1911 Blue vs Stainless

[THEKOONTZ]

Okay I had another thread for my 1st 1911 and touched on this briefly. After a couple days checking out people's thoughts and reviews all over the web and YouTube I decided on the Les Baer custom carry 5". Now I need to decide on the finish, any thoughts between the two? Is a stainless better then a blued or is the blued better? Is one harder then the other, does one last longer. I'll be using this for a carry item when I can and for the range as well. I was thinking SS but if the blued is a better tighter gun I wanna go with the better of the two.

 

[Mt Airy]

get the blued and have it hard chromed. It will look better and perform better also.

 

[jawn]

Blued guns will always be tighter. Stainless tends to wear in and get a little bit looser with time.

They'll both last a lifetime with proper maintenance.

 

[Biggfoot44]

Get a Blued. If it ever wears the finish to the point that the sight of it offends you , then get it refinished in Hard Chrome ( or whtever hi tech finish of your choice).

 

[Semper Noctem]

Another vote for blued or park'd.

 

[clandestine]

get the blued and have it hard chromed. It will look better and perform better also.

Blued guns will always be tighter. Stainless tends to wear in and get a little bit looser with time.

They'll both last a lifetime with proper maintenance.

Get a Blued. If it ever wears the finish to the point that the sight of it offends you , then get it refinished in Hard Chrome ( or whtever hi tech finish of your choice).

Another vote for blued or park'd.

All of the above.

 

[fivepointstar]

I say BOTH.....I'm not a fan of parked!

 

[THEKOONTZ]

Is the internal components in a SS better then the blued, Les baer told me the internals are made of steel in the blued and SS with the SS. Is it any advantage to that? or should I just stay with the blued?

 

[smores]

I rusted my blued Colt Combat Commander in one afternoon in a Comp-Tac Minotaur. I'm not a huge fan of SS 1911s (despite having 2, but because of the situation it was to build 2 from scratch for a good price). If I wanted to IWB carry a 1911 again, I'd build it blued, then have it Cerakoted. You're not gonna beat Cerakote for abrasion resistance and an overall protective coating that is more durable than any other spray-on coating.

Now, I seem to remember Wilson Combat used to be pretty big into hard chroming the frame, and leaving the slide blued. Hard chrome is classy, but we all know as chrome is a plating it will eventually wear. Nickel is probably the worst choice because it will flake and abrade against itself slowing the action. I'm sure if it hasn't been done already, someone is going to make a NiB 1911 sooner or later, which may be pretty cool if not gansta-riffic. (ETA, Cylinder & Slide has done it - http://www.cylinder-slide.com/index.php?app=ccp0&ns=prodshow&ref=FZ078)

Everyone tends to have their preference. Getting these pistols tight has a lot to do with the science of metallurgy. I understand a LITTLE bit of this but am in no way a metallurgist. Stainless steel is known to have problems when it's fitted tightly to stainless steel, and the metal itself will start to come apart on the molecular level in high-friction areas. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galling

 

[-Z/28-]

I like Parkerized for the old school look. I'm also a fan of the blued slide, hard chrome frame combo.

 

[Fyshbum]

Although the chrome molly steel may technically stay tighter. I went with the SS when I got my Kimber. Everything rusts quickly down here in St. Mary's county, and in the S.C. swamps that I like to hunt, so I took that into consideration as well.

I am getting close to the 2500 round mark on my stainless TLE II with no sign of any accuracy loss. Once I hit that point it is off to be cerakoted. The cerakote over stainless combination was what I was after to try to keep the oxidation gremlins from creeping up.
blued guns look pretty, but degrade in this environment without a watchful eye upon them.

 

[Mt Airy]

I case you are not sure what hard chrome looks like ( not like bumper chrome)

 

[mikec]

I case you are not sure what hard chrome looks like ( not like bumper chrome)

I forgot how close Baer's cocking serrations are.

Nice looking pistol.

 

[THEKOONTZ]

Was that a blued gun at one time? That looks damn fine, I really dig it!

 

[THEKOONTZ]

I'm having a hella time deciding, I'm really leaning toward blued. Everyones recommendations and opinions seem to be that way also.

 

[Marauder]

I case you are not sure what hard chrome looks like ( not like bumper chrome)

Sweet Baer!

 

[Mt Airy]

Was that a blued gun at one time? That looks damn fine, I really dig it!

You can hard chrome a blued gun yes see metloys site .
I think it was never finished it was carbon steel which is what a blue gun is before blueing finish. When I ordered it it was one of the choices I made.

 

[smores]

love me some LB Monolith... very nice pistol there Mtairy Biker

 

[THEKOONTZ]

Would the price of $45.00 difference between the blued and SS sway anyone a certain way or is everyone still saying blued?

 

[Mooseman]

I would go with blued, regardless of a small price difference.