Is Glock still using that thin,greyish finish that everyone was so unimpressed with?

Status
Not open for further replies.
My constant companion Glock19 4th Gen, is a PPY2XX serial. When I bought it! It threw brass in my face, and all over the place. After it burnt my cheek! My registered letter to Gaston worked.

Came back from Smyrna, perfect. (plus a gift of 6 Gen 4 G17 magazines! gift I shoot it in IDPA, not since my Jeep wreck Dec 26th)

I carry it every day here at home. The finish is gorgeous black diamond hard finish. Sort of a speckled finish. (Just looked at it) For me, best fighting pistol made.

What a State my Florida!
 
Mine was manufactured in ~ March 2013, and does not have the nifty frying pan finish that (it seems) everyone raves about. Quite frankly, I've never been able to tell exactly what finish mine has, but, then again, I don't have a lot of time in my schedule to research that. (That would require more trips to gun shows than I really have time for, because I have a hard time comparing my pistol to what I see on the 'pooter.)

Here's what I know: (1) Mine feels a lot like it's been parkerized; (2) after roughly four months of carry, I can see shiny steel where the finish has worn off of the slide stop and extractor; and (3) it doesn't bother me enough to do anything about it yet.
 
Spats McGee said:
Mine was manufactured in ~ March 2013, and does not have the nifty frying pan finish that (it seems) everyone raves about. Quite frankly, I've never been able to tell exactly what finish mine has, but, then again, I don't have a lot of time in my schedule to research that. (That would require more trips to gun shows than I really have time for, because I have a hard time comparing my pistol to what I see on the 'pooter.)

Here's what I know: (1) Mine feels a lot like it's been parkerized; (2) after roughly four months of carry, I can see shiny steel where the finish has worn off of the slide stop and extractor; and (3) it doesn't bother me enough to do anything about it yet.
Click to expand...

You being a moderator, I kind of expected better example to be set than this biased and thinly-veiled wise-ass answer. And,again, being a THR moderator, you clearly have LOTS of time to be casually farting around on "the 'pooter" gabbing about trivialities.
 
Old Guy said:
My constant companion Glock19 4th Gen, is a PPY2XX serial. When I bought it! It threw brass in my face, and all over the place. After it burnt my cheek! My registered letter to Gaston worked.

Came back from Smyrna, perfect. (plus a gift of 6 Gen 4 G17 magazines! gift I shoot it in IDPA, not since my Jeep wreck Dec 26th)

I carry it every day here at home. The finish is gorgeous black diamond hard finish. Sort of a speckled finish. (Just looked at it) For me, best fighting pistol made.

What a State my Florida!
Click to expand...

Thanks, that's interesting. Now that you mention it, i do seem to recall seeing what seems to be the older "gorgeous black diamond hard finish" on some gen4's. So it would appear that while Glock has stopped the older-type tenifer treatment to the raw metal, they may have gone back to the older surface treatment.
 
I have a Gen3 17 with the "good" slide finish and a Gen4 21 with the "not quite as good" slide finish. I have to hold both up together in direct sunlight to see a difference. The slides are both in great shape and these are both great guns that run 100%.

My friend is the Glock armorer for several local police departments and the Gen4 duty guns that he works on come in with a lot more holster wear on the slides than the Gen2 & Gen3 guns seemed to have in the past.

But there are so many new variations of duty holsters, especially the ones with retention mechanisms that grab the gun much tighter, that it is impossible to determine if the holster wear is caused by the newer cheaper Glock finish on the slides or the newer duty holsters that the cops are using.

His advice is to send the Glock slide to Robar for their excellent NP3 treatment which eliminates your concerns anout holster wear on a Glock slide.
 
JDR said:
I have a Gen3 17 with the "good" slide finish and a Gen4 21 with the "not quite as good" slide finish. I have to hold both up together in direct sunlight to see a difference. The slides are both in great shape and these are both great guns that run 100%.

My friend is the Glock armorer for several local police departments and the Gen4 duty guns that he works on come in with a lot more holster wear on the slides than the Gen2 & Gen3 guns seemed to have.

But there are so many new variations of duty holsters, especially the ones with retention mechanisms that grab the gun much tighter, that it is impossible to determine if the holster wear is caused by the newer cheaper Glock finishes or the newer duty holsters that the cops are using.

His advice is to send the Glock slide to Robar for their excellent NP3 treatment which eliminates your concerns anout holster wear on a Glock slide.
Click to expand...

Thanks JDR, that was informative and on-point ;).
 
Must be new development. I had four Glocks: Gen III G29, G20 and two Gen IV G20s. All had same durable finish. I like to see pics of older one with 'gorgeous black diamond hard finish'. Quite honestly other than old police trade ins that seem to have been refinished using dull parkerizing I don't see much difference among those with factory black finish. I learned one thing through shooting hundreds of rounds through them. None were 100% reliable. While I consider them very reliable I'm pretty sure 100% reliability is figment of some Glock owner's imagination.
 
Last edited:
PabloJ said:
Must be new development. I had four Glocks: Gen III G29, G20 and two Gen IV G20s. All had same durable finish. I like to see pics of older one with 'gorgeous black diamond hard finish'. Quite honestly other than old police trade ins that seem to have been refinished using dull parkerizing I don't see much difference among those with factory black finish. I learned one thing through shooting hundreds of rounds through them. None were 100% reliable.
Click to expand...

I posted this video already but here it is again. It briefly and accurately discusses and illustrates the difference in the two current finishes. It's quite visible, especially in contrast, and even more so, in person.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVMhYcn5ddc

One finish is very smooth,thin, and kind of grey colored. It's got kind of a phosphate/parkerized color, but doesn;t have the fine abrasive surface texture, it's extremely smooth. (a real phosphate finish was used on the gen1 and gen2 pistols, as I understand)
The other (earlier) finish is a darker,glossier black,that has a slight texture to it,as well as something described as a very fine 'sparkle' to it. This is the finish that is reported as being nearly bullet-proof, and the one that "Old Guy" referred to as the, "gorgeous black diamond hard finish".
 
MIL-DOT said:
You being a moderator, I kind of expected better example to be set than this biased and thinly-veiled wise-ass answer. And,again, being a THR moderator, you clearly have LOTS of time to be casually farting around on "the 'pooter" gabbing about trivialities.
Click to expand...
Lmao what the heck. How is anybody taking you seriously? What am I missing??

Dude, I don't know what you're after, but you keep pretending to not be here with some sort of goal, and yet you're almost blatantly attacking the people who say they don't have a problem with the current finish. I called you out for it back on the first page and you tried playing dumb, "oh my intention is clearly stated in the OP."

Yeah. You asked if its still the crummy finish everyone hates, and that question was answered in the first reply. Yes it's still that finish, but sounds like most people really don't give a crap. Boo hoo, get over it.

#AskedAndAnswered

/thread
 
MIL-DOT said:
I posted this video already but here it is again. It briefly and accurately discusses and illustrates the difference in the two current finishes. It's quite visible, especially in contrast, and even more so, in person.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVMhYcn5ddc

One finish is very smooth,thin, and kind of grey colored. It's got kind of a phosphate/parkerized color, but doesn;t have the fine abrasive surface texture, it's extremely smooth. (a real phosphate finish was used on the gen1 and gen2 pistols, as I understand)
The other (earlier) finish is a darker,glossier black,that has a slight texture to it,as well as something described as a very fine 'sparkle' to it. This is the finish that is reported as being nearly bullet-proof, and the one that "Old Guy" referred to as the, "gorgeous black diamond hard finish".
Click to expand...
Thanks for making a video. It should end the discussion on the matter.
 
MIL-DOT said:
You being a moderator, I kind of expected better example to be set than this biased and thinly-veiled wise-ass answer. And,again, being a THR moderator, you clearly have LOTS of time to be casually farting around on "the 'pooter" gabbing about trivialities.
Click to expand...
Offended much? Sheesh. :rolleyes:

My answer was not intended to be a thinly-veiled wise-ass anything. You asked about finishes on Glocks, and I gave you the best information I have. As of ~March, 2013, at least SOME G4 G19s, mine included, were being made with a finish other than the frying pan finish, or the "gorgeous black diamond" finish, as Old Guy put it. If you want an exhaustive history of changes to Glock finishes, email Glock, for crying out loud.

Is my answer biased? My guess would be: not any more than most of the other posters here. I guess I have the crappy finish. It doesn't bother me now, and if it ever gets to the point that it does, I'll look into refinishing it.
 
*Sigh*

There seems to be a lot of misunderstanding here about the nature of how metal is being finished here. Gen 1 and 2 Glocks made in Austria would be finished with Tenifer, a brand name exclusive to Glock applied most likely by a third party.

Tenifer is nothing more than a molten salt bath nitride using cyanide salts since they contain a lot of nitrogen that will transfer easily to the part being case hardened, as well as carbon which will also fuse to the steel part being treated. The molten salt bath obviously is really hot, and that promotes a nice chemically excited reaction since both the treating material and the part are hot as heck.

The end result is a part made of high carbon steel or stainless steel, that can be finish machined and then case hardenied to a depth that exceeds what is possible with an industrial coating like hard chrome. The finished surface will be very very hard, infused with nitrogen and carbon, corrosion resistant, and a glossy black. As an added benefit the harder surface has a lower coefficient of friction. Additionally the steel part will retain the high ductile strength and ability to absorb shocks or impacts since the underlying steel is not nearly as hard or potentially brittle as the case hardened surface.

The underlying metal finish texture at the time of nitriding will still be present, just rendered in a glossy black. I am unsure that a part could be phosphate finished prior to nitriding, but I have my doubts and there would be no value. You sure as heck won't phosphate the part afterwards, or blue it. You can paint it, or plate it but a further chemical treatment relying on a controlled rusting like blueing or phosphate won't take due to the very high corrosion resistance of the case hardened surface. The finish you see on Gen 1 & 2 Glock slides is exactly what you'd expect to see a rough bead blasted part look like after a salt bath nitride treatment.

Gen 3 Glocks made in the USA that also have this same slide finish are undoubtedly finished by salt bath nitriding as well. Due to EPA regulations it is my understanding that cyanide salt baths are either outright banned, or so tightly controlled they are economically unviable. So alternative cyanide free salts are commonly used. They probably cost more than cyanide salt, but they do the same thing and give the same result.

Gen 4 Glocks appear to use a gas nitriding probably using ammonia (NH3). This requires the part to be heated up and the ammonia to be vaporized to case harden the parts. Unfortunately the ammonia has no carbon to also bond to the steel, hence no glossy black color, and less abrasion resistance on the surface. On the plus side it doesn't involve toxic salts, and batches can be larger. So costs are lower.
 
For those obsessing over the frying pan finish, as mentioned it looks like bead blasting that has been nitrided. I have a few Daniel Defense barrels finished salt bath nitride, and they display a glossy black finish inside and out that matches the underlying steel finish (turned).
 
Bobson said:
Lmao what the heck. How is anybody taking you seriously? What am I missing??

Dude, I don't know what you're after, but you keep pretending to not be here with some sort of goal, and yet you're almost blatantly attacking the people who say they don't have a problem with the current finish. I called you out for it back on the first page and you tried playing dumb, "oh my intention is clearly stated in the OP."

Yeah. You asked if its still the crummy finish everyone hates, and that question was answered in the first reply. Yes it's still that finish, but sounds like most people really don't give a crap. Boo hoo, get over it.

#AskedAndAnswered

/thread
Click to expand...


In his video, at about the 3:25 mark, he states that he doesn't care.


I hope that clears things up a bit. ;)
 
Bobson said:
Dude, I don't know what you're after, but you keep pretending to not be here with some sort of goal, and yet you're almost blatantly attacking the people who say they don't have a problem with the current finish.
Click to expand...

Wrong. I don't mind at all if folks are ambivelent, or even happy, with the new finish, I really don't, I was just gettiing annoyed at all the snide, point-missing comments that dismissed my interest about it as being ridiculous (elevating it all the way to "obsession" in one post).
I didn't ask anyone how unimportant they considered the finish on their slide, I simply asked if anyone knew if Glock had made any recent improvements to the finish they've used for the last few years, and after the first reply (that DID answer the question) I largely got a barrage of unsolicted commentary.
Even Spat's comment (despite his protests to the contrary) was brimming with dismissive sarcasm, with comments like, "nifty frying pan finish that (it seems) everyone raves about", and , "I have a hard time comparing my pistol to what I see on the 'pooter". Gimme a break.
Regardless of anyone personal take on this question, the fact is that Glock used to use a very wear and corrosion resistent finish on their slides, and now they use something that a HUGE number of Glock fans are highly disappointed in.
I'm simply interested in identifying which guns have which finish, NOT in hearing how trivial Joe-Schmo-From-Kokomo thinks the issue is.
I thought this was an ideal place to ask the question. My bad. :neener:
 
MIL-DOT said:
. . . . Even Spat's comment (despite his protests to the contrary) was brimming with dismissive sarcasm, with comments like, "nifty frying pan finish that (it seems) everyone raves about", and , "I have a hard time comparing my pistol to what I see on the 'pooter". Gimme a break. . . . .
Click to expand...
I cannot fathom why you think my post was sarcastic or dismissive. I really do think the frying pan finish is pretty nifty. It'd be nice to have. I'm just not all that worked up about not having it. And I really do have a hard time comparing my pistol to what I see on my computer. I'm a middle-aged dude with middle-aged eyes.
 
OK, then, fair enough. It does sound like I misinterpreted it and unfairly accused you, and I apologize (and to anyone else I may have offended here.)
We cool? Ya'll wanna just call it a day and let this one go, now ? :D
 
By special request, we have one more entry. :)

Quentin said:
My 2004 Gen 3 G27 slide has the black Teflon like finish which is extremely durable, much more so than my four Gen 3 and Gen 4 Glocks from 2010-2016 with the thinner gray finish.

A big disadvantage of the Teflon style finish is that it's slippery, with sweaty hands it's harder to grip the slide to chamber a round. Someone with a weak grip would have a real problem with that finish (which might be why Glock abandoned it).

I also have a well worn Gen 2 from 1998 that has a thin gray finish so the gloss black finish seems to be limited to around 2000-2009 or so.
Click to expand...
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

Z
  • Locked
A look at a surplus Sig P6
2 3
Replies
57
Views
20K
atblis
A
Back
Top