D.Hayden Posted October 20, 2003 Share Posted October 20, 2003 I'm ordering a new Kimber, and trying to decide between the Stainless or Blued finish. For those people that have had or used Stainless version of pistols, have you found the light color to be distracting in USPSA? I like the look of Blue, but I'm thinking of Stainless for the wear properties. Thanks, Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tightloop Posted October 20, 2003 Share Posted October 20, 2003 Do the stainless, less wear and tear on the pistol. You won't notice it at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Ankeny Posted October 20, 2003 Share Posted October 20, 2003 Ditto tightloop. I shot a stainless Gold Match for a few months. Good looking pistol and shot well too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loves2Shoot Posted October 20, 2003 Share Posted October 20, 2003 Neither - HARDCHROME Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D.Hayden Posted October 20, 2003 Author Share Posted October 20, 2003 Ok, I'm new , I see that alot, what is hardchrome? It has to be done after the fact right? And it's done to SS or Blue or both? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ErikW Posted October 20, 2003 Share Posted October 20, 2003 On the stainless, you won't notice it as long as you don't polish the top of your slide. At best, factory stainless pistols have lightly polished sides only. (I had a friend with a SS Gold Cup who went to town with polishing compound on the slide flats. Bling!) Few factories offer hard chrome finishes. Several plating companies do it. I think it takes best to carbon steel. I think it can be done to stainless but it's not ideal. It's super-hard, resists scratches and chips, doesn't "wear" off (it sort of polishes on high-wear areas), and cleans up easily. I've got chromed magazines I've been dropping on gravel repeatedly and you'd never know it. And by looking at them, you'd never guess tens of thousands of rounds have been through my hard chromed guns. It's the shjt, as they say. Unless you want your blaster to look like you dry fire 4 hours per day and practice 5 days a week with it, then just get your basic blue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhino Posted October 20, 2003 Share Posted October 20, 2003 If anything, a stainless slide kinda helps since it makes it easier to see the front sight. (The black of the front sight contrasts with the lighter color of the slide) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tightloop Posted October 20, 2003 Share Posted October 20, 2003 After a few thousand rounds, you begin to worry lots less about what your pistol looks like and begin to treat it more like the tool that it is. Not abuse it, mind you, just worry lots less about what it looks like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ErikW Posted October 20, 2003 Share Posted October 20, 2003 rhino, sorry, but I've got to say No Way Jose. If you can see that much of your slide, you've got to work on your technique or get a rear blade with a notch under .25" wide. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davecutts Posted October 20, 2003 Share Posted October 20, 2003 What tightloop said, a tool. And who says you can't abuse a tool, and still use it well. When I say abuse I mean ask alot out of when you are using it. As an aside I'll be getting my new open blaster hard chromed after I run another couple thousand rounds through it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D.Hayden Posted October 20, 2003 Author Share Posted October 20, 2003 you begin to worry lots less about what your pistol looks like Besides cosmetics, is there differences in the slide wear, from one to the other? My current Kimber has almost 3,000 rounds through it. It's only a couple months old, so I'm not sure how it'll look long term. Especially in areas I don't see (like under grips, under the grip safety, internally, etc.). I was thinking that the SS would prevent corrosion more, especially when shooting near 'the bay' or while it's raining. There's no external wear marks I can see, but I can see inside the slide, wear the bluing is gone. I use that as a visual cue where to make sure the slide-glide goes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Run n Gun Posted October 20, 2003 Share Posted October 20, 2003 BarkKim, I have a stainless Gold Match and I have plans to have it hard chromed. Go here to read more about it. I wanted my gun to be well broken in and then get it hard chromed to PRESERVE the tight tolerances. I’m sure you realize that the high carbon stainless steels used in guns WILL rust, just not as fast; perhaps they should be call stain RESISTANT steels. Hard chroming will put an end to that nonsense. Erik, The statement you made about stainless steel being a less than perfect candidate for hard chroming gave me pause (see above). So much so that I called THE (ex) hard chrome Guru Virgil Tripp himself and ask if that was true. I can happily report that stainless guns CAN be hard chromed and the results will be the SAME as a carbon steel one. Ed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D.Hayden Posted October 20, 2003 Author Share Posted October 20, 2003 I’m sure you realize that the high carbon stainless steels used in guns WILL rust, just not as fast Ok, I didn't... I've seen stainless rust (maybe oxidize would be better of what I've seen), just figured it wasn't as pure or something. Did you find a new place to have it done? I'm curious as to how much it would cost. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Run n Gun Posted October 20, 2003 Share Posted October 20, 2003 Virgil used to charge $150. I asked him, now that he doesn’t do that anymore, who HE would recommend and he said… forgive me, I couldn’t quite make out the name (I’m not fluent in “West Texan” anymore) but it sounded sort of like “Metalloy” (?). I’m in NW Oregon and there’s a company in Portland that a lot of the local guys have been using. While I’ve SEEN the results (it LOOKS good) I don’t have any details such as how well it actually works. It’s supposed to be less than a hundred dollars. As the time nears for me to have my gun done I’ll research it further and report back Ed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhino Posted October 21, 2003 Share Posted October 21, 2003 rhino, sorry, but I've got to say No Way Jose. If you can see that much of your slide, you've got to work on your technique or get a rear blade with a notch under .25" wide. Heck, it's idle speculation on my part since I don't use my sights anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scooterj Posted October 21, 2003 Share Posted October 21, 2003 had my para frame hardchromed and slide blued. I like the look of a two-tone gun Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twix Posted October 21, 2003 Share Posted October 21, 2003 Oh man Rhino I'm glad you pointed that out. For how often I actually use my front sight, it's probably not worth up grading on a cost per use basis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhino Posted October 21, 2003 Share Posted October 21, 2003 Sometimes even I have something helpful to add! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ErikW Posted February 2, 2005 Share Posted February 2, 2005 If anything, a stainless slide kinda helps since it makes it easier to see the front sight. (The black of the front sight contrasts with the lighter color of the slide) Well rhino, so much for my second-rate Master opinion. I recall back in November at Area 2, TGO said he liked a stainless slide because his sight stood out better. But then, he is a two-eyes-open, target-focus freak of nature. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cking Posted February 2, 2005 Share Posted February 2, 2005 Stainless seems to be popular, however I don't like it for anything other than barrels. Not for the color reason, I do hate shiny guns, but for wear on mating parts. Forgings used to be better than cast. However the castings have improved so metal density is not much of problem any more. I still find that stainless less than stellar on mating surfaces. Although I can't prove it, my bet is that a good chromemoly steel will out wear a stainless in area of the rails on todays guns. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChuckS Posted February 18, 2005 Share Posted February 18, 2005 TGO said he liked a stainless slide because his sight stood out better. That's what they all say on his Home Planet... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now