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Armor Tuff is... slippery in my opinion
I have a 5" black/gray CQB that I carried regularly for about a year. I also had a Springfield Micro in green Armory Kote. To be honest with you, I prefer the Springfield Armory Kote over the Armor Tuff. Here's what I have observed.
The Wilson Armor Tuff black over gray is very slippery compared to the green Armory Kote, in my opinion. I don't know if the different colors make a difference, but those are the colors that I have been able to compare over thousands of rounds in all four seasons, between the two pistols.
When your hands are sweatty, the Armor Tuff is definitely more slippery than the Armory Kote, especially with the fine, 30 lpi frontstrap checkering. During an indoor instructor school (very warm in the building), I dropped my CQB onto the concrete, as it slipped out of my sweatty hands during a tap, rack, bang drill.
Over time, I have noticed that the Armor Tuff wears through to the steel in the high contact areas with my holster (mostly around the muzzle)- leather Milt Sparks Summer Special II.
The Armory Kote also wore to the steel around the muzzle, but for some reason, the steel beneath wasn't as bright silver as with the CQB. I have noticed the green Armory Kote doesn't get nearly as slippery feeling- even in the summer. The finish seems to be more rough or less shiny.
Both the Armory Kote and the Armor Tuff are very easy to clean- the phenolic(sp?) resin finishes are so much easier to clean than standard bluing or parkerizing- that is a very noticable "pro" to the paint finishes.
I'm not ripping on my CQB- I must add that I shot a 2 1/8" 50 yard, 4 round group with my CQB! I really like the pistol, but I'm just not that crazy about Bill Wilson's Armor Tuff. In my opinion, there is no finer shooting .45 than a Wilson, and I have shot a lot of them. If I could make a recommendation to Wilson Combat, I would recommend making the Armor Tuff less slippery, if that is possible.
Prescott, I would suggest you find someone who has an Armor Tuff'd pistol and check it out before you make any judgements, for or against. Everyone is their own individual, and one finish may, or may not be, the preference of another.
Greg-
I have a 5" black/gray CQB that I carried regularly for about a year. I also had a Springfield Micro in green Armory Kote. To be honest with you, I prefer the Springfield Armory Kote over the Armor Tuff. Here's what I have observed.
The Wilson Armor Tuff black over gray is very slippery compared to the green Armory Kote, in my opinion. I don't know if the different colors make a difference, but those are the colors that I have been able to compare over thousands of rounds in all four seasons, between the two pistols.
When your hands are sweatty, the Armor Tuff is definitely more slippery than the Armory Kote, especially with the fine, 30 lpi frontstrap checkering. During an indoor instructor school (very warm in the building), I dropped my CQB onto the concrete, as it slipped out of my sweatty hands during a tap, rack, bang drill.
Over time, I have noticed that the Armor Tuff wears through to the steel in the high contact areas with my holster (mostly around the muzzle)- leather Milt Sparks Summer Special II.
The Armory Kote also wore to the steel around the muzzle, but for some reason, the steel beneath wasn't as bright silver as with the CQB. I have noticed the green Armory Kote doesn't get nearly as slippery feeling- even in the summer. The finish seems to be more rough or less shiny.
Both the Armory Kote and the Armor Tuff are very easy to clean- the phenolic(sp?) resin finishes are so much easier to clean than standard bluing or parkerizing- that is a very noticable "pro" to the paint finishes.
I'm not ripping on my CQB- I must add that I shot a 2 1/8" 50 yard, 4 round group with my CQB! I really like the pistol, but I'm just not that crazy about Bill Wilson's Armor Tuff. In my opinion, there is no finer shooting .45 than a Wilson, and I have shot a lot of them. If I could make a recommendation to Wilson Combat, I would recommend making the Armor Tuff less slippery, if that is possible.
Prescott, I would suggest you find someone who has an Armor Tuff'd pistol and check it out before you make any judgements, for or against. Everyone is their own individual, and one finish may, or may not be, the preference of another.
Greg-
