I have a 5906 and a 6906 that I bought used. They appear to have been holstered plenty, & shot relatively little. I was thinking of having them cerakoted, durakoted, or gunkoted, but before I do, I'd like to see what others may have done. I'm not worried about resell, but would like to make them look as good as I can. If any of you have refinished a third gen, post a pic of it here and tell me about your thought process and why you chose to do what you did.
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Cerakoted 3rd Gen
- Thread starter Shuutr
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Unless your looking for a color change, the 5906 can easily be cleaned up due to the stainless frame. The 6906 would require a re-anodizing of the frame or a quality coating as it is aluminum alloy, and was originally anodized.....here are three ex police pistols, all stainless, that I refinished, the first pic is a comparison of a refinished 5906 above a factory 5906 (which has Mikes grips), a 659, and a 639. All three received a light bead blasting and scotchbrite on the flats......
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Both are really nice guns look like great projects cant have enough 3rd gens
I have developed a different attitude on guns
As a younger Ladd I coveted pristine guns and kept many unfired so they would be valued higher etc
I always wanted a pristine 6 in Nickel Python with box papers etc. Well one day I found a 6 in Nickle Python no box with a bit of wear on the muzzle nothing excessive but a bit of wear it changed me.
I bought it I CAN SHOOT IT Hurray its was cooler than thinking about how great it must shoot
Dont get me wrong I like really nice clean used guns but they are what the are. (Except I hate rust and corrosion those go right to Dick Williams in Saginaw MI for refinish.)
I recently was fortunate enough to get another 4013 finally got a chance and took about 2 hours yesterday cleaned and Flitzed (great Stuff) it looks like a million bucks
But it is what it is
Bottom line I just wish my guns could tell me where and how they got their Character wouldnt that be cool?
Just glad the Ladys in my life didnt tell me where they got their Character! But the ones with Character have been the most fun Ah never mind
Hank
I have developed a different attitude on guns
As a younger Ladd I coveted pristine guns and kept many unfired so they would be valued higher etc
I always wanted a pristine 6 in Nickel Python with box papers etc. Well one day I found a 6 in Nickle Python no box with a bit of wear on the muzzle nothing excessive but a bit of wear it changed me.
I bought it I CAN SHOOT IT Hurray its was cooler than thinking about how great it must shoot
Dont get me wrong I like really nice clean used guns but they are what the are. (Except I hate rust and corrosion those go right to Dick Williams in Saginaw MI for refinish.)
I recently was fortunate enough to get another 4013 finally got a chance and took about 2 hours yesterday cleaned and Flitzed (great Stuff) it looks like a million bucks
But it is what it is
Bottom line I just wish my guns could tell me where and how they got their Character wouldnt that be cool?
Just glad the Ladys in my life didnt tell me where they got their Character! But the ones with Character have been the most fun Ah never mind
Hank
I hear what you're saying, a gun with character ain't bad. And I agree. I get about half my guns used and I figured with a 3rd gen I'm not worried about hurting the value and I don't expect to ever sell it, and I've always wanted to kote something and make it uniquely mine.
OH manI saw this on gunbroker and thought it looked nice. I'd like to see the same thing replacing the OD with a dark grey
That being said what a cool gun nice project looks great
Please dont misunderstand projects are also very cool
Hank
Alnamvet68
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Forget the cerakote...go with Cera-Hide by Cummings Custom Refinishing. I've had 2 older Colt 1911's done by these folks, and the finish and workmanship is beyond perfect. FWIW, the "House Black" color is the way to go...not flat, nor uber shiny, a just right soft black patina that brings out the best in any handgun.
Here's a Sig that was a beater gun until CCR came to the rescue...
That looks great. How's the finish holding up on the rails?
Alnamvet68
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The clearance between the frame and the rail of most semi's is such that there will always be uneven wear until the gun is broken in and to the point where most wear is no longer discernable. That said, if you cera-hide, or re-finish any handgun that is new and unfired, you will see very noticeable wear soon after firing the new handgun, as opposed to a handgun that has had, say, 5000 or more rounds through the pipe that has been refinished.
I have less then 200 rounds in each of my refinished CCR guns, and I just checked for wear, and see none so far.
roughneck6
Member
I have sent a 4566 to the S&W Performance Center (PC) for a bead blast. It took a couple months, looked brand new, outstanding job, cost was around $150. I sent a 4014 to the S&W PC to be re-blued. Again, took a couple months, looked great, about same price. I sent a 6904 to CCR for the House Black Cera-Hide. It took over a month, just couple week shorter than the S&W PC. The House Black to me looked different from the pictures after I got my gun back. Almost looked like a plastic gun due it having a semi-gloss spray paint appearance. The Cera-Hide had no issues to the finish from my holster, either plastic or leather. However, any metal to metal contact quickly scratched the finish off and exposed bare aluminum. I covered the scratches with a permanent marker. It did cover up the aluminum, but I spent too much on the finish to patch it up with a magic marker. Refusing to give up on my 6904, which is a great shooter, I sent it off to Robar for the NP3 coating. The NP3 is a satin nickel finish that is self-lubricating. I wanted to strengthen and had life to the aluminum frame. The gun came back in three weeks and looked brand new. Amazing finish, but did cost more than the S&W PC or the CCR Cera-Hide. Good news is the customer service with the S&W PC, CCR and Robar was great. Based on price and finish, any all steel gun, just send it to the S&W PC and get a factory bead blast, if you want a coating that look great and will last, go with Robar.
I've posted this gun a bunch of times, but it certainly fits this thread. My 5904 had the slide reblued at S&W and Trijicons installed. The aluminum frame was sprayed with Brownell's Gun Kote bake-on finish. When I put it back together, I switched some stainless parts and blued parts, until I got the look I wanted. S&W currently charges $110 to blue a slide. The Gun Kote is a very tough finish and looks great even after a couple years of every day carry. I also have a Scat Blast cabinet to glass bead stainless steel parts. You can do just about any finish you want by changing glass bead size and air regulation. In my opinion, the most critical part of a DIY job like this, is being able to detail strip and re-assemble your gun. AGI makes a great DVD for 3rd Gen Smiths.
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dw910s
Member
I found a 6906 on Gun Broker last year that was in similar condition. I had it Cerakoted and it looks great. I went with OD Green on the frame and black on the slide and then topped it off with CT grips that I found here on the S&W forum. The pictures don't show how good the gun looks, to me anyway. I did not do this work I had it done by my gun smith. Good luck with your project.
Go to the Cerakote website and they have tons of pictures of guns that have been done in all color combinations. My wife's 908 is currently being done with a red frame, black slide with red tiger stripes!!! I will post pictures once it is completed.
Go to the Cerakote website and they have tons of pictures of guns that have been done in all color combinations. My wife's 908 is currently being done with a red frame, black slide with red tiger stripes!!! I will post pictures once it is completed.
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dw910s
Member
Not so far. The finish is supposed to be extremely tough and much easier to maintain.
