Titanium nitride as a gun finish?

[casey44mag]

Well i geuss i shouldn't brag i dont do it all the time. theres a saying "Pigs get fat, Hogs get slaughtered" a motto to live by. But TiN and affiliated coatings are great and if you can do it and get past the "BLING" factor of gold on your gun id do it. They are super HARD and only had microns of thickness on the metal Better than hard chrome Hmm...... I wonder if you could TiN a Barrel bore and reloading dies and knives and......

 

[Standing Wolf]

I once looked at a Taurus pocket .38 special with a very pretty blue TiN finish. If it hadn't been a Taurus, I'd have bought it.

 

[bsingleton47]

It seems that the public needs an education regarding this finish. To describe this finish as "Bling" doesnt fit. The finish is unique looking. Certainly doesnt have a traditional look. The fact that it is gold looking is odd since there is no gold in the finish.

I must say I like the look of the Titanium Gold bolt and scope ring there Rembrandt. It would be cool to see some handguns come from the factory with Titanium Gold parts, barrels, triggers, and some other internal parts. Maybe even a coating on the spring since it is only microns thick.

I will have my pistol in a few days. Waiting now the typical few days to get cleared before pickup. When I do I will post pictures for sure. For now I will try to upload the one Megasports sent me. I think I will pass on different grips as I have seen on some of these Ti Gold guns as I feel that the black grips give it some semblance of a tactical gun.

 

[deerhearse]

Hornady does some of their reloading dies with TiN, I believe.

 

[agtman]

Try NP3 ...

... 'cause chrome and such don't get you home.

G20 & G29.


G20.

 

[BCRider]

Bsingleton, it doesn't matter what the material actually is or isn't. If it's shiney and gold looking then it'll be seen as being all bling'y. You ain't gonna change that sort of reaction so you may as well get used to it....

Having said that I'd buy such a gun. Up this way the need to make the gun dark to hide it in defensive roles isn't there. THey are range and competition toys. As such a TiN coated gun is going to be a nice switch that likely offers significant advantages. But we'd still be accused of being pimps with bling....

 

[bsingleton47]

You are right BCRider, but you strike me as someone who like myself doesnt concern yourself with peoples opinion of your firearms. IMHO most handguns today are so boring looking, like the difference between a new 4 door sedan from Honda, Nissan, Mazda, Toyota, etc. They are all pretty much a mixture of steel and plastic that have a dull black finish, at least as far as semi autos go. The finish will look like crap after a few pulls from your holster if you are carrying it. I used to subscribe to Shooting Times many moons ago, but now the covers all look alike. It is nice to see a change once in awhile, something that looks like the finish work was important.

Remember the Colt Royal Blue? Not the most durable finish but with some care it could last a lifetime. I had a 1911 Colt Special Combat Government in two tone blue and stainless back in the early 90s, one of the first ones made. Damn I wish I still had that one. :banghead:

I love my most recent aquisition because its all steel, its beauty and durability. Just call me Huggy Bear!

 

[gvf]

Driving home to day I got to thinking about a thread on blueing vs parkerizing vs hard chrome vs whatever I read on another forum. That got me to wondering about the idea of Ti Nitriding. You know, that golden color seen on drill bits, milling cutters and some other tooling these days.

It's thin, it's harder than nails so it'll resist scratching by almost any source other than rubbing a diamond ring against it. So what's NOT to like... other than the rather bling'y gold look.

That Desert Eagle from a couple of years back, was it TiN or was it actually gold plated?

So what's your thoughts out there in THR land? Could you learn to live with/love a gold coloured gun if you knew it was only because it was coated with a hard and wear resistant coating that just happened to be gold in color? Or would the "pimp" connotation make you want to gag and puke? Or do you think you'd start out wanting to G&P and then get used to it and finally like it since it would be so tough and stay nice looking for so much longer?

You got a photo of something with that finish? I'd like to see what it looks like.

 

[BCRider]

gvf, look at the picture of bsingleton's Baby Eagle in TiN a few posts up. IWI/Magnum Research also did the big Desert Eagle in the same finish. Lots of pics of those guns is a mere google for "desert eagle images" away.

Bsingleton, to a big extent I find that you're right. Look at lines of handguns and other than the obvious striker vs hammer fired guns it can be quite easy to mix them up until you learn the subtle differences in shapes between them. A few, such as the Beretta 92 style and 1911, stand out. But even with the 1911 there's enough close clones with the same slide shape that an observer has to look twice in detail.

For a defensive gun I can more than see the desire for a dull and dark finish. But so many handguns are used primarily for sporting reasons. And for those there's no reason at all not to use options such as bright finish stainless, nickel or even a gold looking TiN finish.

And you're right, I may be amused at the reactions of others and even joke about my guns myself. But I buy them for ME first and foremost. Which is likely why I'm beginning to use my revolvers in IDPA and think that it would be cool to go against the flow and use a P38/P1 for something like IDPA as well.

 

[bsingleton47]

BCRider, interestingly enough the guy at IMI coating who does the Ti Nitrade for Magnum Research tells of an IPSC shooter with his 1911. As he had worn off several hard chrome finishes on the slide of his gun with all the draws from the holster he decided it was time to try something new. According to IMI the competitive pistol shooter had Ti Nitrade put on the slide and has yet to need it done again! The functionality of the finish is truly remarkable.

On another note I must say, I have never owned a gold colored gun. My wife hates it. It is a weird finish to the touch as well, very different. There seems to be a permanent film on the gun which needs no lubrication. Take the gun apart and look inside and in all the normal parts that you would see the wear to the bare metal on some of the internals, such as the slide stop, all you see is Ti Gold Nitrade without a trace of scratches or any appearance of the surface metal, pretty amazing!

As for the question posted earlier. 24 karat gold plating looks much more blingy. It looks like jewelry and will rub off very easily. Ti Nitrade is much more brassy looking, I hate to say it, but almost tacky looking. But I can forgive it alot if it holds up the way I am told it will.

 

[Route666]

I used to be right into DEs and they did have a 24k Gold one, a polished TiN that looked better in my opinion (more yellow) and I think it was later they stopped polishing the TiN so it is matte, but now they also have "tiger-stripe" polished and matte TiN.

Now they also had a new finish coming up when I used to be interested in them, called Titanium Carbon Nitride. It is apparently harder than the TiN, looks silver/slightly brown (actually I think it is clear, a kind of crystalline structure so you see the silver metal colour through it) but under different lights there is a touch of pink highlight from the certain frequencies of light interacting with the crystal lattice.

I found a pic! - attached.