1911 gun finish question...maybe one for olyeller?

[Signut]

I have noticed something about one of my Colt 1911s. The first Colt i bought is a lightweight commander. The lower is coated with what the Colt Website is calling a Teflon coating. That coating is smooth and feels good to the touch. A little slippery but smooth.

Now the second Colt i bought which was $200 less than the light weight commander is a little different. It is a commander model also but it does not have that teflon coating. I "think" the finish on the lower is glass bead blasted or blasted with some other medium? To the touch it feels like very fine sandpaper. It picks up strange marks on it like what you would see on sandpaper because i think the surface is mildly abrasive just like fine sandpaper. Cleaning solution and rubbing will get the marks off... My biggest gripe about is that it feels horrible handling it. My hands can be clean and perfectly dry and it makes my fingers feel dirty sort of... i just don't like the feel of it. This particular commander was a cheaper version....cheaper sights, and finish. The ejection port is lowered but not cut to be easier on the ejected brass... Cheaper trigger, cheaper grips...etc etc etc

So i guess my question would be this... is there a coating i can put on this myself to negate the feel of that sand blasted metal surface or do i need to take it to a gunsmith to have some kind of new finish put on it?
Could it be sanded down without goofing up the appearance?
Suggestions Please!!!!!! Anyone else run into this?

Olyeller... that finish you put on 1911s... can it be applied to the grip and trigger areas but left off of the sides near the slide? Part of the lower has a brushed stainless finish and i would like to keep this part the way it is. I just want to change the bead blasted finish the other parts of the lower...

mike
gn

 

[grwd]

yes, that can be done. Basically I would refinish the whole lower and then polish the "flats" of the frame back to the current condition.

Sounds like the lower you dont like is a matte stainless steel finish.
I would think that the small amount of "bite" it has would be beneficial to keeping hold of the gun during a draw or to control recoil.

as far as a do-it yourself finish, smoothing up the frontstrap with a little scotch-brite pad (if it is really a stainless steel surface) would take care of the feel of it. Another option is to bead blast the whole frame. that would make it a little smoother.

 

[Signut]

The surface may provide a bit better grip but it just doesn't feel right...

What kind of dollar figure would it be to have the lower refinished and then have the flats polished?

mike
gn

 

[grwd]

well, the coating is the easy part, it depends on how cooperative the frame is.
$150 or so, Id reckon.

Make sure you want it, I personally hate the look. and it might not perfectly match the flats of the slide, so that should be polished too.
I am a bit of a perfectionist, though...