Comparing IonBond's Diamond Black to Nighthawk's Perma kote

[Fustercluck]

Last year, I posted a comparison between Wilson Combat's Armor-Tuff and Nighthawk Custom's Perma Kote

This time, I thought I would compare the Perma Kote (PK) to IonBond's Diamond Black (DB). PK is Nighthawk's in-house proprietary spray-on finish for their 1911's. DB, on the other hand, is offered by Nighthawk as a finish for their 1911's, but they ship the gun out to IonBond for their cermanic DB finish. DB is supposed to be one of the hardest and most durable finishes available. Other companies offer a similar diamond-like coating. It cost an extra $350 to have the gun finished in DB at the time of placing the order last year with Nighthawk Custom.

The pictures below compare two Nighthawk custom handguns after 3000 rounds have been fired through each gun. I keep a log of rounds fired for each gun, and after coming back from the range today and logging the Enforcer rounds for the past week, I realized I had surpassed the 3000 mark, and this idea came to me. The T3 has had just over 3k rounds fired since the last time I had it out of the cave in April.

As you can see, the DB is a matte black finish, almost like parkerization, and the PK is a much shinier black. As you can also see, the Enforcer finished in DB has almost no wear marks whatsoever, even though it has had many more holster presentations than the T3. Both have been used in Kydex and Kramer Horsehide holsters, with the Enforcer spending much more time in the Kydex (BladeTech). The DB Enforcer has been my IDPA gun this year, after purchasing it this Winter. The T3 I have had for the past two years, and it has been my primary Fall-Spring carry gun. The pictures kind of speak for themselves; the DB is a much more durable finish than the PK.

 

[Fustercluck]

Here are the rest of the pictures ...

 

[smores]

Thanks for the post. I'm about to use Cerakote to finish one of my custom 1911 builds. THe directions state that you must prepare the substrate with 120 grit aluminum oxide.

I noticed all parts of the above DB pistol are coated, including the frame rails etc. Do your rails appear to be blasted or do they have a smooth finish? Since these are Nighthawk Custom guns, I assume the frame/slide fit is tight as can be... I'd like to find the best way to apply my finish and hope you can advise me on what I asked above!

Thanks. And that Enforcer looks sick. The T3 looks nice too (I love Commander 1911s) but with all that wear... just not as "fresh".

 

[Fustercluck]

Do your rails appear to be blasted or do they have a smooth finish? Since these are Nighthawk Custom guns, I assume the frame/slide fit is tight as can be...

The rails on my Enforcer are smooth, as are all the surfaces, inside and out.
The frame/slide fit on both guns is indeed tight, but not too tight. I do not need a bushing wrench or any other tools to disassemble these weapons.

 

[smores]

The rails on my Enforcer are smooth, as are all the surfaces, inside and out.
The frame/slide fit on both guns is indeed tight, but not too tight. I do not need a bushing wrench or any other tools to disassemble these weapons.

Ok. Thanks for the input. The one I was going to coat was the one I built as a target gun, as tight as possible with stainless, bushing wrench is needed with mine and it locks up like a vault.

Nice pistols, I'll get a Nighthawk or Wilson when I can afford one. Until I'll then build my own lol. I got to see a Wilson frame/slide (unbuilt) set, and the fit was VERY good, although I think they're over $600 where a Caspian set runs not much more than $200.