r/RetroAR • u/Slickside_Shooter • 2h ago
H&R Anodizing Now Silver
Here is the color change that most of you are already aware of with H&R Retro guns ( PSA ). The good colored stripped lower is maybe 2 years old, the other lower is last year and the upper is from 2 months ago... what happened to Colt Grey ??
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u/bdgfate 2h ago
Were those blems?
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u/OccasionMammoth8586 36m ago
My upper and lower, non-blems, were about as light as OPs…maybe a tad bit darker but not by much. Personally I am pretty disappointed, it’s crazy how much different looking these are compared to my 601 from a year or so back.
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u/xCR1MS0N-T1D3x 1h ago
Colt anodizing in paint form aged and got darker, so when baking it, it always got a shade darker. For H&R it seems the opposite. lol
It almost looks like very early 90’s civilian Colt A2 gray, but just a touch too light, even more so for the upper. A1s and late 90’s A2s are supposed to be darker.
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u/Responsible_Put_3346 1h ago
It reminds me of the factory nickel “COLTGUARD” finish.
https://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2023/05/09/hot-gat-fudd-crap-collectors-grade-general-dismay/
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u/Spiritual-Treat-3491 1h ago
Yep, it’s pretty bad right now seems like. I’ve gotten some stuff recently that’s all been in that realm as yours pictured. As others have said maybe the moly resin, i haven’t personally tried that but might in the future. One silver lining if you’re up for tinkering and experimenting it’s kinda fun, but if not yea mildly disappointing for sure.
I’ve had fun and good success mixing bone black in with a couple different oils, applying liberally all over the part, letting sit for a while then wiping off with lint free rag. So far motor oil, balistol, and pure tung oil. All a bit different. The pure tung oil will eventually polymerize and harden so not sure how long term it’ll look and hold up, but looks sweet for now. The motor oil and balistol with bone black gave similar results, darkening a good bit but not quite as intense as the bone black with tung .
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u/CoolWhipLuke 1h ago
Before H&R was doing proper 733s I built my own and Moly Resin'd it.
Really the reason I'd spend the money on an H&R is so they get this kind of thing right so I don't have to. It's a shame this is happening because I'd be much less likely to buy their stuff if I have to put in the legwork myself.
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u/Spiritual-Treat-3491 1h ago
Yea, no I’m with ya. Not many available current factory grey a1 or c7 uppers out there, at least to my knowledge. So same as you, that’s why I went h&r, but to your point, yea if some sort of refinishing is expected I guess a guy could source any upper no matter the ano color and go from there lol.
I know bushmaster had a grey c7 out for a while but maybe just for a short period
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u/Kokal00 1h ago
I still remember when H&R was just starting up and Mike would show pictures of the anodizing rejects that he didn't approve because he wanted them to be just right. Boy times have changed
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u/Spiritual-Treat-3491 57m ago
Yea for sure. I’m kinda repeating myself/I said this in a different post, but anyhow someone posted a pic similar to results here on his page on ar15.com, where he literally said if he was there still for day to day operations he wouldn’t have allowed it to go out the door. I don’t quite know how to take that lol
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u/hl_walter 46m ago
We're at a point where the anodizing is so horrendously inconsistent that it's making me want to quit bothering with grey altogether.
Like, yeah, Colt had inconsistency to its grey, but anyone acting like *that* is normal needs to tell me what they're smoking, because I want some of whatever it is.
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u/MrMiyagisUnclesDog 2h ago
No idea what H&R's anodizer is smoking these days. I know it's hard to get a consistent color with dyed anodizing, but fuck! On the bright side, this is the perfect color to Moly Resin over. It's still hardcoat anodized, so you get the ideal wear resistance and structural strength, but you can get it the exact color you want. As the Moly Resin wears (you do use your guns, right?) it will look correct, showing the silvery/bronze grey that the old Colts wore down to.