Removing Para Painted Finish

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spencerhut

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Updated - Stripped. Was > Removing Para Painted Finish

Hello all. My wifes very nice shooting (not looking) Para SSP-SE1 pistol needs to be refinished. It came from the factory with a bad paint job, got refinished by the factory and is now worse. It's downright ugly and a real shame. Damn nice shooting gun, just don't look at it.

I'd like to know the best way to strip the finish off so I can re-coat it myself with Wheeler Engineering Cerama-Coat or the like.

This is a stainless steel gun with a painted finish. We can not spend $300+ getting it Ion Bonded, as much as we would like to .

So
Bead blast? What type of grit pressure?
Chemical dip of some sort?
Other suggestions?
 
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Call Para and ask. They are most helpful.
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Helpful, yes. Competent, not in my experience. Thus the two finishes later SSP-SE1 that looks like it's been to the sandbox, twice, and drug behind a dragon wagon both times. Mind you this is her purse gun. It lives in her leather purse all by it's lonesome in a nice little padded pocket.

I'll post a picture, if the camera does not break.
 
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If you're going to have it refinished professionally, let the refinisher remove the old finish.

If you want to do it yourself, check out an aircraft or automotive paint remover (generally in a spray can); that is potent stuff, and will remove almost any paint. (Do it outside, on a big pile of newspapers.)
 
Painted Ordanance in question

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It's not we don't have a sense of humor, but this is just too much . . .
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Dude, seriously, I'm not seeing the problem.

If you have (your wife has) a pistol that you carry daily in your purse for self defense, and it performs beautifully at what it was designed to do, and it shoots like a dream, ...um, who cares what it looks like? It isn't for show.

All my carry guns look like that. The bluing is worn off along the edges, the "Black-T" finish that is supposed to be harder than diamonds is scratched and discolored, and there are holster rub marks all over the slides. I own (3) .45s that I've carried (one at a time) for the better part of 20 years or more, and they look beat to hell because they are working tools. But they perform like a charm.

No matter what sort of finish you put on it, after a few years of daily carry its going to look like its been carried daily for a number of years.

Maybe I'm just looking at it wrong, but an everyday working gun is gonna get a little bit knocked around, and as as long as she still shoots like a daisy, thats okay.

Just MHO. I think thats a nice little Para you got there.

Doc
 
Disclaimer: I have not used these companies.

This one is an older firm that has been around quite awhile. Has a pretty good reputation.

http://www.robarguns.com/

This company uses newer techniques, but you are talking about a applying a coating over a stainless steel pistol, and these may offer a finish that you or your wife finds attractive:

http://centralazfirearms.com/

In both cases, as was recommended above, I'd send them your pistol and let them deal with removing the current coating.

Best of luck with your project.

Doc
 
Personally, if that is a factory finish, I sure wouldn't let up on Para about it. I don't care how old the gun is, that just shouldn't happen. I think a gun owner has a reasonable expectation that this sort of peeling on a factory finish is unacceptable.
 
Personally, if that is a factory finish, I sure wouldn't let up on Para about it. I don't care how old the gun is, that just shouldn't happen. I think a gun owner has a reasonable expectation that this sort of peeling on a factory finish is unacceptable.
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Yeah, that is what I thought. That was then, now I need to just get it taken care of.
 
It's just paint. Paint wears. If the gun is stainless underneath, why not just remove the paint?
"Black T" is teflon-nowhere near as hard as diamonds, or even as hard as some paints.
 
ive got a Para "Colonel" and a 14/45LDA. both still look great and ive put many rounds thru them. maybe Para is doing crappy finishing jobs now. Ive heard this same complaint from 2or3 other"new" para owners. my 14/45LDA is 11or12yrs old(bought it in 99 but think its an 08 model) and its finish on its slide is perfect and ive put so many rounds thru it that it needs a new bbl now. still functions like new,but my groups went from 1" to 4and5 inch.
 
para finish wear

Fellow, ive been carrying 24-7, for over 11 years, now. I dont know where you guys pack your piece at, but i carry mine at about 4:30 on my right hip in
a Galco yaqui slide holster. My carry pistol is Para Wart hog in stainless and i bought it and started carrying it about 4 years ago. It has pits from being next to my body, and dings all over it from bumping into stuff. ( I work in a salvage yard ) If you carry 24-7, yours will probaby look like mine. If you only carry every now and then, might look like new. My point is, if you carry alot, and you carry in a holster on outside of your pants, they are gonna get beat up. but, like a poster above said, if it still works perfect, what diff does it make what it looks like on outside? just my 2 cents.
 
Let me try this again.

I'd like to know the best way to strip the finish off of a gun so I can re-coat it myself with Wheeler Engineering Cerama-Coat or the like.

This is a stainless steel gun with a painted finish. We can not spend $300+ getting it Ion Bonded, as much as we would like to .

So
Bead blast? What type of grit and pressure?
Chemical dip of some sort?
Other suggestions to remove the paint?

Useful suggestions so far have been automotive/aircraft paint stripper

Useless suggestions have been numerous like "Why bother to do this?" Please . . . keep these to yourself. I'm asking for help here, these comments are not helping. My mind is made up the gun is getting refinished.
 
OK-this is not "useless." Get the paint off and leave it off. Anything you put on it will wear away. The underlying stainless does not need a finish.
 
OK-this is not "useless." Get the paint off and leave it off. Anything you put on it will wear away. The underlying stainless does not need a finish.
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Sounds like you may have done this before. ;)

I'm wondering how rough it will look?

I'm just going to go get some paint stripper and see what I end up with and work from there I guess.
 
Any methylene choride/NMP based paint stripper should do and not hurt the metal parts. Be careful not to get a lye based one by mistake.
 
I soaked the painted parts in methylene chloride for 1/2 and hour, two times with a water rinse and steel wool brush after each soak. The vast majority of the paint is gone. Still some paint holding tight inside the frame and in smaller spaces in the slide and small parts. Looks like the original finish was tougher than the refinish Para did.

I re-coated with an NMP and am letting it sit overnight.
 
All stripped down

The combo of two different strippers mentioned above seem to have done the trick. Lots of scrubbing with very fine steel wool.

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Of the two I would highly recommend the NPM based as it was so harmless to my skin as to be almost edible.

Now we need . . .
Sights, MSH (it's plastic ick), and some new grips.

My wife likes the way it looks now so I think we will get the new sights etc and call it done.
 
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