Frame refinish?

[Brandon223]

I've owned my XD40 for almost 4 years and after those 4 years and seveal thousand rounds, several thousand draws, and more than a few "ouchies" the frame has begun to develop so wear.Before anyone asks my slide has been fine because it's a Bitone and doesn't really show wear.

A small scratch developed under the takedown lever and, over time, has picked up grit and became wider and deeper. To prevent this I had to sand it flush with 600 grit sandpaper.

The right grip panel has several dings from prone shooting while wearing the XD in a thigh rig...

Anyway, you get the idea.

I want to know if there is anything I can do to get the frame refinished at a reasonable price.

I was going to go the Duracoat route after seeing one members Wolf Grey framed Bitone, but I really don't want to do business with a company that charges $13 shipping on a $16 product.

I was also thinking about sending it to AJames because he seems like a decent guy who does good work, but the only thing preventing me from doing that is the fact that I could buy the Duracoat for cheaper than what it'll cost to overnight my gun.

Then I saw all of the funky epoxy based spray on finishes from Brownells and pretty much decided on that (considering I want prefer that my frame was drak grey anyways), but all of the application videos on their site show them using the finish on high wear metal parts.

So I got to thinking and may have wandered off a bit too far into the realm of the redneck.

But wouldn't Duplicolor Engine Enamel, Krylon Fusion, or some other kind of epoxy or ceramic based paint work well to refinished the frame with?

Because if that's the case I can go a half mile to Autozone and happily spend $6 on a can of paint. And if that paint happens to be a little less durable than Brownell's offering and I have to strip and refinish the frame again in 2 years, so be it.

There were a bunch of guys on Glocktalk who redid their slides with Duplicolor High Heat 1200 paint, so I don't really see any negative effects of doing it to the frame.

I know that 4 out of 5 of you guys are going to give the same advice that Ahhhhnorld would give, you know, "Quit Whining!"

But please, give me some imput on this.

[kman458]

My only problem with spary cans has been that the paint is never as durable as paint that is mixed and shot from a paint gun is but i have not used much of the expoy cans so they might hold up better.

[agalindo]

I painted my frame with Rust-oleum textured paint over a year ago and it hasn't come off.

[ichy_trigger]

I did someones frame in John Norrell Arms and then baked it at 300 degrees. i wouldnt have done it with my own gun but he insisted (aiformular-forum member) and it came out great. Im not advocating doing it but it DID seem to work ok. Contact him and ask for pics.