Most durable gun finish?

View · by **yukonjasper** on Tue Dec 19, 2017 3:53 pm

With a lot of options out there, what is the most durable and practical black gun finish?
Melonite
Nitride
Tenifer
Boron Carbide
Parkerizing
Any I'm missing?
Are any of them worth paying extra money to get?

View · by **nhluke** on Tue Dec 19, 2017 4:47 pm

I've had a few cerekoted and like all things it really depends on the quality of the work...but the ones that were done well have held up very well (minus kydex holster wear). If the parts were already black and it was more for protection etc...it probably wouldn't be worth it to me.

View · by **Pat Cannon** on Tue Dec 19, 2017 5:02 pm

Stainless! Get a scratch, buff it off, you're done.

View · by **gun_fan111v2** on Tue Dec 19, 2017 5:32 pm

I think the first three are slight variations of the same process and are the most durable black finishes available. Being the most durable is what also makes them the hardest to refinish but I do like those and would pay extra versus paint finishes like cerakote.

DLC is another one, that is what Glock switched to on Gen5. It seems to cost almost 2x the price of Melonite but it "shows" the texture better so you can have brushed flats with it that look nice. Not sure if it offers 2x protection, don't know enough about it.

View · by **dleong** on Wed Dec 20, 2017 8:31 am

My vote goes to titanium nitride. Had the slide of my Walther PPQ 5" .40 refinished in black titanium nitride last year:

I've put hundreds of rounds through it since then, and the finish shows NO wear, both inside and out, which frankly surprises me. Even the breechface looks mint.

(The factory finish on the barrel, however, is not holding up well. I'll be sending that off to also be refinished in titanium nitride sometime soon.)

View · by **Rodentman** on Wed Dec 20, 2017 9:32 am

P7 refinished in Robar NP3

View · by **Holland&Holland** on Wed Dec 20, 2017 10:11 pm

yukonjasper wrote:With a lot of options out there, what is the most durable and practical black gun finish?
Melonite
Nitride
Tenifer
Boron Carbide
Parkerizing
Any I'm missing?
Are any of them worth paying extra money to get?

Blueing

Color case hardening

In the bright

Nickel plated

Gold plated

Spray paint

You asked what you missed

View · by **BigBlue** on Thu Dec 21, 2017 10:20 am

dleong wrote:My vote goes to titanium nitride. Had the slide of my Walther PPQ 5" .40 refinished in black titanium nitride last year:

I've put hundreds of rounds through it since then, and the finish shows NO wear, both inside and out, which frankly surprises me. Even the breechface looks mint.

(The factory finish on the barrel, however, is not holding up well. I'll be sending that off to also be refinished in titanium nitride sometime soon.)

How do you like your PPQ? Looks like a great gun. Got me thinking about a Christmas present...

BB

View · by **dleong** on Fri Dec 22, 2017 5:59 pm

BigBlue wrote:How do you like your PPQ? Looks like a great gun. Got me thinking about a Christmas present...

BB

I got the gun primarily because everyone was raving about how refined the SAO trigger was. Out of the box, it honestly wasn't all that good, with a heavy take-up and mushy break. I have a Gen. 2 P99 AS .40 whose SA trigger was much better than the PPQ's. It took a fair bit of polishing of the internals and the replacement of a few springs to get the PPQ's trigger up to snuff.

The PPQ was initially shooting way low at 25 yards with my handloads; Walther USA wouldn't exchange the front sight with a single shorter one, insisting that I purchase an entire pack of 4 plastic front sights of varying heights at $50 for the set. Screw that. I then came across a gent on WaltherForum who needed a taller front sight on his PPQ; we traded front sights, and my PPQ now shoots exactly to POA with my handloads.

And yes, the gun is stinkin' accurate. But it was a bit of a chore to get to this point.

View · by **Ghost** on Sat Dec 23, 2017 3:42 pm

I guess I don’t use my guns enough to see issues. The better question might be what finishes have you had issues with?

View · by **yukonjasper** on Sat Dec 23, 2017 5:33 pm

I ask because in my quest to find a Grendel upper, there are many options some stainless and some in various black finishes.

Sorting out the relative advantages is the idea.

View · by **Ghost** on Sat Dec 23, 2017 8:12 pm

yukonjasper wrote:I ask because in my quest to find a Grendel upper, there are many options some stainless and some in various black finishes.

Sorting out the relative advantages is the idea.

I wasn't intending for my last comment to be towards you. Just has anybody here had any issues with any of the options?

My three recent purchases were all FDE anodized and FDE Cerakoted short of TEOTWAWKI for me they'll probably look new the day I die.