Refinishing my Kimber Stainless Covert and rounding the butt **Pic Heavy**

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  • wagyu52

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    Sep 4, 2011
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    So, I have this Kimber Stainless Covert, I tried to sell/trade it but never really got anywhere. I decided insted that I would fix what I thought was wrong with it. Namely the cheap, Krylon like finish called Kimcoat, it's as durable as cake frosting. In the process I decided to add a Wilson Combat round butt main spring and fix some defects Kimber decided to cover-up with said coating.

    Seeing on how the gun was stainless I thought I would sand blast it, I bought a hand held blaster at Carquest ($50) and ordered some 80 grit blasting soda(25lbs for $18) on Ebay (it is not very aggressive) from Tacoma company in WA. Not really knowing what I was doing. The soda took off the coating but left it dark and not very durable. Lost I called the people in WA. They were great help, he explained how I had to blast it with glass abrasive to "fluff" the metal then "peen" it with glass beads to make it hard and put a shine on it. They sent me 100 grit glass abrasive and #9 glass beads, 5lbs of each for $20! I've got less than $100 in the finish.

    In between the finish removal and the bead blasting I decided to install a WC round butt main spring housing replacing the plastic one, this required filing on the frame :eek: this was the hardest thing to do, up until this I figured I could send it to be NP3 coated, this is irreversible. I took my time and didn't use any power tools, it was easy and I love it, well worth the time and effort. Kimber had left a lot of rough spots, there was a scratch under the coating on the slide and all the safeties had casting lines on them, and a nasty spot were someone tried to drift the front sight. I sanded these imperfections with 400 grit paper and WD40.

    Here are some before pics.
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    And some during pics
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    Slide repaired
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    Slide refinished on top Frame stripped w/ soda below
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    Frame and new MSH
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    With the old housing in
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    Finished
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    Frame striped w/ 80 grit soda
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    Frame after 100 grit abrasive blast
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    Fame after #9 bead blast DONE!
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    The finished product minus new sights I also blasted the grips and stained them black and installed a new trigger. I am very pleased with the results
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    Last edited:

    sig1473

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    May 28, 2009
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    The Greater Good
    Looks good!!! I second on the KimPro finish.......The ABSOLUTE worst finish on a +$1000 gun. My Tact Pro II's finish is already peeling off. It is a little over a year old with less then 200rds through it. :(
     

    mshogren

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    Nov 20, 2010
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    I know what I am going to do to my Carry CDP II when the finish starts to go...

    Put a round butt on a Colt defender, but sold it. Felt great!

    Mark
     

    wagyu52

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    Gun looks a lot better. Have you shot it yet? Wondered if it felt any smoother.

    Yes, it shoots nice, I put a mag through it just to make sure it functions. I was worried that by blasting it and also the lack of a coating it would loosen up the slide to frame fit but the people at Tacoma Company assured me that there would be no metal loss and that the peening of the beads would compensate some for the loss of the coating and would give it a very smooth finish. They were correct the fit is not any different from what it was and the action feels as slick, if not better.
     

    wagyu52

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    Sep 4, 2011
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    Looks good!!! I second on the KimPro finish.......The ABSOLUTE worst finish on a +$1000 gun. My Tact Pro II's finish is already peeling off. It is a little over a year old with less then 200rds through it. :(

    Right there with Ya. How much harder would it have been for Kimber to just finish these guns out properly? Like I stated I have $20 in this! And a small amount of time sanding, maybe 6 hrs on the fit and finish. But I am an amateur in his basement! A skilled person in a gun smith shop could have done this in 2-3 hrs. I would tell you to defiantly do this it is well worth it and it was fun! There is a place on the web called Cummings custom refinishing that sells kits to do nickel :cool: I want to do another one now!
     

    BluePig

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    Looks like it worked better than you thought it would.
    I see you ended up getting a copy of the Jerry Kuhnhausen .45 book too.
    Between this project and the chicken house, you have been one busy person.
    Good job om metal removal too.
    Maybe we should see about looking for a mill?
     

    wagyu52

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    Looks like it worked better than you thought it would.
    I see you ended up getting a copy of the Jerry Kuhnhausen .45 book too.
    Between this project and the chicken house, you have been one busy person.
    Good job om metal removal too.
    Maybe we should see about looking for a mill?

    Yep, May have to quit my paying job to take care of my hobby jobs :D You will have to come down and shoot it, and bring a couple of Sig's with you :ar15: Got any suggestions on a brand of night sight?
     
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