Glock finish issues ?

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Wanderling

Wanderling

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I am planning to buy G26 and I keep reading that Glock may have changed their finish and the new one is grey / matte and highly prone to scratching.

My Gen 3 G17 made in the spring of 2011 has a black shiny finish (shiny for a Glock, anyway) that has been very resilient so far.

I would prefer getting a Gen 4, is there still a finish issue ?
 
Ummm...can't say my glock has had issue. It probably has the best finish on it than any other firearm I own. Mine is a gen3 G19 I bought last year
 
No problems I'm aware of. But even so, worrying about a Glocks finish is like worrying about the finish on your shovel or hammer. I really like Glocks, and a big part of why is that I don't care if it gets beat up.
 
My g26 and g17s have never had finish problems. They are both gen3s. I wish all of my guns had the glock finish.
 
I picked up a nearly new gen4 G17 on via Armslist a few months ago, and noticed the finish looked weirdly different than any other Glock I'd owned. Comparing it to others, it was smoother, and very thin looking, and the color was difficult to describe, but it wasn't your basic black.
I did some research, and apparantly they stopped using Tennifer several years ago, supposedly due to environmental concerns, and this new,thinner finish is now used. I've read numerous complaints about it scratching and wearing through very easily, as well as rusting more easily, and most owners didn't sound very impressed.
My others G's are early gen3's, and I believe have tennifer finishes (yeah, I know it's a 'treatment', not a finish), with no complaints.
I called Glock HQ about dating a pistol with a serial number I couldn't find a manufacture date for, and asked about the Tenifer while i had him on the phone, and was told by a tech I spoke with that they stopped using it in early '11, but I've read credible reports from others that the date was a bit earlier, so who knows.
 
Carry/climate-weather conditions.....

I got a police trade-in Glock 21 gen 04 .45acp last summer. It was factory serviced by Glock.
The black metal surface is no longer "tennifer" to my knowledge(due to OSHA/EPA issues) but Glock still uses a formula that reduces wear-corrosion. To me the newer Glocks have more of a dark grey/flat black color.
I have noticed strange splotches on the Glock 21's slide if it's carried often or outdoors. :uhoh:
It is more cosmetic & minor than anything. The marks wipe off quickly & don't last. I plan to get a surface coating of Metalife, www.Mahovskysmetalife.com .
The grey-nickel color looks sharp & to apply it to the Glock 21 upper/parts is about $90.00. The shop time & service isn't months & months either like with other well known custom shops.
For now, I just keep an eye on the Glock metal parts & clean/wipe off the pistol with FrogLube.com every few weeks. ;)
www.froglube.com
 
My Gen 3 is Austrian too.

Which internet vendor would be the easiest to work with to make sure they ship an Austrian made one ? I ordered mine from Glockmeister but I really didn't have much communication with them (didn't have to).
 
My Gen 4 26 has the thicker coating. My 1 year old Gen 3 23 has the matt finish. I clean the slides with New-Finish car polish and they both look the same. Both Austria pistols. I like them both.
 
Mine has the light gray finish. Not as thick looking as the finish on other guns I've owned but have no problems with it yet.
Edited to add mine is made in Austria
 
I've got 2 Gen2's (both G23), 3 Gen3's (G17, G17L, G19), and 3 Gen4's (G20, G21, G26). All made in Austria. Can't tell any difference in the finish on any of them.
 
The different finish only applies to USA made Glocks.
Click to expand...
That is correct. Your government (specifically the EPA) protects you from being able to buy domestically made products with a true tenifer finish. :rolleyes:

The U.S. made Glocks have a finish that is similar to tenifer but is applied differently.
 
I really, really wish this EPA/OSHA/Grandma won't let Glock do Tenifer/Melonite malarkey would finally stay dead.

It's a moot point anyway as Tenifer/Melonite are surface hardness treatments, not cosmetic finishes.
 
Field-strip; FrogLube....

After my security shift yesterday, I did a quick check of my Glock 21 .45acp gen 04 since I was outdoors mostly. It's fine. The FrogLube left a slight sticky surface on the metal parts & there are no big spots or marks on it. :)
I'm happy with the FL product but it's not cheap to get.

Happy Glocktober!

Rusty ;)
 
I really, really wish this EPA/OSHA/Grandma won't let Glock do Tenifer/Melonite malarkey would finally stay dead.
Click to expand...
Well, there are some minor differences in Tenifer & Melonite in that Melonite appears to put a black finish on the part as a result of the process whereas standard Tenifer leaves the metal a grey color.

It is also true that the effectiveness of either finish varies depending on how the process is performed. So two companies could use the identical finish process and end up with different results.

However, it does appear that you are correct that either process can be done with cyanide free salt baths or with the original cyanide salts.

It's worth pointing out that both Melonite and Tenifer are trademarks. It may be that although the processes are similar, the company who owns the Tenifer trademark only operates outside the U.S. and only uses the cyanide salt baths and that's what originated the idea that Tenifer can't be done in the U.S.
 
Don't know if finish issue is USA only problem though the U.S. made guns NEVER had Tennifer finish as the process is not allowed under U.S. EPA regulations.
My New Gen 4 G41 is Austrian made and features the same matte grey parkarized look though the finish process may allow for a harder surface treatment that the American allowable processes.
We'll see.
 
Don't know if finish issue is USA only problem though the U.S. made guns NEVER had Tennifer finish as the process is not allowed under U.S. EPA regulations.
Click to expand...

What regulation?
 
The Tennifer process violates one or more of the clean air-clean water act provisions.
Click to expand...

Which provision or provisions? You'll find it awful hard to cite anything from this "clean air-clean water act" of which you speak as no such joint act has ever existed.

(HINT: I admit that I'm playing a loaded game here because I tire of debunking this Internet myth every five or six months when it resurfaces again. As of yet, I have found no one with a working knowledge of either the technical or legal aspects of this topic who claims this is some 'banned' industrial process.)
 
State of GA?....

Id heard a year or so ago, the state of GA labor-health board or maybe it's DNR(dept of natural reources) cited the Glock location in Syrmna GA.
OSHA may or may not have been involved too. I'm not quite sure of all the details.
 
Based on some research, it appears that this topic is complicated by a number of issues.

The three main issues are:

1. The actual process appears to have changed over the years.
2. The various processes as they have evolved have been referred to by a number of trademarks.
3. The trademarks appear to be somewhat context dependent--specifically it appears that some trademarks are used primarily for certain areas and less so in others.

So, for example, while Melonite and Tenifer may, in some circumstances, refer to the same process, they can also refer to different processes depending on the timeframe and context of the specific reference.

Similarly, while the original process included the use of cyanide salts, it appears that it can now be done (and in fact is done) without those particular chemicals.

It seems to have been true at one point that the original process (referred to as Tenifer in some European countries) was not feasible in the U.S. due to chemicals used and the byproducts created. I've found older sources completely unrelated to firearms (dealing with finishes/metal treatments for automobile parts) which make the claim that Tenifer wasn't feasible in the U.S. However the new process (referred to as Melonite in the U.S.) appears to be non-problematic since it does not use the same chemicals.
 
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