By Jennifer L Yoder, Women’s Outdoor News

While I love my GLOCK 19 Gen 4, and think it is the perfect pistol to fit my needs, I tend to like to be a little different at times. GLOCK produces their pistols in one color: black. My husband has a Springfield XDM with the stainless steel slide and I have to admit that I prefer the contrast that it has compared to just one solid color. That being said, I wanted to give my GLOCK a little personality and change the color of the slide. I didn’t, however, want to pay a gunsmith to bake on a finish. I consider myself to be a bit artistic, so I decided to do it myself. I did a little research to find a product to use and in the end I decided to give the Shake ‘N Spray DuraCoat Finishing Kit a try.

Lauer Weaponry, the manufacturer of DuraCoat Firearm Finishes, claims that the Shake ‘N Spray kit provides everything you need to finish your Firearm in a simple and user friendly way. The kit contains TruStrip and a scrubbing pad to degrease with, a jar to mix the DuraCoat ingredients, and a Preval Aerosol Sprayer to apply. Besides the instructions on the packaging, there also is a video available on the company’s website to view the application of the product.

After watching the video, I felt pretty confident that this was something I could do myself. The hardest part in my opinion: choosing which color to use. With more than a hundred different finishes available, deciding on which to use can take a little time. I knew I wanted something that would contrast with the black grip, but not stick out too much. The colors are available to view on the website, but it is difficult to get a real feel for them on there. I kept leaning toward my favorite color, which is purple, and after viewing the choices available I felt pretty confident that DuraCoat standard color 95-Goddess Purple was exactly the right choice for me. It was the darkest purple available, so I felt it would look best with the standard black of the GLOCK.

Now that the hard part was complete, it was time to prep my pistol. I removed the slide and headed out to my garage.

First – I taped off any parts that I did not wish to be painted using some standard painters tape.

Next – I needed to find a way to hang the slide to make it easy to spray. I ended up taking a wire hanger and hanging it from a string from one of the rafters of my garage. I looped the hook of the hanger through the barrel opening of the slide. This allowed the slide to hang freely, making all sides accessible to spray at once.

I followed the instructions closely, first using the TruStrip and scrubbing pad to degrease the slide. This was simple to do, and did not take long at all.

Once I was satisfied — I moved on to mixing up the finishing spray and preparing it in the Preval Aerosol Sprayer. The overall prep time took less than 15 minutes.

The best advice for the actual spraying of the finish is to put it on lightly and spray it in steady bursts. I found that spraying from top to bottom in lines worked well, being careful to only spray each area once.  I allowed the first coat to dry for about 15 minutes. I ended up using three coats total. Afterward, I allowed the slide to drive overnight before reassembly. The overall curing process does take several weeks, so I waited two weeks before actually using my gun, and several more prior to holstering it.

The finish turned out great! I absolutely loved it! I have had several people ask me where I took my pistol to have it done, only to be very surprised when I explain that I did it myself. It now has been several months and I have drawn the weapon from a holster dozens of times, cleaned it and degreased it; it still looks just as good as when it was first done. There is no doubt in my mind that I would use this product again.

I would caution that this is a permanent finish for your firearm; therefore, if you use it, take your time and make sure you follow all instructions. Wear gloves and old clothing, because you will most likely get the finish on your hands and clothing and it is very difficult to get out. Make sure you have the right amount for the project you are going to complete; I sprayed just the slide and used almost half of the product that came with the kit.

If you are looking to personalize your firearm and make it your own, I would recommend considering using DuraCoat Shake ‘N Spray. If you are confident in your ability to do it yourself, follow the directions provided on the packaging and the instructional video, this is a cost effective alternative to taking your firearm to a gunsmith. For more information on this product, visit www.lauerweaponry.com.

Thanks to Women’s Outdoor News for actually paining a gun and letting us know how to do it! Click this link to visit the WON http://www.womensoutdoornews.com. ~Mike P. Guns & Gear Editor