K9 duracoat/slide problem and question with pics

[jakerson9]

Hi, my first post here. I recently bought a K9 and have an issue. It is an older model K9, the box has 2-97 on it... I dont know about the age of the handgun I'm guessing 1997 vintage, but its a guess.

Ive got an issue and wonder what you experts have to say.

When I got the Kahr, the slide looked perfect - but someone had duracoated it a color that was (to me) pretty ugly. It looks great in this photo, but was a kind of flat desert earth mixed with muddy black.


So- I stripped the slide of its duracoat. That was alot of hard work. The problem is that when the duracoat was gone, I realized that the slide was pretty beat-up. AND - after removing the VERY THICK duracoat, I found that the sights fit in a thickly duracoated dovetail...
so without the dovetail, the sights are very loose in the slide.



I think this is a great pistol with a ton of stuff: Stainless guide rod, trijicon night sight, both rubber and wood grips, and a new Kahr K9 spring maint kit too. And the new K9's have a kind of hump in front of the grips. I like the lines of this one and the pistol seems really well built and I'd think it would last somewhere close to the rest of my life with a few new springs now and then... I really like it.

But the messed up slide bugs me. I wouldn't do that to a new firearm that I owned, and don't want it looking that way on ANY firearm that I own. I think I've got 4 options, and I am looking for YOUR expert opinion... what would you do?

1) Duracoat the entire handgun -either black or stainless duracoat and hope that duracoat would hide the slide problems as well as they did.
2) Order a new slide from Kahr, hope the new slide would fit and that my old-style/shape sights would fit a new slide with limited customization
3) Get a gunsmith to mount the sights I've got and keep it the way it is.
4) Sell it and move on.

I'd love to hear what you would do and why...

[CJB]

Give the slide and frame a kkote or ceracoat. Mount new sight of your choice.

Chances are the steel slide took wear from sweat and carry usr. The sights would be altered to fit in the coated dovetails.

Its not a bad situation....

Think...olive frame....flat black slide......!! :-)

[JohnR]

Compare the price of a new color coating to the price of a new slide. I think it's a bit silly to put a coating over stainless steel, a material designed to need no coating. Would some careful light sanding prettify the slide?

[Bawanna]

It's hard to tell how deep the offending dings and scratches are. I'd consider a mildly aggressive bead blast, just enough to even things out.

I don't think a new slide would be an option but can't say for sure.

Your sights definitely would not fit a new slide.

[jocko]

Hateto say this but I hav eto agree with the colonel. I would bead blast it and it willlook perfeclty fine. Pass on the new slide. or it is whatit is,so just live with it

[jakerson9]

Thanks. That is probably perfect advice.

"it is what it is, so just live with it"

[jocko]

Thanks. That is probably perfect advice.

"it is what it is, so just live with it"

u have some time,so do someresearch and see differentfinishs etc, then think about the price, then ask yourslef WHY? If it just earks the hell out of u to hav eit look thatway, then JUST DO IT.

[gunbunny]

I agree with John R: I think a media blast to the stripped frame and slide will take care of any blemishes and coatings. Having it media blasted shouldn't cost much at all, probably just the gunsmith's time to strip it and reassemble it.

Unless you want to have duracoating or ceracoating for your own personal taste, they aren't needed for a concealed carry weapon. The coatings won't help any more with corrosion protection than the stainless steel already does.

It's your pistol, have it your way.

[jeepster09]

I have had most of my guns Duracoated, because they get picked on by the other guns if they are of a different color.....it saves racial slurs etc. In todays world of law suits it saves me money in the big picture. It also helps on corrosion prevention. If done right they look good and work fine and should last a long time. Have it re-coated.

[gunbunny]

Nice picture.

It seems that the black slide/OD green frame color scheme is popular. I only chose it because I thought it looked good with the dark parkerized slide, and kind of blended with it.

I'm just not crazy about the stainless/phosphate duotone look.