Best magazine finish

[Pyro]

I've been told that hard chrome is the toughest finish for any handgun, but what about magazines?
I've got two magazine, one hard chrome and the other blued. The blued magazine has some serious scraping on the backside of it from use, the hard chrome still looks brand new. The blued magazine also feels rougher then the hard chrome, which feels almost slick even after use.
The hard chrome just feels like it is oiled all the time, the blued one gets a "dried out" feeling to it after use.
Besides the obvious corrosion resistance that hard chrome has, does it have any other subtle benefits then a blued finish?
Also, Speer Gold Dot's appear to have a chrome finish also; for the same reasons as stated above? Or is it a nickle plating?
-Pyro

 

[metalman8600]

Best mag finish?

Cerakote, nitrocarburizing, hard chrome. Even parkerizing is better than blued.

 

[kokapelli]

Stainless steel.

 

[easyg]

On my blued magazines the finish does sometimes scratch off.
But I think that it's just cosmetic and really doesn't affect the function of the magazine.

Having said that...

My Glock magazines seem the most durable and always look practically brand new.

Also, Speer Gold Dot's appear to have a chrome finish also; for the same reasons as stated above? Or is it a nickle plating?

From Speer's own website...

"Gold Dot is assembled in quality brass cases, nickelplated for smooth feeding and protection from corrosion."

 

[rightside]

Robar's NP3 hands down, once you've tried it you'll know why.

 

[JQP]

Glock, and I'm serious.

Polymer over stainless steel, totally reliable and uniform in fit and finish from one to the next, no sharp edges, plentiful and inexpensive, with strong, extremely reliable springs and great followers.

 

[1SOW]

Take your blued mag and clean it , then use some premium liquid car wax (Meguiars/whatever you like) inside and out. You may be surprised how well it inserts, loads, feeds and drops. Only has to be done when the mag 'needs' to be cleaned.

 

[JohnBiltz]

Magazines are pretty much consumables. I don't really see the point. In any event I'd be a lot more worried about the magazine springs than whether they scratch or not.

 

[Jed Carter]

AS long as it feeds reliably, I don't care about the blems. I shoot IPSC with Wilson mags, just drop them on gravel, and fugedaboudit.

 

[GLOOB]

The inside of the mag is the important part. Parkerizing is too rough for some doublestack mags. Especially when you try to stuff the maximum number of rounds. Mecgar applies a special non-stick finish to the inside of its extra capacity (17/18) beretta 92 mags.

Those bullets push and rotate against each other and the mag wall. The finish on the bullets makes a difference, too. I don't trust Wolf ammo in my Glock mags. If I leave them loaded too long, sometimes they jam, even in my factory original mags.