I was looking for a tough finish that is black, matte appearance, protects against corrosion and durable for my new Colt that John Harrison built. He and I discussed several options and I decided on Wilson Combat's new Armor Tuff.
A little history on the gun. It is a Colt series 70 reproduction, brand new, with some subtle custom work by John. He is what I consider a premier pistolsmith and a long time friend. We kept most of the factory parts. John installed his own rear and front sight, trigger, hammer and other ignition parts. He used an Ed Brown flat mainspring housing which he rounded the bottom (what most people refer to as round butt treatment), Ed Brown thumb safety and he recontoured the Colt grip safety to eliminate all sharp edges. John also dehorned the entire pistol so the gun's edges don't feel like a razor.
After communicating my need with the people at Wilson, I sent the gun to them per their instructions. As quoted, the gun was returned to me with the new finish that we all have been hearing about.
I am very pleased with this finish. It has the matte look that I wanted, the finish is even and smoothly applied, it is not shiny like previous iterations. It looks similar to the matte blued finish and not different from ion bond finish or Black T. Time will tell as for the durability of the finish. My other 1911 with the 2002 version of Armor Tuff is doing quite well.
The pictures above were taken with temporary grips and without grip screws. There are still oily residues on the gun that you can see in the pictures.
With different camera, permanent grips and even grip screws. :biglaugh:
A view of the round butt treatment.
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