Any local refinishers?

Discuss work on firearms; whether that is making yours from the ground up, milling an 80%, putting together a kit, or fine tuning a trigger job.
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rick lee
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Any local refinishers?

#1

Post by rick lee »

I was a loyal Robar customer for many years, but didn't really have any projects to send them once Wright Armory took over. I'd love to get another P220 NP3'ed, but it looks like I missed the boat. Anyone else local who can shine up this total beater 1991 P220? I may go hard chrome, may send it to CCR in TN. But I'd like to stay local if I can. Not gonna DIY anything more than detail stripping and reassembly.


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Re: Any local refinishers?

#2

Post by QuietM4 »

Wright Armory did not take over anything from Robar...Robar turned over NP3 to Coating Technology Inc, and CTI now only does large batches of parts...like 1,000+ part batches. There was a small window last year where CTI would NP3 anything Wright Armory sent them, but that window has closed. So, for now, NP3 does not exist on the consumer firearms market. I know Wright Armory is developing an in-house NP3 replacement process, but that is still in development.
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rick lee
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Re: Any local refinishers?

#3

Post by rick lee »

I just ran into a guy at C2 who told me about Kilo Guns in Phoenix, so that's my first call tomorrow. I'm not waiting on Wright. They told me the same thing two months ago. Even if they eventually offer NP3, it will be crazy expensive.
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Re: Any local refinishers?

#4

Post by QuietM4 »

Setting up an NP3-type clone doesn’t happen overnight. Besides the initial equipment costs of several hundred thousand dollars, you also have to spend quite a bit of time refining the process.

You also have no idea of what they will charge…NP3 was never cheap.
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Re: Any local refinishers?

#5

Post by BigNate »

I've not used them for refinishing - but when I bought a custom holster from We Plead the 2nd (looks like they are now "Pro 2 Customs") in Tempe I was very happy with their product and it looks like they do lots of custom Cerakote stuff. You might give them a call and see if there is a fit.
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Re: Any local refinishers?

#6

Post by Boriqua »

If your mesa way you can check out

https://www.area-15.com/

Great people to deal with and I have seen a bunch of their work and its beautiful. No NP3 though.
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Re: Any local refinishers?

#7

Post by That Guy »

rick lee wrote: November 13th, 2022, 12:25 pm I was a loyal Robar customer for many years, but didn't really have any projects to send them once Wright Armory took over. I'd love to get another P220 NP3'ed, but it looks like I missed the boat. Anyone else local who can shine up this total beater 1991 P220? I may go hard chrome, may send it to CCR in TN. But I'd like to stay local if I can. Not gonna DIY anything more than detail stripping and reassembly.
Yeah, NP3 was cool, dealing with Robar wasn’t. I had them NP3 a Delta Elite frame/barrel and RoGard the rest of the pistol. Yeah, it turned out very nice but took six months to finish when they promised thirty days. Not learning my lesson I had them RoGard an HK-91. Again they were grossly late but what really pissed me off was that they friggin’ LOST the bolt carrier assembly. They claimed it had never been included with the rifle. I argued with them to no avail but they adamantly stated they never received it and held my rifle hostage demanding the full price of coating it. Having no choice I paid up and procured another bolt carrier assembly.

Five months later USPS delivered to me a small box from Robar. Inside of it was my bolt carrier assembly. No note, explanation, no apology. I just wish Robar woulda went belly up when Barkham owned it.
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Re: Any local refinishers?

#8

Post by rick lee »

They were always good to me. They took a while, but refinishing a gun is not the kind of thing I have to have done on a schedule. I took them a gun they had redone once and, while their work was flawless, I just didn't care for the Roguard. I took it to them to have it redone in NP3 years later and they wouldn't charge me for it. At SHOT many years ago they were handing out 50% off coupons, which I took them up on.
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Re: Any local refinishers?

#9

Post by That Guy »

rick lee wrote: November 19th, 2022, 2:48 pm They were always good to me. They took a while, but refinishing a gun is not the kind of thing I have to have done on a schedule. I took them a gun they had redone once and, while their work was flawless, I just didn't care for the Roguard. I took it to them to have it redone in NP3 years later and they wouldn't charge me for it. At SHOT many years ago they were handing out 50% off coupons, which I took them up on.
They did a very good job on my Delta Elite and they NP3’d four extra magazines as well. Back then nobody was doing any kind of coating and this was so long ago I think Armaloy was still in business (remember when that was all the rage?). I understand that most gunsmiths et al practically NEVER finish work on time. So I figger if somebody tells me it’ll take 30 days to do work on a gun I multiply that estimate by 3. At the five month mark I was not happy. At the six month mark I called Robar’ front office and asked if my pistol was ready. They said it wasn’t and had no idea when it would be. It was at that point I decided that a blued pistol wasn’t so bad after all and I was tired of waiting.

I drove out to Robar that afternoon to get my pistol. I’ll say one thing for Robar-they REALLY knew how to hire front office help. They had two cougars working there who were absolutely STUNNING! Short skirts, high heeled pumps, and legs about two miles long. I identified myself, showed them my drivers license, and stated that I wanted my pistol back. They weren’t happy about it but eventually a worker walked into the office with my Delta Elite in a box. Not only was the work completed but according to tag on the pistol it had been ready for over a month.
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Re: Any local refinishers?

#10

Post by Kingjoey »

Not local, but Mahovsky's is my go-to for hard finishes
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rick lee
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Re: Any local refinishers?

#11

Post by rick lee »

Oooh. Had never heard of Mahovsky's. Their most recent price list is from 2019 and even then it was a smoking deal. I wonder what it costs now. I have this gun all packed up and ready to go to CCR. But I may give Mahovsky's a ring in the morning and see how much their prices have increased since 2019.
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Re: Any local refinishers?

#12

Post by rick lee »

And email to Ron is bouncing back. Their website really is antiquated.
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Re: Any local refinishers?

#13

Post by Kingjoey »

Give them a call, that website is pretty useless. They've been around forever
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rick lee
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Re: Any local refinishers?

#14

Post by rick lee »

Left a vm with Mahovsky's on Mon. Haven't heard back from them. I shipped to CCR.
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