Handgun Finishes

[Aud_VDW]

THREAD SPLIT OFF FROM "Your Perfect Combat 1911" DISCUSSION



Tennifer the frame, slide, and barrel. Not "something close to Tennifer" but the real deal ... everything else is inferior in my experience.


Todd,

Does this include H&K's harsh environment finish (carbonitriding) on high carbon steel and Smith's Melonite QP of stainless?


ETA care to elaborate?

[ToddG]

Does this include H&K's harsh environment finish (carbonitriding) on high carbon steel and Smith's Melonite QP of stainless?

Yes. Well, sort of. They're all variations of carbonitriding. And perhaps the base metal is just as well protected. My M&P9 test gun developed surface contamination after being in a wet leather holster for a few hours. It was just the surface finish (not the Melonite'd steel) and I never do anything to help protect it in terms of Eezox, etc. But I still don't believe you'd see that with a Glock. CBP's marine unit had some very serious corrosion issues with their HKs in '07 ... enough so that they considered switching to a different gun until HK got things fixed.

Don't get me wrong, both are very good finishes but both still have a higher incidence of corrosion than Glocks.

[MikeO]

I looked into this a few yrs ago and Tenifer/Melonite/Tufftride were all registered trade names for the same process using different salts in the bath. At the time the rights were owned by the Durferrit divison of the HEF Group, but I think the rights have changed hands since then.

Might be different on the guns, but in the lab tests the difference between them as far as corrosion/wear resistance and lubricity was virtually identical. Problem may be in the finishers, not the finish?

Back in '89 I got a new Glock w finish that discolored, so even they can mess up Tenifer.

[HK45]

Tenifer uses a much higher amount of cyanic acid than Melonite which is why it is more strictly controlled.

Tenifer is not a finish so was the finish showing wear or was their corrosion in the metal on your Glock?

What tests are your referring to? I would like to read them.

The two myths you see quite often are that Tenifer and Melonite are exactly the same thing and that Tenifer is now allowed in the U.S. Neither are true.

[Alpha Sierra]

I'll take nickel plating for a pimptastic look. :D

[MikeO]

Tenifer is not a finish so was the finish showing wear or was their corrosion in the metal on your Glock?

What tests are your referring to? I would like to read them.

Right, both are metal treatments that have finishes applied over them.

Pistol looked OK when I got it, then discolored and turned rough/reddish in spots. Sent it back to Glock, and they replaced (did not refinish) the slide.

Info on Tenifer/Tufftride/Melonite was relayed to me in a phone call w Ken Metzger, then VP of HEF USA, who at the time licensed them (Durferrit to HEF to HEF USA).

To really confuse it, we could throw in Kolene/Nu-Tride and how all of them can be Q (quench), QP (quench-polish), or QPQ (quench-polish-quench) variations.

All nitrocarburizing SBN (salt bath nitriding), but not exactly the same, and not the same effects on different base metals. Some make some stainless steels worse, not better, for example.

So Melonite might be to Tenifer kinda what Taurus is to Beretta, or SA is to Colt? Or not. Beats me.

Burlington has some info on Melonite:

http://burlingtoneng.com/melonite.html

HEF-Durferrit on Tenifer:

http://www.durferrit.de/en/produkte/waermebehandlung/nitrocarbonitrieren.htm