Touching up Kimber matte blue finish

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vanfunk

New member
New Kimber Classic- love the gun, hate the finish(or what's left of it). Here's the story- I've had this gun a few days, have done some shooting, some disassembly, some cleaning, some handling, routine stuff. The finish is rubbing off like it's shoepolish! And no, no holster presentations. Anyone have similar sob stories? Before I send it off to be refinished somewhere, has anyone had success touching up their Kimber with either Oxpho-Blue or Birchwood-Casey Super Blue? If so, how'd ya do it? Thanks for your responses!

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Vanfunk, If the pistol is only a few days old and the finish is coming off, I'd contact Kimber and have them refinish the gun at no charge to you of course.. Also make em pay shipping both ways. No reason you should have to pay for refinishing, unless you wanted to have a more durable finish than blueing applied. Mark / Fl
 
Vanfunk,


I had the same problem with my matte oxide Custom Classic. After the first time I shot it, took it apart, and tried many times (unsuccessfully) too put it back together, I noticed a few nicks here and there. I have wear at the slide stop and and safety already. Now that I am familiar with the 1911 I haven't had any more wear, so I blame it on my inept handling of the gun and fumbling fingers.

Just how much is "flaking off" ? When does it happen ? If its really bad, I would send it back. If its just a few nicks, shoot it enjoy it, and get it reblued/hardchromed/nickelplated at some point in the future. I plan on doing this and a whole bunch of other stuff when the warranty is void.
 
Thanks for your posts, guys. I did decide to call Kimber and they said they'd pick up the tab for refinishing and knock quite a bit of cash off the price of frontstrap checkering, so that's what Imma gonna do! It'll just be the matte finish again, but I'll be more careful handling it in the future. It's a shame, though, that so many reputable gunmakers are putting such damnable finishes on their guns. My ol' SIG P220 showed the same symptoms- I just took it out of the padded box a few times and voila, no more black oxide on the high points. It's funny, the traditional hot blue is regarded as being so fragile, yet in my experience it has proven to be the most durable finish available(excepting hard chrome)!

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