Hi-power slide rails

firedawg60 · Jul 18, 2019

I ran across an early 90's Mark III that appears to be well taken care of and not fired a lot. The front slide rails have a parkerized looking finish while the rest of the gun is the standard black epoxy finish. Any ideas as I have never seen one like this in the handful I have looked at.

JoeHenry · Jul 18, 2019

Have two HP’s. Finish on the rails is the same as the rest of the pistol.

1KPerDay · Jul 18, 2019

I wonder if they sprayed it with the slide installed.

firedawg60 · Jul 18, 2019

1KPerDay said:
I wonder if they sprayed it with the slide installed.

The small rear rails match everything else.

WVsig · Jul 18, 2019

firedawg60 said:
The small rear rails match everything else.

WIthout pics it is impossible to say but I am willing to bet the main rails were simply not coated in epoxy for some reason or someone removed the epoxy for some unknown reason. If the gun is sound and selling for a fair price I would not let it bother you too much. Is it a commercial or surplus gun?

firedawg60 · Jul 18, 2019

Commercial gun. I said slide rails but frame rails would be more appropriate.

JoeHenry · Jul 18, 2019

Purchased many years ago. Still has the finish on the frame rails after hundreds of rounds.

Nature Boy · Jul 18, 2019

JoeHenry said:
Purchased many years ago. Still has the finish on the frame rails after hundreds of rounds.

View attachment 850885

Beauty

WVsig · Jul 18, 2019

firedawg60 said:
Commercial gun. I said slide rails but frame rails would be more appropriate.

Snap a pic and I might be able to tell you more.

WVsig · Jul 18, 2019

JoeHenry said:
Purchased many years ago. Still has the finish on the frame rails after hundreds of rounds.

View attachment 850885

I do not think it is a wear issue.

firedawg60 · Jul 18, 2019

WVsig said:
Snap a pic and I might be able to tell you more.

Will try to get one tomorrow. Thanks.

firedawg60 · Jul 19, 2019

Not the best cell phone pics.

The left rear rail also has a small area of the green finish.

Flashcube · Jul 20, 2019

It's normal, my '93 Mk.III is the same way. On mine the parkerized finish includes half the rear rails, all of the front rails and the inside of the dust-cover. Been that way since I bought it 11 years ago.

Most likely just from the way the frame was held in a fixture for spraying.... or masked off to prevent the finish from causing fitment issues.... who knows...

firedawg60 · Jul 20, 2019

After I posted the pics I found some information where the black epoxy was applied over top of parkerizing, so I assumed what flashcube says was the case. However, I have owned two like it and messed with a couple others and never noticed the parkerizing before.

lysanderxiii · Jul 21, 2019

Normally, painting is done over Parkerizing, one, Parkerizing + paint is better at corrosion protection than just paint, and two, Parkerizing allows for better paint adhesion.

If it's painted (and of reasonable quality), it has a Phosphate finish underneath.

Walt Sherrill · Jul 21, 2019

As noted above, a parkerized chemical finish is often applied before a later paint-like material is sprayed on. A phosphated finish is more rust and wear resistant than a blued finish.

My only BHP, an older T-series (circa mid 1960s), traded away recently, had a beautiful dark blued finish.

CZ uses parkerizing under their proprietary Polycoat finish.

Hi-power slide rails

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