Refinished my 1911

[mickar15]

My son bought me a Taurus PT1911 a year or so ago. I love the pistol, but there were a few things I wanted to change on it. The blue finish is very thin. It didn't take much for it to begin to wear. I didn't like the pimped out gold lettering on the slide either. So, I decided to refinish it.

I bought some Norrells moly resin some time ago to refinish an AR15. Had real good luck with it and it was easy to do. Other guys I shoot with liked it, and my son and I ended up doing five AR15s with it. The color I have is Grayish Flat Black.

Here is the pistol before refinishing.

I detail stripped it of every thing but the grip bushings. I then washed the frame and slide in hot soapy water. Next came a liberal amount of degreaser. I put a small amount of painter's tape over the face of the sights to protect the white dots.

I heated the parts with a heat gun and my son weilded the airbrush sprayer,($12.00 from Harbor Freight.) We put on several thin coats. My son liked the way it looked, so we did his RIA 1911 the same way.

Next step, into the oven at 300deg for an hour.

After it cooled, I oiled it down and reassembled it. I added some new Hogue ebony grips from Midway.

I love the way it turned out, and I know from my AR15 experience, how well this finish lasts.

 

[originalhonkey]

it a cool gun and its even cooler you and your son did it together!!! rep for the father son work!!!!!

 

[jblomenberg16]

That looks very good! Almost looks like park, but definitely has the nice flat AR grey to it.

 

[Kimbertrace]

Nice! Can you do mine?!?!

 

[roscott]

Wow. That's a really cool gun.

 

[NHT3]

Looks better than you described.. Great job

 

[dubsac]

You might have a little part time hobby there as good as those look.

 

[jpserv]

Looks great. Extra points for finding time to still be able to teach the son something new.

 

[Robert Richardson]

Great job! Looks like a real 1911 now.Father-Son project Great!!!

 

[muncie21]

What oven is that?

Oh, the Taurus looks pretty good also

 

[jmiller676]

Nice work!

One question: Does this fill in the SN# or are the coats watered down. The way I think is if you have a piece of wood with indents and you paint over them you can fill them in, does the same work with this process? I don't know anything about refinishing guns.

 

[mickar15]

What oven is that?

Shhhhh... Be vewy, vewy quiet...thats my wife's oven!

 

[mickar15]

Nice work!

One question: Does this fill in the SN# or are the coats watered down. The way I think is if you have a piece of wood with indents and you paint over them you can fill them in, does the same work with this process? I don't know anything about refinishing guns.

Yes and no.
Some of the lettering on the slide is barely visible now. It was not etched very deep to begin with. The serial number is etched much deeper, and is still clearly readable. The finish is very thin. It is not as thick as spray paint, but is much more durable. It is not comparable to a rattle can finish, which will wear off quickly. This will have to be sandblasted to remove it.

 

[Eprobertson1]

From experiance, I know that the 1911 is a great shooting pistol. You have now made it a great looking pistol as well. Great JOB!!

 

[andrewheath]

That looks great. I've been having the same issue with thin blueing myself on my taurus. This might be the answer should i ever get the bug to remedy the situation.

 

[IndyGunworks]

might just be me, but i prefer the dull blued look better.... not to say it doesnt look good now, i would just prefer the blue.... adds character to me, but this is coming from a guy trying to get some hot bluing tanks running....
that being said, how does the moly-resin hold up to abuse? is it solvent resistant of the types of oils we use to clean out guns?

 

[mickar15]

Norrells claim that the US Army uses it to refurbish their M4s.

On my own AR15s, it looks just like the day I put it on. It is totally resistant to solvents. I use brake and carb cleaner all the time, and no effect on the finish.

Speaking of blue, KG makes a Gun Blue moly that I am thinking of trying. I'm sure it won't look as good as a deep blue can look, but for a DIY, it might be worth a shot.

 

[redneckmedic]

LOOKS GREAT... I like the ghost tiger stripes myself