Rich,
The Armory Blue is somewhat impregnated into the steel but not very deep at all. Though it maybe slightly harder, it will scratch and show wear just like a Dome Blue gun. Should you chose to get an Armory Blue gun "re blued" it will be much more expensive. Also, Dome Blue doesn't vary in color but an Armory Blue gun may vary in color. For example, suppose you purchased a 45 Pre War last year and now want to purchase an acp cylinder. The coloration of the new cylinder may be a little off compared to the original gun.
Regarding grips, with the exception of the hard rubber and tru Ivory, all of our other material is not profiled. The wood (3" x 5" x 5/8") is laid on the frame and the outline is traced. Then it's cut and sanded. Also, each locater pin hole is drilled for the gun the grip is to mated to. Our grips are fitted while the gun is in the white to get the best fit possible. When a gun is returned for gripping, we also end up repolishing and bluing the backstrap and trigger guard. We have to do that because we can't get it close enough without touching the BS or TG in the process. That's a long winded way of saying we don't carry or offer profiled grips other than hard rubber or Tru Ivory. Even our hard rubber is as much as 1/16" oversize.
Banjoman