Repairing a scratch on blueing?

[PonyFiveO]

Hello,

I am looking to buy a COLT from a friend, but it has a obvious scratch on it.



I am wondering if it is something that can be repaired without re-blueing the entire frame, or if it is something I can do myself with with one of the blueing products from Birchwood Casey and a fine paint brush? Is there a local shop in the South Bay that can fix this? How much would a repair like this cost??

Thanks!

[taloft]

There are any number of products that will do. You can get blue pens from any number of gun accessory sites. It looks to me that it is normal wear from dropping the slide release. I wouldn't worry about it. You might reblue it just to find yourself doing the same. Here's an example http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/te...h-results1.jsp

[KrazyKevy]

It looks to me that it is normal wear from dropping the slide release.

Thats not normal wear. Thats the famed "idiot scratch" when first time 1911 owners do not know how to push back in the slide stop. As you can see the slide stop does not go down that low for it to be normal wear.

Ditto on the Blueing pens also. They make several colors of blue to suit that color frame. I have seen some cover ups with blue pens and you can not even tell there was a scratch.

[taloft]

You are correct.

Yep, dialing it until it slid off of the detent plunger would do it. Well, a good reminder to RTFM. Good call, I didn't even think about the length of the scratch.

Thats not normal wear. Thats the famed "idiot scratch" when first time 1911 owners do not know how to push back in the slide stop. As you can see the slide stop does not go down that low for it to be normal wear.

[PonyFiveO]

Thanks for the leads guys. I believe it is a Colt Series 80 with probably less than 1500 rounds through it. My friend is asking $300 for it. Should I do it?

[xenophobe]

How can you go wrong on that price?

[taloft]

I agree, you got a bargain there. Especially, in Kalifornia.

[Kruzr]

If you had to replace everything except the frame and slide and get it refinished, that would still be a very good price in CA.

[superhondaz50]

$300 is a definite bargain! Sharpie....... easy way for a qucik re-blue, I scrathed my off list lower behind the buffer threads, and used this to fix it, looks great! If not, the Birchwood Casey blue pens at any gun shop work great, but the actual cold blue solutions by them are much more durable, and fix scrathces very well!

[avidone]

Thanks for the leads guys. I believe it is a Colt Series 80 with probably less than 1500 rounds through it. My friend is asking $300 for it. Should I do it?

I will if you won't!

[PonyFiveO]

DAMNIT!

Ok, you guys talked me into it. It looks like I'm going to be out $300

[PonyFiveO]

Ponyfive0-

thats a great bargain for a series 80.. i have several myself.. :-)

As for your "idiot scratch".. I would use use a sharpie.. Ive used the Permablue stuff and despite what anyone here says, i think the results generally look like CRAP..

My first series 80 Colt was blued. I scratched the slide... i read that you could touch it up with Permablue.. I touched it up, but it looked ugly as heck.. There's a couple of different mehtods for blueing, a gun..HOt vs Cold.. All the guns you see in the store with that beautiful blue sheen.. thats Hot blueing..harder to do..requires a lot more equipment and skill... Cold blueing is what you get from using those little bottles (permablue).. They DO NOT PRODUCE THE SAME FINISH...

that said, the permablue i used darkened the area, but the final finish did not match.. It looked uneven, darker, and like a wet smudge.. I was so annoyed by it, I sandblasted it with Alum. Oxide and parkerized it.. It looks ok, but i sorta wish i had not ever messed with the Permablue stuff.. Remember, blueing is a chemcial process so once you do this, the metal is permanently changed.. you wont be able to re-do it wihtout beadblasting your frame and having it professionally reblued.. Admittedly, your scratch is small.. and honestly, I would use a sharpie and color it in.. i would really really stay away from any of the cold blue stuff as it doesnt work all that well.. you coudl potentially create a huge and even MORE UNSIGHTLY blemish in that area by using a permablue pen..

just my .02 cents

Thanks for the heads up! I will try the Sharpie first before I try anything else. If it REALLY bugs me I will send it off to these guys have them refinish it in black and silver like in their example...

http://cgi.ebay.com/REFINISH-YOUR-1911-Kimber-Colt-Springfield-MAGAZINE_W0QQitemZ7227789243QQcategoryZ36258QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

...unless there is a shop around here that can do that for about the same price??

[PistolKidd]

hahahah... KG Gunkote.. high teflon content, high moly content.. i think i still have cans of it somewhere..in OD Green, Flat Blk and Satin Blk...oh man, I did that too.. lol..it looks pretty damn good when you first do it..but the stuff does wear and when it does..it looks like CRAP..

I did it to my friends AK74 and man..that thing still looks like a million bucks.. but then again, it was already dark black from the parkerizing.so it doesnt show as much when it wears through...

There's no miracle finish that's going to protect your gun from everything.. some finishes are obviously harder/stronger than others.. but in my opinion, spray type finshes are among the weakest.. I've seen Alumahyde and some of the other stuff from brownells.. and it all wears pretty badly.. though the corrosion protection is extremely good.. I Gunkoted my OEM Sig magazines and to this day they havent rusted on me!!

I'd stay away from paying anyone to finish my gun that way..I'd rather save up and have it reblued or if you're a bit adventurous, parkerizing is extremely easy to do..you jsut have to have a blasting cabinet to get good results..
anybody wiht 1/2 a brain and some patience can parkerize.. and it's freakin fun if you have enough guns that will take a 'park' job :-)

Since you're paying so little for the gun, my honest recommendation is to take the saved money and do useful modifcations... all the cosmetic stuff you do now will in all likelihood need to be redone if you have any work done to your pistol..some brands of sights and beavertail require you to remove material from the frame or slide.. exposing bare metal.. this will require you to refinish it.. things like checkering will also entail redoing your finish..

I say you shoot that 1911 like theres no tomorrow.. throw it in the sand, kick it across the yard.. get to really know it.. figure out what you want and then when you wanna sink more money in..go for the really useful stuff.. sights, trigger, beavertail!!! cosmetics are nice, but i'd rather have a franken-gun that can shoot vs a queen that can just sit pretty..

Your scratch is pretty light... that sorta thing shouldnt cause you any lost sleep.. put the gun down and take a step back..think of it this way...

its a Colt 1911 Series 80..you got it for 300 bucks.. it still looks quite good... i'd buy it right now for $400 wihtout blinking at that scratch..

[PonyFiveO]

Thanks for all the useful info We will make the transfer next week. I think I will do the sharpie repair and leave it at that for now. The usefull mods that I want to do right away is trigger, extended slide release, extended safety lever, hammer, and hogue grips. I will probably use it as my main range gun (beater ) If you or anyone else knows of a good site for 1911 parts and modifications, please post them!

I found out that it has less than 1000 rounds through it and has been sitting around most of the time. Originaly, he offered me his Kimber TLE II for $400 because he thought that it was the one with the scratch. Come to find out that it was the Colt with the visable scratch, so he decided to keep the Kimber and offer the Colt to me for $100 less than what he asked for the Kimber

[BigMac]

So what about that scratch... dont use a sharpie.. anyone can tell you touched it up with a sharpie. I just bought a REALLY nice Jerico and the inside safty was "refinished" with a sharpie to cover up the carry wear from the shoulder holster. It is a super cheesy fix.
Youll refinish that gun just to scratch it yourself the first time you clean it while your tired or your budies distracting you..

Go buy it.... you buy it and send it to me and I'll give you an extra hundred... thats how good this deal is. go buy it.