HollowPoint
12-14-2016, 09:36 PM
I bought this pistol back when Kimber first introduced their line of 1911 pistols to the market place. If I remember correctly, there were touted as the first 1911s with all the custom features being sold for under the $500.00 price point. Even at that price it was really expensive for me at the time but, I always wanted a custom 1911 and this was the only time I thought I'd ever be able to afford one.
I think it's been over twenty years now and that pistol has been virtually trouble free. It's digested everything I've ever shot through it. It's the reason I took up reloading and bullet casting. I shot it so much I couldn't afford to keep buying store bought bullets or loaded ammo any more.
Before applying the new coating, if you'd seen the surface finish of this pistol you could clearly see that this gun had been places and done things. I've told people this before but I really don't think folks truly believed me. It sounds to far-fetched to be true but, I've killed more coyotes with this Kimber 1911 than I have with any of the dedicated "Coyote-Guns" I've ever owned. This is not because I'm any kind of great coyote hunter or pistol marksman but, because most of the coyote kills I've gotten with this pistol were just targets of opportunity and this is the sidearm I always carried while in the field. It was the quickest gun to get to any time I happen to stumble onto a hapless coyote while bumming around in the sticks.
Coyotes used to be plentiful back in the day; not so much now. I think they've gone nocturnal for the most part.
Anyway; I was looking on the FleaBay auction site and I came across a seller who had some one-pound samples of "Olive-Drab" and "Desert-Tan" powder for sale. I knew that would be way more than I'd ever need so I contacted him to ask if he'd sell me a half pound of each color for the price of one. Even a half pound of each was way to much but I inquired anyway and to my surprise he agreed to do it.
Man! My Kimber looks like brand new. For my first time powder coating a firearm, it really came out nice; at least to my eyes. I guess powder coating all those cast bullets may have given me enough experience to do a decent job on this pistol.
I was kind of leery about the contrast between the two colors being a little to stark so; since both powders were the same brand and composition, I decided to mix it at about a three parts Desert-Tan to a 1/4 part Olive-Drab just to darken the lighter of the two colors just a bit. The Olive-Drab was such that when applied to the slide it went on with a slight texture. By itself, the Desert-Tan was formulated to go on smooth but with a dull finish. Mixing in a bit of the darker colored powder not only made it a tiny bit darker but also gave it a very faint texture.
I'm a happy camper.
I fully expected to have my photos of this project ready for posting before starting this thread but time got away from me. I'll try to post at least one of those pics tomorrow if I can.
You know? The hard part of this project was putting that 1911 back together again. I'd never completely disassembled a 1911 before. I had to go on YouTube in search of a reassembly tutorial. It was a small price to pay for something I've been wanting to do for a while now.
HollowPoint
I think it's been over twenty years now and that pistol has been virtually trouble free. It's digested everything I've ever shot through it. It's the reason I took up reloading and bullet casting. I shot it so much I couldn't afford to keep buying store bought bullets or loaded ammo any more.
Before applying the new coating, if you'd seen the surface finish of this pistol you could clearly see that this gun had been places and done things. I've told people this before but I really don't think folks truly believed me. It sounds to far-fetched to be true but, I've killed more coyotes with this Kimber 1911 than I have with any of the dedicated "Coyote-Guns" I've ever owned. This is not because I'm any kind of great coyote hunter or pistol marksman but, because most of the coyote kills I've gotten with this pistol were just targets of opportunity and this is the sidearm I always carried while in the field. It was the quickest gun to get to any time I happen to stumble onto a hapless coyote while bumming around in the sticks.
Coyotes used to be plentiful back in the day; not so much now. I think they've gone nocturnal for the most part.
Anyway; I was looking on the FleaBay auction site and I came across a seller who had some one-pound samples of "Olive-Drab" and "Desert-Tan" powder for sale. I knew that would be way more than I'd ever need so I contacted him to ask if he'd sell me a half pound of each color for the price of one. Even a half pound of each was way to much but I inquired anyway and to my surprise he agreed to do it.
Man! My Kimber looks like brand new. For my first time powder coating a firearm, it really came out nice; at least to my eyes. I guess powder coating all those cast bullets may have given me enough experience to do a decent job on this pistol.
I was kind of leery about the contrast between the two colors being a little to stark so; since both powders were the same brand and composition, I decided to mix it at about a three parts Desert-Tan to a 1/4 part Olive-Drab just to darken the lighter of the two colors just a bit. The Olive-Drab was such that when applied to the slide it went on with a slight texture. By itself, the Desert-Tan was formulated to go on smooth but with a dull finish. Mixing in a bit of the darker colored powder not only made it a tiny bit darker but also gave it a very faint texture.
I'm a happy camper.
I fully expected to have my photos of this project ready for posting before starting this thread but time got away from me. I'll try to post at least one of those pics tomorrow if I can.
You know? The hard part of this project was putting that 1911 back together again. I'd never completely disassembled a 1911 before. I had to go on YouTube in search of a reassembly tutorial. It was a small price to pay for something I've been wanting to do for a while now.
HollowPoint