Tag Archives: crayon gun

Adding a little warpaint

In a world where all Glocks are boringly the same, adding a little simple color can both serve a practical purpose as well as set your gun apart with a minimum of effort.

Behold! The slide differences between my Gen 3 Glock 19 (made in Austria) and my Gen 4 Glock 22 (made in Georgia):

Why?

First off, this is a simple user modification that does not affect how the gun shoots, carries, or presents in any way, and is typically reversible if you don’t like it– without damaging your firearm. Purely cosmetic in nature, filling in the roll marks on the slide of your Glock allows the factory markings to be more easily readable.

For the Glock owner who has several very similar models, for instance, both a G17 and a G22, or both a G19 and a G23, this mod can help to tell the pistols apart quickly and from a distance. This, especially if you are at the range with multiple caliber Glocks and may have the possibility to accidentally put a magazine full of 9mm into a .40 cal S&W with potentially kaboom results, can be a very important distinction.

So how do you do it?

It’s surprisingly easy.

More in my column at Tac.44.com

Color it up: Filling the roll marks on your XD

One of the joys of gun ownership is the ability to personalize your firearm. For some this means changing out sites, recoil springs, and other temporary additions that change the mechanics of the gun. For others there are more permanent changes such as stippling  and slide porting which cannot be undone and, if done improperly, damage the firearm. Then there are little cosmetic changes that are pleasing to the eye of the beholder that can do not affect the performance of the gun one bit, but do put a smile on one’s face.

That’s where adding color to the etched roll marks of your XD would fall.

This can really turn a ho-hum black Croatian hog leg into the bell of the ball. After all, there has never been a problem with a little war paint here and there.

Fresh cerakoted XDS 45 Burnt bronze slide with FDE frame, and filled lettering.

Fresh cerakoted XDS 45 Burnt bronze slide with FDE frame, and filled lettering.

Read the rest in my column at XD Forum