the solution can get to the copper sub-layer and dissolve it your nickel plating will start flaking off.

If you want a pretty black gun go for a deep blue. If you want a durable black gun go for parkerized.

I want acolor case hardened1911: Olympic Arms Westerner

full-westerner.jpg


Bronson
 
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