Most durable gun finish...other than stainless

[SureThing]

For rust prevention, holster wear, etc....what is the most durable finish.

I'm talking about the Blue/Black finish, not the tennifer finish under the black finish of Glocks for example.

The only ones I know of is Blue, Perkerized, Hard Chrome, and poly coat.

Of the ones listed, hard chrome is the toughest I have seen.

 

[Thernlund]

Not sure if your question is rhetorical or you want an answer.

Outside of stainless, I'd have to say Tenifer and hard chrome, in that order.

As far as a blue/black finish, Parkerizing is ok, but in no way perfect. It's pretty old school.

There's always Duracoat.

http://www.duracoat-firearm-finishes.com/


-T.

 

[Z-Michigan]

The carbonitriding process (tenifer, melonite, etc. are trade names) is the toughest thing out there, by far.

If you don't want that, hard chrome is probably your next best bet.

Parkerizing would be a distant third, and blueing is a very, very distant last - it offers very little protection compared to unfinished steel.

There are some anticorrosion chemicals like Eezox, Corrosion-X, and Boeshield T-9 that work so well even a blued finish should hold up in bad conditions, if you use them. The three listed are worlds ahead of most types of conventional oils. Eezox is probably the most effective, and the most toxic, of the three. Breakfree CLP also does well, but not as well as those three.

 

[kcshooter]

blueing is a very, very distant last - it offers very little protection compared to unfinished steel

Bare steel will start to rust in minutes, I've seen new slides and frames start to rust in under an hour after being stripped of oils.

 

[Z-Michigan]

The main benefit of blueing, which is simply a form of iron oxide, is that it holds oil better than bare steel. I would bet that if you thoroughly degrease blued steel it will start rusting in only slightly more time than bare steel - and probably no more time at all in a corrosive (e.g. saltwater) environment.

I have several .22's with blued barrels, stored inside my climate-controlled house, 1000 miles from the ocean, and oiled on a regular basis with FP-10. Each time I re-oil them I get orange residue on the rag. They are stored next to some parkerized barrels that never show any evidence of corrosion, even though those barrels get oiled (on the outside) no more than once a year, probably less.

I will shortly be using one of the products I mentioned above and hope that will be the end of corrosion issues for blued and even bare steel, for me. The user reports on Eezox are incredible, as is its performance in the corrosion test on 6mmbr.com. But read the MSDS for Eezox and you, like me, may be debating whether it's the best choice all-around!

 

[Deer Hunter]

Hard Chrome.

 

[loop]

I like black finishes and I like shiny for handguns. The only thing I know if that holds up as - long as you live - finish would be black nickel.

The only outfit I know of that does it is Fords. It is a very reputable outfit that does a lot of high-end guns. They have a sample on their Web site: http://www.fordsguns.com/

 

[Tom Fury]

Durable finishes

Robar NP3 or Roguard.
Cheers, TF

 

[Kind of Blued]

I like black finishes and I like shiny for handguns. The only thing I know if that holds up as - long as you live - finish would be black nickel.

The only outfit I know of that does it is Fords. It is a very reputable outfit that does a lot of high-end guns. They have a sample on their Web site: http://www.fordsguns.com/

That black nickel SA 1911A1 is jaw-dropping.

 

[loop]

Kind of blued,

Yeah, I need at least one, or two or three...

The question is, it will cost $400 by the time I have it in my hands. Do I want to do it?

You betcha!

I got to have at least one!

 

[skinewmexico]

Birdsong's Black T. And how is hard chrome fall into the blue/black category?

 

[kolob10]

durable

Another vote for Robar NP3

 

[highlander 5]

If they are still in business Armorloy.

 

[JesseL]

After the plated finishes (hard chrome, electroless nickel and heir variations), I'd say one of the baked on phenolic resin finishes (such as MolyResin or Gun-Kote) applied over parkerizing.

 

[mbpautz762]

I have heard great things about the Melonite finish on Smith and Wesson's M&P. I don't have much to compare to, but my M&P .40 has several thousand rounds through it with no finish wear.

 

[krs]

Ionbond......not cheap but harder than a rock.

 

[CWL]

Hard chrome is silver in color so I don't think it fits into your Blue/black color requirement.

You may also consider a ceramic coating. Cerakote is one brand.

 

[19-3Ben]

Most durable gun finish...other than stainless

Not to be pedantic, but stainless isn't a finish.

Sorry, i couldn't help myself. This is actually a really interesting convo, so I'm watching intently.

 

[krs]

Unless you're named Rustoleum....http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/it...nless Steel, Dry Time 1-2 Hours, Dry Time Rec

 

[huntershooter]

"Stainless" is neither rust proof, nor particularly abrasion resitant (scratches easily).
IMO, HC and Melonite are the finishes to compare to.

 

[gwnorth]

Ionbond......not cheap but harder than a rock.

Is that the stuff that Sig/Sauer names as their Nitron finish? If so, I would say it stands up well - I've seen a couple of very well used SIGs still with pretty good finishes after years of holster carry.

I also like that SIG applies it on slides made from stainless steel to begin with, on their P-series at least.