From the customer's point of view:
While blueing looks great, I agree that it just doesn't hold up well. I do like a black parkerizing, but am not always sure who does it well(other than Texas Armaments). Robar also does black chromium sulfide, which can be done on stainless, and I think is tougher than parkerizing. Looks nice and black.
My latest gun built by Wayne Novak went kind of 80's retro - blue slide with polished sides, and hard chrome lower by Tripp. Excellent chrome, and no waiting around for months on end.
I did have a gun done completely in NP3 some years back, and thought it was a good finish, but kind of expensive. They will do aluminum frames, but won't guarentee it like they do on steel.
My Novak LW COmmander has a matte black hard anodize frame, but Wayne won't divulge who does it for him.
