Colt Detective Special refinish?

[DMMikey]

I love my Detective Special. I've had it back to Colt once, for a function check over. Works great. Problem? Someone covered it in some kind of do it yourself black gooey finish. Well, it's only gooey on the cylinder, and only then after I've shot 18-24 rounds or more. It needs a refinish. I'm not sure what finish I want or where to send it. Colt is advertising they do refinishing of their firearms. I've seem some postings of work done by Ford.
i'm open to any ideas for this. It's only a semi-classic, so I don't think something a little different would be any kind of sacrilege.
Please chime in.

 

[mapsjanhere]

Have you tried to get rid of the gooey stuff? A good soak in a solvent based paint remover might take it off and maybe expose an acceptable finish underneath. Or the opposite, it might show a lot of pitting and scratching that a previous owner wanted to hide (and which would drive the refinishing cost way up since it needs to be polished before the finish is applied).

 

[DMMikey]

The gooey stuff does partially dissolve with Rem Cleaner. I have a feeling it's something like Krylon. It's not real thick, I don't think there is any major rusting or pitting underneath that could be hidden. What has come off shows mostly shiny bare metal, like someone steel wooled the piece before painting. I think a refinish is in order, it certainly isn't going to hurt the value at this point. My only concern is that if it isn't just paint, it might be add significant expense to the refinish job. I may see how much more I can just wipe off. I don't want to soak it in anything, I don't think. I am afraid of whatever it is getting into the action and rehardening.

 

[mapsjanhere]

The gun needs to be disassembled for refinishing anyway, so soaking the paint off can be done without worrying about the internals.

 

[Dfariswheel]

Colt can refinish it with any number of finishes.
They do a first class bluing that's up to original standards, and if you want it even prettier, they can do the Python type Royal Blue.

They also offer hard chrome, bright nickel, and matte black.
Their prices are competitive, and it reduces the value less than a non-factory finish.

Ford's and APW/Cogan offer many more finishes, from the epoxy or polymer "paint" type coatings to first class hard chrome in finishes ranging from the original satin gray, to a stainless look, to a full bright polish that looks like bright nickel.

For a carry gun hard chrome is hard to beat. It's still the best all-around gun finish, and it's one of the few that's really considered to be a life time finish.

Armoloy of Texas will even hard chrome plate the bore and chambers.
Their hard chrome is in the original satin gray finish.

Forget trying to remove the crud. Let the refinisher do it. They have to strip the old finish anyway.

 

[DMMikey]

just the kind of specific info I was looking for, Dfariswheel. Nice to know Colt's prices are competitive. Would you have any pictures of what the original, gray or matte chrome looks like? I like the idea of chrome for it's durability, but not too crazy about the shine. I guess i'm not sure about how that would look on such a small piece, and I doubt the gun is in good enough shape to wear that shine without showing a lot of defects. Or maybe it is, it really doesn't look pitted, it may be possible to polish it. I'm just feeling in over my head here. Something more durable than the original blue would be nice, I like carrying the thing more than any of my other toys.

 

[saemetric]

Colt did my Python in hard chrome(Armoloy) and added the Elliason sights back in 1980 thru the Custom Shop-

 

[DMMikey]

Great shot, Saemetric. I really appreciate that. I searched again, using different terms, and have found more shots for more ideas. My original search didn't yield much, should have realized that there had to be a lot of stuff on here.
I had my doubts on the appearance of hard chrome on a revolver, but it looks great on yours. Of course, it's kind of hard to make a Python look bad.

 

[trex1310]

Here is my Det Spl in nickel.

 

[ClydeFrog]

Metal coatings/treatments, $$$, posts...

I'd review a few older forum posts about the same topic to get some details, reviews, choices.
This subject pops up from time to time here.
In my opine, depending on your selected uses(concealed carry, field, duty, protection), your budget/$$$, your personal choices(color, appearance, etc), you have a few great shops to pick from in the US of A;
I'd look over www.Bearcoat.com www.Black-T.com www.APWcogan.com www.Robarguns.com . There are a few other popular services out there too but I don't recall all the names/websites.
Robbie Barkman's well known NP3+ could do well. Black or Green T is good & popular with law enforcement/military special ops. Bearcoat is a great value & offers a fast shop time. The firm has many color choices too.
Accurate Plating & Weaponry has the practical NIC/Cerakote coating.
The website has a high tech color chart where you can view the NIC designs(black, grey, blue, tan, brown, camo, etc).

ClydeFrog