Finished Colt... :flamesuiton:

[Brickboy240]

Is the finish hot-blued? It sure looks nice to me, because it looks like a hot blued finish. Many early Colt 1911s came with that finish and it looks great. My 1953 Govt Model has a deep hot blue and I really like it.

No purists here will bash you...that does not look like a very old or rare variant and you already put a beavertail on it and other mods. No big deal, really.

I have a 1973 Combat Commander in satin nickle that I would NEVER refinish. Combat Commanders in satin nickle were not all that common. Your Series 80 Commander was a much more common pistol and that finish sure made it look great. All my mods to the 1973 Combat Commander have been internal - for reliability and a better trigger feel.

Don't you love the feel of a Colt Commander? What is it about chopping 3/4" off the end of a 1911 that makes it seem ten times more handy? Beats me!

My only nit-pick would be the grips - I am not a fan of carbon fiber or high tech looking grip materials on a 1911. A set of Esmerelda's custom reddish cocobolos would look fantastic against that metal finish. Ajax grip's black buffalo horn grips would also look great on that Colt. I love exotic wood and horn grips best, but thats just me.

Nice looking 1911...understated and classy!

- Brickboy240

[wot_racing]

It is a hot blue.. He makes his own salts, but wont tell how.. Said it is the same forumula used on the original browning shotguns.. Isnt that fitting?

He polished the entire gun, did the final fitting of the beavertail, blended the safety, did the trigger job, blued it and did the inlay work for 65 dollars!! He got it on saturday night, and called me monday evening to tell me it was finished.. Scared the crap out of me, I thought with 2 days work and 65 dollars for it all, I had surely just let someone ruin my colt!

It had really nice cocoolo wood grips on it when I got it(bought new in march).. I personally like the carbon fiber grips, but have considered putting on a set of alumagrips or the rattlesnake covered grips... The parts that cant be seen are a C&S action kit added to the smiths work which resulted in a 3.5 pound trigger with no overtravel.. It had no undertravel, but I had him add a little bit back in.. It simply makes me feel better to have a little takeup.. I will put in an EWG bushing soon, but I need to find a set of calipers to measure my barrel to find out which one to order..

[Brickboy240]

Well, it looks great. I really like classic finishes on Colts, like hot bluing.

Sadly, everyone is caught up in the high tech paint job type finishes these days and they just look thick and painted on...not really nice like good hot bluing.

US Firearms makes a few 1911s that are in classic form and they too have nice hot blue finishes. Too bad this has largely gone out of style...it was such a classy look. it makes the pistol look important and expensive - like it was built with care...not thrown together by some computer controlled machine.

I knew it was hot blued...nothing else has that depth and attractiveness in its finish. Lucky you.

- Brickboy240

[magnumize]

Outstanding,My Kimber only wishes it could look that good!I love COLTS!!!!!!

[I_Route]

It looks awesome. I have only one question. Why did you not go ahead with sights as well since you had the frame done for the BTGS?

It would look even better wearing some Novaks!

[wot_racing]

I did the frame myself.. I cant cut for sights...

[Brickboy240]

Unless you're competiting or doing alot of target shooting or have poor eyesight, those sights will be just fine. All my Colts wear similar sights and with my 20-20 vision, they're just fine for defense or plinking.

Chances are, when its time to shoot in a defensive situation...you'll never remember seeing the sights and point-shooting will take over. Thats what my cop buddies tell me anyways.

I really like the way you're Colt turned out...classy and understated.

- Brickboy240