GI back from the refinisher

[Gunsnrovers]

In early January to start 2005, I picked up a SA GI for a project I wanted to DIY on. In early February, I posted some pictures and a list of what I had done to date.

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=121632

After all the work and not wanting to leave well enough alone, I decided to do some final updates before sending it out for a refinish.

I changed out the MSH to a SA with laynard loop (this is my going to the desert/camping/off roading/hiking pistol and I've left enough gifts to the Gods of the sand dunes that I didn't want this pistol to be one of them), an Ed Brown safety, and EGW sear, an Ed Brown disconnector, filed down the front sight to improve POI, and took a file to the slide for a mild melt.

My biggest gripe with SA is that their pistols have rough sharp edges. No more. A file and 400 grit sand paper and there is nothing to snag your hands on this pistol any more. I also recontored the hammer and grip safety tang to fit me better. The melt is very mild and not easy to see, but if you wipe your hand over the pistol it flows smoothly.

All this fiddling left a lot of bare metal and a bunch of mismatched finish so off to the refinisher it went. I wanted a very solid durable finish suitable for the outdoors. Gun Kote over parkerizing is pretty hard to beat so off it went to Mac's Shootin' Irons in Arizona. Good price. Good service.

It came back looking great.





Some folks in the past have asked about the Yost Bonitz rear sight. Here is the sight picture:

 

[STAGE 2]

You keep reading my mind with all of your upgrades. How does the Gunkote stand up to the elements compared to the parkerizing, and what color are those VZ grips.

 

[Gunsnrovers]

The VZ's are green canvas.

Gun Kote is great over parkerizing. The parkerizing gives it a good surface to adhere to. Gun Kote is a spray and bake polymer which has good corrorsive resistant qualities. The parkerizing base coat helps it maintain it's lubricity and adhesion to the base material.

There are finish experts here who can give more details and there have been more then a few posts about different finish qualities. I won't pretend to know much more then that I like it. It holds up well. I will continue to use this finish on other pistols.