This might sound like blasphamy to you gunsmith's out there, but I will ask anyway!

I have an older model HK P7 pistol that is a bit rough, with some minor pitting and the bluing is worn away in a few places from holster wear. I know that I should bite the bullet and send the gun and $400 to Robar and have it done professionally, but things are tight right now so I am thinking about refinishing it with matte black Aluma-Hyde II. I did my AR-15 with it and it came out pretty nice so I am hoping to get your opinions on doing a pistol. It is a carry/shooting gun only and I do not care if it looks perfect and I do not plan on ever selling it.

Please no advice on where to have it refinished, etc and I know that having it done professionally is the best course of action but it is not an option right now so I would like advice on the Aluma-HydeII.

Thanks Fellas!!

Frank

I'm not a gunsmith, however I used Brownells baking laquer on a pitted M1 carbine over fifteen years ago; I use it as a utility/truck gun and the finish has lasted very well.

The pits left after some rudimentary filing were filled by the paint and the piece came out very nice, in three colors with a Choate pistol grip stock added.

I used Aluma-Hyde II on a #5 Enfield that had quite a bit of pitting below the wood line.
I used a small burr mounted in a Dremel and cleaned each pit down to bear metal then filled and shot the barrel, receiver, trigger guard assy, and magazine with black Alums-Hyde II to somewhat copy the black paint looking stuff that was used on many of the originals.

After applying the finish I hung the parts in a storage cabinet along with a small fspace heater that was capable of heating the interior to a pretty even 90-115 degree.

Alumahyde is a bit thick so if apply correctly and only on exterior surfaces it will work and function fine.
That said I would try Cerokote. It's a little more prep and set up to do correctly but the finish is top notch.
You can get a 4 oz. kit from brownell's for $35 and 4 oz. will be triple what you need.
The thing about cerokote is that you can paint nearly every thing on the weapon. all the internal parts other then springs and trigger sear points. I refinished a Rem 870 truck gun that looked like it was drug behind the truck.
That gun today looks brand new and if i laid it next to a new Rem 870 Exp you'd have a hard time figuring out which one was refinished.
Cerokote is that good.