Camo paint a pistol?

[UNM1136]

Didn't JSOC or someone determine that anything that doesn't blend can be an issue? That's why they went to ALS holsters wrapped in Multicam and FDE Glocks. I had even heard there were cases of people getting shot in the hip because that's what stood out to the enemy. Now I don't know if that's all the time or just under night vision, but I know plenty of PJ's who as far back as Desert Storm would paint anything black on their gear in a tan or earth color. They told me under NODS the black buckles and other pieces stick out like crazy.

Now, I won't paint a pistol as it does seem like overkill. But I'm also not walking around the Hindu Kush looking for bad people who want to kill me.

Black does stick out under NODS, painfully noticeable. I recall how scarce 3 color day desert became in the early days of the Global War on Terror, and maybe even a little earlier than that, because special units were operating under NODS so much, and had so much experience looking at people/places/things, and the only uniform in the US supply system at the time that had no black was the Desert Combat Uniform.

Speaking as a 20 year cop, any paint on the grip of the gun is going to be rubbed or cracked off by impacts with door frames (even for non-door kickers), office chairs, coffee bars, sidewalks, planters, vegetation, upholstery, seat belts, suspect's clothing, etc., that you might as well not. I MAY get one of my glocks professionally done with a high tech finish by someone like Robar in FDE or Urban Gray, just for fun. Not sure it will be an improvement. Less sure that Cerakote will get the job done, and even less sure the rattle can will last. After my experience with grip tape on my Sig 229 getting knocked off or stripped by the above treatment I am really impressed with my M&P's Talon Grip. The Talon Grip has been in place for almost a year and a half with no re-application. The elastomeric gripping strips I put on the slide forward of the trigger guard for press checks have almost worn away from the pseudo-suede inside my Safariland ALS from limited dry fire, live fire, and actual street use.

Also, my uniform is black, with a black duty belt, and black holster, so there is that....Just like guys in my academy who claimed "light discipline" for the keepers and Sam Browne belt buckle, but wore a silver badge of office, name plate, and collar jewelry. The Sam Browne was the only thing we had any control over for uniformity reasons, and black was better. The reflection off the badge was apparently way less than the reflection off the 3/4 inch keeper snaps, or the belt buckle. The 3/4 inch by 2 inch name tag (or the 1.5-ish inch by 2 inch "Serving Since" name tag was also not too much to complain about.

ETA: Another thought, for most users on this forum, a concealed pistol is...well, concealed. With a properly concealed pistol, color is irrelevant. If you are a fly fisherman, a bowhunther or other type of outdoorsman, a flapped holster or a HPG Kit Bag will be much more secure, and conceal the pistol much more by physically blocking view. Hippies in the woods are not known to be wearing NODS, or looking for you after dark.

pat

[Drang]

Black does stick out under NODS, painfully noticeable. I recall how scarce 3 color day desert became in the early days of the Global War on Terror, and maybe even a little earlier than that, because special units were operating under NODS so much, and had so much experience looking at people/places/things, and the only uniform in the US supply system at the time that had no black was the Desert Combat Uniform.

Fun facts: The old "night desert" uniform was intended as an over-garment for ANY uniform worn in combat at night, but the cover story -- that it was intended for desert warfare only -- was too effective. When we deployed to Egypt for Exercise Bright Star in... '83? ... we were issued 3 "chocolate chips" and one "night desert", but I was the only one that ever wore the later. While doing NVG drivers training.
The thing was, at the time NVGs were still rare as hen's teeth, and known as "Cav navs", because only the armored cav had them. As late as '88 and probably after that it was common for there to be one set in a platoon. (We had one doofus of a lieutenant at Ft Ord wear the NVGs and try to tell his driver things like "pothole on the right." Yes, they ran into shit.)

This wiki article on Desert Night Camouflage claims that the night desert pattern was more visible through NVGs than the chocolate chips. I dunno. That wasn't my experience, but my experience was hardly a scientific, controlled experiment, and a later generation of NVGs might have been in use. (Although the article says they used PVS5s, which is what I remember we were playing around with.)

The tendency for black fabric to fairly glow under light intensification is why the Army's Universal Camouflage Pattern had no black, not the commonly cited "black is a color that does not appear in nature."

Back to "painting your pistola."

[Nephrology]

No. I have a few Glocks with non-black frames, but mostly because i helps keep them visually distinct from their (black) duplicate. Wouldn't paint or dye anything.

[Canyonrat]

Rattle can paint no way, just creating a reason to later buy acetone.