question about refinishing

[noles149]

I just bought a used Rock Island 1911 at a gun show last weekend and wanted to clean it up a little bit. I've already bought new grips for it but I would like to refinish it because it looks as if the blueing is rubbed off in a few places. I was wondering what would be the easiest way to make it look better. I was thinking about just reblueing it, but if there is a way to make it look even better than that I would do it. Any advice you guys can give me would be appreciated.

[MCPO]

I'm definitely no RIA expert but all the ones I've seen are parkerized not blued. Either way, here's a very well respected refinsher I know of (if your going blue or a different finish vs parkerized CCR Refinishing (http://www.ccr-refinishing.com/)

For parkerizing Parkerizing (http://www.parabelluminc.com/parkerizing.htm)

Usually takes 4 to 8 weeks depending on backlogs so be prepared to be without for awhile :(

[MAC79912]

They sell blue touch up kits but it will not blend in with the parkerized finish.After scratching up my first RIA I sent it in to get the od green finish.I think I paid about 150 and shipping.

[nightal]

They sell blue touch up kits but it will not blend in with the parkerized finish.After scratching up my first RIA I sent it in to get the od green finish.I think I paid about 150 and shipping.
about 7 years ago I bought a 3oz bottle of Birchwood Perma Blue at dicks sporting goods I have used it on 5, guns to touch up and reblue parts still have 1/4 left. used it today to go over my r.i. twice both slide and frame. works for me , good luck....

[noles149]

about 7 years ago I bought a 3oz bottle of Birchwood Perma Blue at dicks sporting goods I have used it on 5, guns to touch up and reblue parts still have 1/4 left. used it today to go over my r.i. twice both slide and frame. works for me , good luck....

I was looking at getting the perma blue because its so cheap and easy but wasnt sure how good it would look. You don't have any pictures do you?

[Hawkmoon]

The RIA GI models are Parkerized, but their fancier models with slanted front and rear cocking serrations are not. They don't look like they're GunKoted to me, so I'd guess they are a fine matte blue. If that's the case, I think worn spots could be retouched rather effectively using Brownells Oxpho-Blue liquid cold blue product. Brownells also has other cold blue liquids, including one that claims to produce a darker (but not as durable) blue. I bought a small bottle of that one to try, read the instructions about all the precautions necessary when using it, and went right back to Oxpho-Blue.

To make the appearance better, you could polish the flats. A way to do that at home is to lay a sheet of 1/4" plate glass on a flat work bench surface. Lay a sheet of very fine automotive wet/dry sandpaper on the glass, and gently work the slide (or frame) back and forth on the sandpaper. If you start with around 400 or 600 grit and progress up to about 1200 grit, you can get a very high polish surface on the flats that plays off nicely against a matte finish on the curved surfaces. Then cold blue the whole thing.

[nightal]

noles149, no pictures, sorry . I carry my guns, over the years you drop them, put them in the car trunk, take them in the boat fishing, take them in the woods while cutting wood,and a hundred other places. life is hard on a gun you use and carry. the range bag is the most dangerous if you have two or more guns, to many sharp things in there. as time goes by your guns marred on all kinds of things i clean them, keep them oiled,when gets to bad i tear it down clean, reblue and reoil, good to go again. three of my gun are parkerized i use the blueing on them also, after you use the blue i use a rag with a lot oil to keep wiping it down seems to blend in after awhile ,a park finish is more porous than blue it will hold the oil.try it .it works for me, good luck.

[Sam Dunham]

With Nightal on this one unless you want a show peice just keep it cleaned and oiled, and use it with regular care. If you want it to look pretty have it re-finished.

[bushmonkey9]

np3 by robar http://www.robarguns.com/
it's what I'm gonna do when I get my tactical in, worth the money and better than the parker.

[Cap]

I just bought a used Rock Island 1911 at a gun show last weekend and wanted to clean it up a little bit. I've already bought new grips for it but I would like to refinish it
I was wondering what would be the easiest way to make it look better. I was thinking about just reblueing it, but if there is a way to make it look even better than that I would do it. Any advice you guys can give me would be appreciated.

I used Birchwood Cassy cold blue to touch up the frame tangs after i installed a beaver tail grip safey.
It matched pretty well on the tangs.
but didn't match as well on the end of the hammer I bobbed .

For grins and giggles, I sand/polished one of the slide flats in a similar mannor that Hawk described.
Then tried the cold blue.
I wouldn't say it was "bad", but was less than the results I was looking for.

I ended up Duracoating the whole gun.
I found the process to be fairly easy and I'm satisfied with the results.

http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i84/larycap/Picture361.jpg


Last night I detailed stripped my RIA 38 super and started prep to Duracoat it

I don't carry my 1911s and they're rarely holtsered, so I have not a clue how well the Duracoat finish holds up to that use


..L.T.A.