Durability of finish

[thewillweeks]

Lets talk durability of handgun finish. For those of us that carry a handgun every single day, we demand longevity and durability in finish. Straight blueing may work for some of you, but it's not cutting it for me. My Ruger LCP was covered in rust within 6 months, even with daily oil wipes. My Glock 43 finish wore through to where I could see bright shiny metal in 6 months as well. No rust, but exposed metal that could of rusted easily I would think.

In contrast, my 2nd Gen Glock 17 and my 3rd Gen 26 are tough as nails and have been carried in the same style of holsters in worse conditions without any noticeable wear. I'm told the difference between them and the 43 is the difference between a bath treatment and a spray on treatment.

In desperation when my LCP was back for warranty work to remedy the rust I purchased a Taurus TCP because it was the only stainless 380 in stock. The black coat over the stainless has chipped in a few places, but the gun has resisted all rusting and shown wear significantly less than the LCP.

In all honesty, I'm not happy with the Taurus sights, my 2nd Gen LCP has significantly better sights and feels better in the hand too boot. I want to replace the Taurus but I'm unsure what other brands finishes will hold up like.

I see Kahr 380's have stainless options, are the Kahr CT's as or more reliable than the Taurus? (100% from the first shot, btw)

Are Diamondback 380's durable in terms of finish? Are they more reliable than their 9mm counterparts?

S&W Bodyguard 380's are all black, is that black tougher than the LCP blueing?

I'm seriously disappointed in the finish on the LCP and deeply regret not purchasing a stainless model. I am unable to find a stainless model now or I'd purchase it in a singular heartbeat.

Thanks for any feedback y'all.

 

[MedWheeler]

I went through that with the blued slide on my Kel-Tec PF9, and replaced it with a hard-chromed one. It's been very resistant so far (since July of 2012.)

 

[herrwalther]

I avoid "blued" finish firearms like the plague. For awhile that was the only color slide I wanted. Long before I knew what cerakoting, parkerizing, or any other type of finishing treatment was. It was all about the blued parts. Like you I had a similar experience with rust starting to form on a Ruger handgun. I stopped carrying it and eventually sold it. Not solely because of the rust, but it didn't help either.

Currently my favorite finish is Melontie/Tennifer finishes found on Walthers, Glocks, and some Springfield XD models.

 

[bannockburn]

thewillweeks

Over the years I have had numerous guns hard chrome plated (mainly by Mavosky's Metalife), and have always been amazed at how well the finish holds up. All of my guns that were hard chromed still look as good as the day I got them back from being plated; for one of my guns that was nearly 20 years ago!

 

[Spats McGee]

Most everything I own is parkerized. I appreciate the beauty of a nice blue job, but they require more maintenance, for which I have neither the time nor inclination. I keep thinking that I want to try out one of those newfangled finishes, but I may not ever get around do it.

Going back to the actual questions posed by the OP, though . . . . I don't know about the Kahrs and S&Ws. I do know that a gunbroker search for "stainless lcp" turned up 13 hits.

 

[JTQ]

We've had a few guys on the forum post their pictures and comments on Robar's NP3. They've been very happy with it.

Robar https://robarguns.com

 

[grampajack]

I've heard that some people's sweat is more corrosive than others, and I'm starting to think it might be true. Some people don't seem to be able to touch a gun without it immediately starting to rust, regardless of what kind of oil is on it.

With your Glock, I imagine you've just worn through the paint. The shiny metal underneath it acts as the actual finish. It's surface hardened and pretty much abrasion and rust proof.

For your other guns, I think just about anything is going to rust if it's carried every day, although daily oil wipes should prevent it. It's really surprising to me that you're getting rust after caring for it that meticulously. Cerakote would work, as would chrome, nickel boron, nickel teflon, zirconium nitride, etc. Duracoat would also work, and that's something you could do at home without an airbrush. A 30 dollar can of Duracoat would probably be enough to do all your carry pistols. There's also alumahide from Brownell's, but I don't know how it stacks up against Cerakote and Duracoat.

 

[Ed Ames]

I used to dismiss hard chrome as the fedora of gun finishes, but it is surprisingly resistant to everyday use. My HC p3at is easily 10 years old, has spent a lot of that time in less than ideal environments, and shows no sign of rust.

Personally I don't mind honest wear. The g43 with stainless peeping out from under the black coating wouldn't bug me. Nor would the pluming and holster polish I've typically seen on blued working guns as the bluing was gradually replaced by red iron oxide which was in turn wiped smooth.

 

[BSA1]

Take a look at HARD HAT Treatment;

http://www.severnscustom.com/Hard_Hat_Treatment.html

 

[drband]

My son can rust a blued finish with one touch. It's just his sweat/skin type. We sent his LC9s Pro to have the slide and trigger coated (GunKote) and that solved his issue. I would think that any of the new coatings or platings would solve your issue, as will stainless. Coatings offer the option of a darker finish if that's important to you. We've been very pleased with GunKote.

 

[GBExpat]

My son can rust a blued finish with one touch. It's just his sweat/skin type. ...

I think that that is the source of this issue with most folks.

Thankfully, I am at the opposite end of the spectrum and can just wipe my sweated-up blued pistols dry with a towel and put them in front of a fan for thorough drying.

I actually keep a little metal kitchen cooling rack on the kitchen table near my laptop for this purpose. When I come in from working in the yard I will remove my pistol & Nemesis holster from my pocket, do a quick wipe of the moisture on the pistol (XDs or P3AT or PF9 or G30S or G19Gen4), lay them both on that rack and turn the fan so that it is blowing on them also. Within 30-45 minutes both are usually thoroughly dry.

If I did have corrosive sweat, I would go the hard-chrome route (or the like) over any of the painted/baked options.

 

[MIL-DOT]

I avoid "blued" finish firearms like the plague. For awhile that was the only color slide I wanted. Long before I knew what cerakoting, parkerizing, or any other type of finishing treatment was. It was all about the blued parts. Like you I had a similar experience with rust starting to form on a Ruger handgun. I stopped carrying it and eventually sold it. Not solely because of the rust, but it didn't help either.

Currently my favorite finish is Melontie/Tennifer finishes found on Walthers, Glocks, and some Springfield XD models.

Agreed. While I do have some blued stuff, because sometimes it's unavoidable if you like things like old revolvers, most levers and bolt actions, etc. But, I do lean heavily towards stainless, Parkerizing, and the salt bath nitride finishes (Tenifer,Melonite,etc.) The Tenifer treatment Glock used on their slides from around 2000-2010 was simply fantastic.
Some folks dimiss finishes, and claim to not care if their guns show wear (particularly referrencing many Glock owners) ,but all things being more or less equal, if you have the option of a highly resilient finish, I think it's just kinda stupid to intentionally sidestep them, claiming that all the scuffs and wear down to the bare steel, just "add character".
Would anyone prefer a car that didn't have coats of primer,paint and clear-coating ?

....We've been very pleased with GunKote.

Yeah, I once had an AK that had Gunkote applied over parkerizing, and that was an outstanding finish !!

 

[Confederate]

It's very hard to beat a good, hard chromed or stainless steel pistol. I, too, have a hard chromed Beretta 70S and BannockBurn nearly always posts pictures of his before I can post mine! We both have Mahovsky's Metalife plating, which has a phenomenal hardness rating of 71 (Rockwell C Scale). It won't rust, chip, peel or wear. Plated guns won't rust in a wet holster nor will they ever rub through. The binding of the steel to the plating exceeds the binding of the steel to itself, so you'll never need to plate the gun again!

It's guaranteed for the life of your gun and yet it has a maximum build of only .0002-inch.

Oh...and it's beautiful!

It's also very reasonably priced. Check out out.

 

[Fiv3r]

My Beretta Pico looks great even after months of pocket carry. The Inox finish is pretty dang durability.

I don't mind the coating wearing off a gun if it's a corrosion resistant metal that it is adhered to. My fns has a pretty durable finish, but even with a bit of a scuff here and there it's fine. The slide and barrel are stainless.

 

[grampajack]

For those of you with corrosive sweat, what kind of soap and stuff do you use? I'm wondering if this is really a biological issue or a common ingredient in certain types of soaps, lotions, after shaves, etc.

 

[bannockburn]

Confederate

I, too, have a hard chromed Beretta 70S and BannockBurn nearly always posts pictures of his before I can post mine! We both have Mahovsky's Metalife plating, which has a phenomenal hardness rating of 71 (Rockwell C Scale). It won't rust, chip, peel or wear.

Sometimes I'm just a bit quicker on the draw, so to speak!

Everything you wrote about the Metalife finish is right on the money. Even after many years of use, both at the range and in the field, my Beretta Model 70S still doesn't show any sign of wear and tear to the plating.

 

[Screwball]

We've had a few guys on the forum post their pictures and comments on Robar's NP3. They've been very happy with it.



Robar https://robarguns.com

If that is the look you are going for, CCR does just the same quality at a lower price.

http://www.ccrrefinishing.com

They don't plate alloy, nor long guns.

 

[MICHAEL T]

Dang I like blue guns My favorite carry is a 1995 Colt Officer blue I sitting here with a PF-9 blue on hip its 5 years old I wax my pistols and only carry in leather . I don't seem to have a problem with blue.

 

[Bartholomew Roberts]

I have a Roguard/NP3 finish on a Hi-Power that has been carried regularly for 16 years now and has over 35k rounds on it. The Roguard has held up very will. I had the internals NP3 coated and damn near every one of those parts broke - the barrel, grip screws, extractor, ejector, recoil spring guide, slide stop, firing pin retaining plate.

To be fair, it was a good 7,000 rounds after refinishing before the first part broke and a good 25,000 after refinishing since the last part broke. And of course, internal parts are going to see some wear and tear; but it is hard not to wonder if the NP3 process didn't make those parts more brittle.

In any case, the finishes have held up extremely well and there have been no corrosion issues. Pictures of the pistol new and after all the wear & tear can be found here: http://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?p=5629415#post5629415

 

[jmorris]

I contacted Robar about finishing the slide and mag release on my LCP and it would have more than doubled what I have in the pistol.

I think I am going to try one of the spray and bake coatings but haven't decided yet. FWIW what ever Glock uses on their slides I find to be many, many times more durable.

 

[Sheepdog1968]

Robar has some of the best finish options for durability out there. If you have a pistol you like but the finish isn't up to snuff, I'd send it to them. Louis Awerbuck had has neutered 1911 training pistol treated by Robar (they were friends). I think he estimated he had something like 20,000 drawstrokws on it and it still had an excellent finish.