What finish for a SIG 220?

[Don Gwinn]

Some of you may remember that my trusty SIG P220 suffered some rust damage awhile back. I was forced to take most of the bluing off the slide in order to get rid of it, and I'm working on stripping it the rest of the way. Been polishing the flats and that sort of thing for awhile now; they'll be like mirrors soon.

Anyway, I want to do an heirloom finish on this thing--something that will last and last with proper maintenance. I have no money to do it right now, and when I do, it's going to be limited, so budget is important, but I don't necessarily want the cheapest thing out there.

I prefer a black finish, preferably something that will be glossy on the polished areas but still tough. If it makes the slide slicker against a holster, so much the better. I'll probably strip out the slide, remove the rear sight and send just the slide.

What do you suggest? Nickel? NP3? Hard chrome? (Is there a black hard chrome treatment?)

 

[Derek Zeanah]

I had a 228 with a satin finish once that was beautiful and always drew attention at the range. My wife even thought it was pretty. I think it was the factory satin nickey finish, but I could be mistaken.

Wouldn't even pretend it was durable, though.

 

[Schmit]

Heard good things about Black T with NP3 innerds.

 

[George Hill]

Send it back to SIG for a new coating of "K" Coat. I think it's only 50 bucks. At least that was what it was for me about 7 years ago.

Metalcol III is another good option.

 

[Don Gwinn]

Is K-Coat decent stuff? I need to check at SIG; I think that's some kind of Teflon or the like. My 220 is old style, made in 1989, and the current finish doesn't seem to be anything but rather thin blueing.

 

[4v50 Gary]

$50? Let me know if that's the current price. I'll be happy to send mine in for that price. BTW Don, mine's an 87. It's tired, it's old but it's a Timex (sorry you Sig fans) and won't stop running (like Russian tractor - sorry John Deere fans).

 

[Wildalaska]

If you are going to use Teflon or a Teflon related finish, the best id Bear Cote by Rocky Mountain Arms. We use them for all of our black coatings.

 

[BigG]

The SIGs just seem to have the least durable finish of any major brand out there. I saw even the premium coated one looking kinda shabby after a bit of holster carry.

Like the guns, though!

 

[Zander]

Don, I don't like K-Kote [about the only thing I don't like about SIGs] as it just doesn't hold up the way it should. The new finish is called Ilaflon, but because the EPA doesn't like the mfg. leftovers, its use seems to be limited at this stage to internals coated overseas and dropped into US-made slides and frames.

A guy who does really impressive work on SIGs is T. Mark Graham out at Arizona Response Systems. Three of my buddies have had him redo SIGs and an FAL in one of his finishes, Metacol III. He's less expensive than the bigger name guys and gives a great turnaround.

He's going to get a P225 slide of mine that needs a refurb.

Check his work at: www.arizonaresponsesystems.com

...in fact, if you click on the 'finishes' tab, you'll find a link to the photo gallery. There's a pic in there of a P220. At first, I didn't think I'd like the highlighted lettering, but "in the flesh", it's quite attractive. It's optional at no cost anyway.

Tell us what you think...

 

[4570Rick]

Anybody besides me like Melonite?

 

[George Stringer]

Rick, that's one I don't think I've heard of. What is melonite? George

 

[Wildalaska]

True Melonite is a two layer "coating", essentially, nitriding...the problem is that the coating is laid on at about 1000 dgerees.

Some companies put it on by way of a bath at lesser temperatures however....

Similar to titanium nitriding I guess.

None of these so called "wonder coatings" have been perfected yet. We have done some xperiments with Boron Carbide and they have not been satisfactory, despite some internet message board claims that they are wonderful.

One of the difficulties of these coatings are theri extreme hardness...they can "wear" softer metals unless properly polished..

 

[MonacanMan]

You can do it yourself! Try this link for hot blue instructions. I take no responsibility for damage you may cause to yourself or your gun! Be patient...sometimes its a slow loader.


http://www.geocities.com/kemays/formula.htm

 

[HSMITH]

I would send it down to Accurate Plating and Weaponry for a black chrome finish if I had to have black. Otherwise a hard chrome finish would be the ticket, and the same guys would get it then too.

 

[Don Gwinn]

Black chrome is more what I was thinking of. I'm not interested in hot blueing right now. Too dangerous.

 

[agony]

I've read that Black Chrome is not too durable. Anyone with experience?