New Colt with new Armor Tuff finish

**Sam** · 01-16-12, 20:35

I was looking for a tough finish that is black, matte appearance, protects against corrosion and durable. My pistolsmith (John Harrison) 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. 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.

**redefined** · 01-16-12, 22:04

Round butt... yummm. Looks good!

**David Thomas** · 01-16-12, 23:47

Looks good.

I think you and me are the only two people on the planet that shoot 1911s with smooth frontstraps and msh's.

I look forward to seeing and reading about how the armor tuff holds up.

**Sam** · 01-17-12, 05:46

Originally Posted by David Thomas

Looks good.

I think you and me are the only two people on the planet that shoot 1911s with smooth frontstraps and msh's.

I look forward to seeing and reading about how the armor tuff holds up.

Thank you sir. I'll check in from time to time with durability report on the finish. The gun will be carried in leather holsters so I probably won't be able to report its "Tuffness" against kydex.

.

As for the smooth frontstrap and MSH, the first time I'm exposed to it was the 1911 that LAV built for me 9 years ago. I've shot it in the summer and winter and never have any problem holding on to it. It is much more comfortable if you shoot a lot of rounds and presenting from holster than grips with some kind of treatment on them.

**eternal24k** · 01-17-12, 08:08

great looking pistol. So this is still a ceramic/spray on finish?

Do you mind if I ask cost?

**Sam** · 01-17-12, 22:29

Armor Tuff is a proprietary polymer finish offered by Wilson Combat for over 10 years. They have changed the process a couple of times, this is their current finish. They've only used the new formular for a few months. I think they have a winner. It is sprayed on and baked. It is similar to Black T and other polymer finish process. It is NOT the same as the ceramic bonding process.

The cost is $300.