XD Melonite vs. Glock Tenifer.

[Greg8098]

I've finally decided that my next .45 will be either a Glock 30 or a SA-XD .45. The only remaining factor is which one has the better finish. I know Springfield Armory was supposed to begin releasing all of their XD's with the new Melonite treatment. So far all of the XD's I have come across lately seem to still have that original lame finish that loved to invite rust over for parties. If anyone has a newer XD, please tell me how the new finish compares with the Glock. I know that tenifer is a metal-treatment process and not a finish.

 

[Redhat]

I'm told it's the same thing under a different trade name

 

[piranha45]

wikipedia says the same

 

[BenjaminR]

I'll be in the market for an XD soon...how do I know for sure if it has the new Melonite (I love that name ) finish?

 

[TC-TX]

it IS the same thing...

if the XD is a 2006 or later model, it is Melonite...

ALL XD-45's SHOULD BE Melonite.

 

[Stachie]

I haven't heard of Glock slides rusting like their rival's, XD.

 

[GreenFurniture]

It's the same dang thing.

But the pistols aren't.

Get the XD.

It's a million times better than a Glunk.

 

[glocktoberfest]

Get the XD , its by far the better pistol , so I've herd , I only have Glocks and there booring .

 

[ugaarguy]

I haven't heard of Glock slides rusting like their rival's, XD.

it IS the same thing...

if the XD is a 2006 or later model, it is Melonite...

ALL XD-45's SHOULD BE Melonite.

As the latter quoted post implies the Melonite finish premiered on the XD 45 and was fully phased in to all other XDs by 2006. Melonite, Tennifer, and another name I can't remember are the three trade names used by a German chemical company to market the same treatment process.

As for which pistol, the grip angles between Glocks and XDs are very different. Go handle both and see which one points most naturally for you and feels best in your hand. Both are quality pistols that will serve you well.

 

[addecus]

ever see a rusty glock?

the lemonite finish on an xd will rust. especially if your sweat is salty. tennifer never rusts.

 

[ugaarguy]

the lemonite finish on an xd will rust. especially if your sweat is salty. tennifer never rusts.

Sir,
Please read the previous posts. Melonite was phased in on the XDs. Yes older XDs will rust, but all XD 45s and all XDs imported after Jan 2006 have the Melonite finish.

Here are some links about Tenifer, Melonite, and Tufftride.
http://durferrit.de/en/unternehmen/firmengeschichte.htm - see paragraph seven
http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=243777

 

[addecus]

thanks for setting me straight

We fish tuna commercially and use Glock handguns to dispatch large fish. Another boat in the fleet used an XD for most of the season but stopped using it because it rusted pretty bad. It must have been an older model.

 

[ugaarguy]

We fish tuna commercially and use Glock handguns to dispatch large fish.

Addecus, where are you catching tuna that big? That's gotta be a rush catching a tuna so big that you have end their misery with a pistol round. Please tell me more. Also, there's a link in the other thread I linked to Coal Creek Armory who does Melonite and several other types finishing/refinnishing if the folks on your sister boat want their XD tuffened up for the conditions you guys work in. THR member Green Furniture works there and from what I've read here they do great work.

 

[glocktoberfest]

you would have thought they would have copied the "Glunk" better the first time .

 

[Redhat]

How are Glocks and XDs the same young man?

 

[Highland Ranger]

Pictures of the tuna?

(get an HK!)

 

[tango3065]

Tennifer can’t be done in the U.S. because the European process uses Arsenic acids which is prohibited in the U.S. under EPA guide lines. The other companys can use different acids and change the name but it will not be the actual Tenifer process. But then again again they do not claim it to be they call it something else, but I am sure they do know what they are doing.




Some Tenifer data I have been researching



"""""Surface hardening of steel and iron (to improve wear resistance) can be done by either allowing the surface of metals to react with either Nitrogen (nitriding), Carbon (carburizing), Boron (boriding), etc. TENIFER is termed for a chemical bath nitriding process whereby nitrogen is chemically released and introduced into the surface at a suitable high temperature to allow the chemical process to take place.

Using the liquid bath techniques, the temperature requires to activate the reaction is about 550 to 580 Celsius. The bath is performed in a molten, nitrogen-bearing liquid containing either cyanides or cyanates. """""



The process can be produced in the US but the cyanides or cyanates have to be replaced with a diffrent chemical for the chemical bath nitrading treatment which can give Tenifer like results, but it won't actually be or be called Tenifer and unless EPA cuts down on restrictions there will never be a USA company using cynides or cyanates in the USA.

 

[Redhat]

That must be an "interesting" factory to work in

 

[addecus]

big tuna

we find that the heavier hollow points do a better job of calming them down before putting a gaff in em to bring aboard. salt spray and blood will help test a guns resistance to corrosion.

 

[hagar]

Nice tuna there! Wish I had that kind of problem, catching fish that big I have to SHOOT them before I can land them..

 

[doubleg]

addecus. That is one nice looking fish you got there.

 

[Gary A]

Sorry for piping in on a subject not near and dear, but I believe Mastinson is correct that U.S. Law has required some changes in the process here. The first I read about Melonite was a number of years ago when a not so popular Glock look-alike hit the market - Smith and Wesson used a Melonite finish on their original Sigmas long before Springfield's XD line. I believe Melonite is also used on golf clubs. Don't know how well it stacks up to Tennifer which seems to be a truly great finish but I gather it's pretty darned good.

 

[ugaarguy]

To meet the growing needs with regard to wear and corrosion resistance, as well as the enhancement of the fatigue strength, great efforts were devoted to the development and launching of the TENIFER® process, which is also known worldwide under the trade names of TUFFTRIDE® and MELONITE®. This nitrocarburizing process has undergone continuous development with regard to its regenerability and ecology, and from year-to-year the number of applications is increasing on all 5 continents.

Emphasis Mine, from - http://durferrit.de/en/unternehmen/firmengeschichte.htm

 

[BillinNH]

FWIW, I have a Cobra Patriot 45 with a melonite finish on the slide (factory option). It is a smooth but not glossy black finish and has held up well in normal use for a couple of years. Apparently, it can be applied to stainless steel and would be a good option for those who want to blacken a stainless gun. However, I don't don't know offhand where you can get guns Melonited or what it would cost.

BTW, when I ordered the gun thru my FFL he was surprised to see it was black. He thought Melonite would be light orange, like a cantelope.

Pic available if desired.

Bill

 

[Highland Ranger]

what made him think it would be orange?

(detriment to sales I would think - orange isn't the color I thiunk of when shopping for a new gun)