1911 9mm frame color?

[ARsRGood]

Hi all,

I recently purchased a 1911 9mm and the frame on my gun is almost same color as the slide, but a bit more gray, I was in the LGS yesterday where I purchased mine (about 10 days ago) and noticed the frame on the one in the counter is much darker, almost black looking. Is there any reason these are so different? I have looked at photos online and found pictures of both the light and dark colored frames, but no explanation as to why the color variances?

 

[Terry T]

I've noticed that too.
My LW .45 acp "commander" has the darker frame. I wonder if they just picked up the wrong frame or....the early ones had the darker frames and later ones don't? Can we have a ser. no. check for color of frame?
My lighter frame 9mm is 672-63xxx.
Terry T

 

[SR1911SHOOTER]

I've noticed that too.
My LW .45 acp "commander" has the darker frame. I wonder if they just picked up the wrong frame or....the early ones had the darker frames and later ones don't? Can we have a ser. no. check for color of frame?
My lighter frame 9mm is 672-63xxx.
Terry T

"Terry T",
I have had in the last four years at least 7 Stainless SR1911s and CMDs. They are all the same
colour. All .45 ACP. Have no idea why the later models are varied. My SNs are in the 670-24XXX, to 670-8XXXX
range.
My models are 06700 and 06702. Really early models, about 2012 or so. Great shooters though.
I gave one to my Son-in-law, one to my friend in Houston to carry on the job, and one to
my grand son to carry on the job. They love 'em.
I would think that that colour scheme would look sharp.
Blackie

 

[Terry T]

At the left top of the photo is my light weight "commander" in .45 ACP with the dark frame
At the left bottom of the photo is my light weight "commander" in 9mm with the lighter gray frame.
(In the middle on the top is my 'all steel' "commander in .45 ACP)




The photo on the Ruger web site shows the darker frame on the 9mm.

http://ruger.com/products/sr1911/specSheets/6722.html

This listing on GB has a dark frame - ser. no. 672-54427
http://www.gunbroker.com/item/631935135

This listing on GB has a light frame - ser. no. 672-70514
http://www.gunbroker.com/item/631580196


So.....do we know when (by ser. no.) or why the frame color changed on the LW 9mm? :shock:
Terry T

 

[hittman]

Oh man :!: I really like the looks of the green-frame gun with black slide. Those a dealer exclusive? Also 9mm?

Edit: I see them now on GunBroker.....a Davidson's deal. Very nice.

 

[SR1911SHOOTER]

At the left top of the photo is my light weight "commander" in .45 ACP with the dark frame
At the left bottom of the photo is my light weight "commander" in 9mm with the lighter gray frame.
(In the middle on the top is my 'all steel' "commander in .45 ACP)




The photo on the Ruger web site shows the darker frame on the 9mm.

http://ruger.com/products/sr1911/specSheets/6722.html

This listing on GB has a dark frame - ser. no. 672-54427
http://www.gunbroker.com/item/631935135

This listing on GB has a light frame - ser. no. 672-70514
http://www.gunbroker.com/item/631580196


So.....do we know when (by ser. no.) or why the frame color changed on the LW 9mm? :shock:
Terry T

Terry T,
That dark frame on the commander is aluminum. Don't know about the others.
I am a kinda a stainless or blued 1911 guy. Don't want aluminum Frames. If I run
out of ammo, I want a club, not a feather.
Blackie

 

[mohavesam]

What he said.
Aluminum frames are anodized (for wear-resistance and color). Dye-anodizing produces a nearly-repeatable color, depending on the tank and titration/solution at the time, etc.
It is very very hard and therefore expensive to "color match" from batch-to-batch, and there will be differences. Even with the extreme process controls of aviation parts, color and hue vary all the time. We talked about the browns and bronze colors here prior - VERY expensive as color controls go. I had one expert anodizing supplier in Denver that avoided black (ala Leupold and Burris) business because the customers didn't understand this, and wanted only a cosmetic finish that matched other products years old. Welll...

For the SR1911 series, Ruger specs MIL-A-8625 Type II, Class 2 (dyed) which is quite hard as anodic coatings go and is up to 2 mils thick (verified by coupon). I'm not sure about the other colored parts on say, the 22/45 Lite guns and such.

Incidentally, the seal of the anodic coating is where the strength and beauty come in. If you ever notice pinprick gray/black spots that seem like they're under or through the anodize, there is a lousy coating seal and the base-metal corrosion will rapidly get worse. For handguns this is incidental and cosmetic, much different than the anodized 3500-5000PSI fitting in the airliner your family rides. 8)

When it comes to anodized colors, buy the one in your hands if it really matters, or if you're trying to match colors in the stable...

 

[Terry T]

Mohavesam,
Thanks for the info. I did not know about the dye-anodizing process.

But.....I think the difference between the dark, almost black, color on the LW .45 'commander' and the much lighter silver on the 9mm 'commander' is more than just a slight variation in dye-anodizing batches.

My question, or suggestion, is that the very early 9mm used the frames made up for the LW .45s and later used a frame color dyed just for the 9mm?
Since the feed ramp is different in the LW .45 and the 9mm, would a black framed 9mm have the .45 style feed ramp? Or just the black dye-anodizing?

In other words, an early black framed 9mm would be quite collectable, as only a few were made? :shock:

Or....is the photo Ruger is using on their web site 'photo shopped' from a LW .45?

I have 3 markedly different LW frame colors - almost black, silver gray, and OD green, all quite different. See above photo. (Waiting for a desert tan version. )
Terry T

 

[mohavesam]

The green frame is cured paint/"cerakote". I don't know about the black frame guns. I have seen a rack of the tiger-striped green frames with green plastic mag toes and black slides that I believe employees had made - but I don't think they are available to distributors. They mimic the special SR22 pistols made up some years ago, same thing - not available to distributors. Have fun collecting!

 

[SR1911SHOOTER]

Heck! if it is purty, and goes bang every time, keep it. And tell everybody it is a one of a kind you had
specially made just for you.
Blackie

 

[Terry T]

I might be 'barking up an empty tree' but I'd like to see a dark framed 9mm just to see 1) if it exists, and 2) if the feed ramp is different.
Terry T

 

[Ruger45]

I might be 'barking up an empty tree' but I'd like to see a dark framed 9mm just to see 1) if it exists, and 2) if the feed ramp is different.
Terry T

I think the one I just put on layaway is black model 06722 cat# sr1911-cmd9-a 672 prefix

 

[chowser51]

I didn't like the gray color on mine so I had it redone in black.

Every picture someone has posted of their 9mm has had the gray frame. I have not seen a "from the factory" black one in the wild.

 

[dakota1911]

As far as the Aluminum alloy frames the 9mm has a ramped barrel and the 45 has a Titanium insert in the feed ramp of the Aluminum alloy frame.

 

[Terry T]

Dark frame SR1911 9mm for sale on Gunbroker.com:

http://www.gunbroker.com/item/638533800

Ser. No. appears to be 10,000 higher than my light gray framed 9mm. See above. :shock:

Terry T

 

[mohavesam]

Serial numbers are not sequential.

 

[Terry T]

Mohavesam,
Please explain or elaborate on your comment "Serial numbers are not sequential".

It's my understanding (always subject to correction) that the Ser. No. must be assigned to frames as soon as they are produced to conform to Federal Firearms laws. And, by normal definition , serial numbers ARE sequential.
Please enlighten me to Ruger's manufacturing process and their Ser. No. assignment.
Terry T

 

[mohavesam]

Batches or lots of serialized (finished) guns are released at different times for different reasons.
Ruger does not release serial numbers "sequentially". So for example, gun number 700 may be released before number 600, etc. and often have been historically. Some numbers may never get released at all.

 

[Terry T]

Mohavesam,
Now THAT makes sense to me. Thanks for the quick reply.

The quest I'm on has to do with the SR1911 9mm frame color - Gray or Black. And it's not a subtle difference, it's rather stark. It's way more than a slight variation between color batches.
So...in my quest, the ser. no. vis frame color suggests different batches of frames getting different color treatments with at least some black frames being manufactured after some gray frames, regardless of when Ruger released them to the distributors.

So.....is the Gray frame the 'rare' or 'anomaly' and Black the standard? Or the other way around? Or does Ruger even care? Are they continuing to make both frame colors depending on ..... ???? :shock:

Seems like (usually) Ruger works at getting a color (rather) standardized in a particular model. Just seems odd to me that there are such differences within one model without some sort of model number difference or something.

Waiting for Chad to chime in.
Terry T

 

[chowser51]

Someone take a picture of your frame without flash and regular light and see if it comes out darker. Thinking the gunbroker one was just low light.

I'll check some of my older pics before I turned mine black when I get home

 

[Ruger45]

Mine is what I would call black

 

[Buckeye Bill]

Seems black or dark gray. I saw one in a shop yesterday that was not black but looked just like the slide. SS

Bill

 

[hittman]

Mine looks the same as Buckeye Bill's.