Cerakote finish

I shoot a Nelson on a Springfield Armory Range Officer frame. The Range Officer frame has a parkerized finish I think. But it's a dull military looking green sort of. The Nelson Custom Guns 22 conversion unit is black. I wanted the frame to match the conversion unit so the gun would look more uniform or more like a complete gun and not a frankenstein half and half piece. I looked into my options for having the frame refinished but I was wanting to stay low cost. Low cost is not necessarily what you want in a refinish job. But I think I found just what I wanted. 

A local (to me) company called "Amendment 2 Custom Coating, LLC" does custom cerakote work and from the pictures on their Facebook page I really liked what I saw. I felt pretty good about having them do the work and the price that was quoted to me was more than fair I thought. Here is his Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/amendment2customcoating/

The first picture is the RO frame and the Nelson before the refinish job and the second picture is after. Only the frame, mainspring housing, grip safety, thumb safety, and magazine release (catch) were coated. After receiving it and looking it over I think the slide stop that comes with the conversion unit may have been sprayed too. I can't tell really but I'm leaning towards the idea that it was. Overall I am very pleased with the outcome. I did not pick a color. I asked him to pick the finish he thought best matched. Graphite Black was the color of choice in a matte finish.

I have not fired the gun yet, but I have cycled it by hand and dry fired it. I can't not tell a difference at all in how it feels. No added grit, binding, I can't feel rubbing in the slide... I can't see any reason why the new finish would hinder any aspect of function. I can't feel a difference in the trigger either which is a big relief. I was nervous, not knowing what outcome I may receive. 

I would say if you can find someone who's very good at this, and is affordable in their rates, then this is a viable option for finishing a frame to match a Nelson conversion. I am not confident however just yet in having my wad gun finished with cerakote. After talking with some pistol smiths a concern of building a layer up with a new finish where the upper lugs lock, barrel hood, and the barrel bushing fits is a concern. If the gun was built with a spray finish in mind then thats different. But my gun is already built. It's as tight as it needs to be with no consideration to a spray on finish later in like. I do not know how thick of a layer the finish would be. So I will wait and research some more before having my 45 done. For now I'm happy with my 22. 

Nice look Jason.

Very nice. My lower is looking dull too. Nice option.
Ron

Very nice!  Graphite Black looks good!  I've got an early 90's Essex frame that is looking a bit ragged.  Cerakote may be just the finish.

Cerakote directly over a parkerized finish has proven to be very tough. The last few frames I've done we have cerakoted. For some reason in my old age my sweat has become caustic to bluing. Cerakote resolved that.

Given that we don't pull our BE pistols in and out of holsters mine have done very well. For the person who does a lot of his own work in house it's not a difficult process to master..nor is parkerizing

Let me say this much: I think there are kits out there that you can buy and do the job your self and there are some decent little spray gun set ups but I wouldn’t bother if it’s a gun you really care about. Make sure that who you take it to knows what they are doing and has a good track record. For a proper application and a good looking finish the parts need to be “media” blasted. You can use scotch bright or lightly sand it but blasting it allows an even job. And then there’s the experience and technique of spraying the parts that a professional will have that you may not. This guys knows what he’s doing and thats important if you want it to look right. Thanks for the compliments guys! This was mostly intended as a review/informative thread but might be just as much me showing off my newly finished toy.

one thing to look for in a Cerakote provider is to see if they are certified by Cerakote.. The company has a training program to teach folks how to properly apply it's products. over the years I've found them great to deal with and very helpful on the phone. They list their trained providers on their website..

My current 45 wad gun.. done in a combination of Graphite black and Socom blue.. a little oily, but this one was done glossy on purpose.. you can vari the gloss  easily from flat to semi gloss.

Nicely done Jason