BN, 7/21/08
I can't answer all your questions but may have some input on several of them.
Favorite finish?- I live in the tropics so rust is a real issue. All of my blued guns have shown some surface rusting no matter how often I oil them. I finally resorted to having them hard-chromed at Techplate (
www.techplate.com). So far they have stopped rusting and look really good. Stainless is also a good option. There is a method to darken stainless but I am not sure how it is done.
EAA Witness Wonder finish- supposedly it is rust resistant and quite hard making machining difficult without carbide cutters. I had two, a compact and full size .45. Both started corroding- but a pitting-type corrosion as opposed to the surface rusting on the blued guns. I had both pistols hard-chromed which worked well until the frames and slides developed cracks at approximately a 3000 round count with each pistol. It's too bad- they were fun pistols to shoot.
Hope this helps some.
best wishes- oldandslow