VictorLouis
New member
I am unable to post photos as of yet, but I did want to provide my intitial impressions for those of you considering it.(There are some great pics of a M629 here.) http://www.pistolsmith.com/viewtopic.php?topic=6971&forum=16&9
For those not familiar with a M-28 Highway Patrolman, the top and bottom of the frame and grip are all matte blasted. The barrel, and the sides of the frame and cylinder are all satin blue. Prior to metal prep, the blueing was(and must be) chemically stripped off. The satin areas were polished out to a high gloss, save for the cylinder flutes and the barrel, which was blasted to match the top and bottom of the frame.(Due to some heavy tool marks, an equal level of polish would've dulled the rollmarks considerably.) A layer of pure chromium(not hard chrome) was applied to the metal first. As was explained to me, this was to seal off the pores of the metal surface, and for corrosion resistance. The BC is for hardness and wear resistance.
Fresh out of the box, the finish is almost pewter in appearance. Fingerprints appear translucent on the polished areas and much darker when you touch the matte areas. The polished areas almost resemble nickle, but with a much darker gray color. The matte areas are a dull deep gray, much like that color of parkerizing. Like that process, it was explained to me that the BC finish actually holds oil, hence the reaction to the oil in my fingerprints. Once oiled over, the whole gun darkens up considerably. The polished surfaces now look blued, and the matte looks almost exactly like Ruger's Target Gray finish on the .480 Redhawk.
This process is done under intense vaccuum pressure and moderate heat. This actually sucks out any oil and particulate matter from the most minute recesses in the gun. That leeching, as it's reffered to, can be cleaned up to some extent as it surfaces. This gun is old enough to have a pinned barrel, which I did not remove for coating. Surrounding that barrel pin, there is a tiny rainbow 'halo' on each side. Obviously, there wasn't anything which could be seen with the naked eye during application, and it appeared in the end result. It's not glaring enough to bother me, but I know how persnickity many of us forumites are. The bottom line is, you can assure perfect results on your gun with perfect preparation. They've allied themselves with the Colorado School of Trades, but other gunsmiths can submit work also.
I've not had the chance to shoot it yet, but I plan on documenting the rounds and cleaning sessions. That way, I'll be able to provide some concrete info as to how well it holds up over time. I'll try to get some photos up when I can. Needless to say, I'm already considering which will be the second gun I send off for the coating.
Here are a few other links for those of you who are interested:
http://www.pistolsmith.com/viewtopic.php?topic=4958&forum=34&26
http://www.thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=8996&highlight=boron +carbide
For those not familiar with a M-28 Highway Patrolman, the top and bottom of the frame and grip are all matte blasted. The barrel, and the sides of the frame and cylinder are all satin blue. Prior to metal prep, the blueing was(and must be) chemically stripped off. The satin areas were polished out to a high gloss, save for the cylinder flutes and the barrel, which was blasted to match the top and bottom of the frame.(Due to some heavy tool marks, an equal level of polish would've dulled the rollmarks considerably.) A layer of pure chromium(not hard chrome) was applied to the metal first. As was explained to me, this was to seal off the pores of the metal surface, and for corrosion resistance. The BC is for hardness and wear resistance.
Fresh out of the box, the finish is almost pewter in appearance. Fingerprints appear translucent on the polished areas and much darker when you touch the matte areas. The polished areas almost resemble nickle, but with a much darker gray color. The matte areas are a dull deep gray, much like that color of parkerizing. Like that process, it was explained to me that the BC finish actually holds oil, hence the reaction to the oil in my fingerprints. Once oiled over, the whole gun darkens up considerably. The polished surfaces now look blued, and the matte looks almost exactly like Ruger's Target Gray finish on the .480 Redhawk.
This process is done under intense vaccuum pressure and moderate heat. This actually sucks out any oil and particulate matter from the most minute recesses in the gun. That leeching, as it's reffered to, can be cleaned up to some extent as it surfaces. This gun is old enough to have a pinned barrel, which I did not remove for coating. Surrounding that barrel pin, there is a tiny rainbow 'halo' on each side. Obviously, there wasn't anything which could be seen with the naked eye during application, and it appeared in the end result. It's not glaring enough to bother me, but I know how persnickity many of us forumites are. The bottom line is, you can assure perfect results on your gun with perfect preparation. They've allied themselves with the Colorado School of Trades, but other gunsmiths can submit work also.
I've not had the chance to shoot it yet, but I plan on documenting the rounds and cleaning sessions. That way, I'll be able to provide some concrete info as to how well it holds up over time. I'll try to get some photos up when I can. Needless to say, I'm already considering which will be the second gun I send off for the coating.
Here are a few other links for those of you who are interested:
http://www.pistolsmith.com/viewtopic.php?topic=4958&forum=34&26
http://www.thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=8996&highlight=boron +carbide
The more polished the surface, the darker the resulting color will be. It's the matte surfaces that turn out with more of a gray color.