Hey jayb, it is black with stainless, I think a lot of people forget to remember that a new firearm needs to be broken in just like a new car. You have to fire a few rds thu it till it gets right, but that is not to say that some are just built badly. When i worked for colt's in west hartford, conn. and saw how they use ballpene hammers on the slide to get it on the bottom recievers, i swore i'd never buy a colt product. AND NEVER DID... Sometimes you just get lucky....