Cerakote vs Nitride

[m4brian]

Many folks are getting slides milled these days, and one option is to Cerakote the slide after milling.

Take the case of Glock or CZ which have VERY tough melonite (pick a term) or nitriding as the finish. Will a Cerakote finish be as durable and rust resistant? (I have seen the you tube videos promoting cerakote OVER nitriding, but want to know what people's experience was). Thanks.

[MountainRaven]

I think this answers your question:

[yoni]

So who is the best at nitriding a slide after it was milled for RMR, my P07 needs it.

[falconman515]

So who is the best at nitriding a slide after it was milled for RMR, my P07 needs it.

Primary Machine

[joedirt199]

I second that. Primary Machine sticks to their lead times and does fantastic work. I have a cerakoted p09 from them and have been doing lots of dry fire wih it. Cerakote is holding up nicely and even tightened up the slide fit some. Sending in a p07 for rmr milling/cerakot, their match barrel and compensator. Should be a sweet little shooter.

[AKDoug]

Nitriding will outlast cerakote. That said, many people will never wear out a cerakote finish.

[Coal Dragger]

Primary Machine has stated that nitride is more durable.

My VP9 long slide is currently out with them, milling is done, and it’s off at the company that does the nitride. Look forward to getting it back.

[VIP3R 237]

Nitride is harder as it’s a chemical surface conversion, however cerakote is one of the best at corrosion resistance and you have the option of colors.

Cerakote over Nitride is a great option, but you have to sandblast the surface in order for the cerakote to adhere.

[signal4l]

The nitrited finish on my shield has rusted. I'm thinking about having it cerakoted

[26 Inf]

Nitride is harder as it’s a chemical surface conversion, however cerakote is one of the best at corrosion resistance and you have the option of colors.

Cerakote over Nitride is a great option, but you have to sandblast the surface in order for the cerakote to adhere.

If your desire is to put a color over the surface treatment, wouldn't manganese phosphating (parkerizining) be a better solution?

Generally I think most spray-on products state this in some form or another, this is from Norrell's Moly Resin:

Moly Resin will adhere to all properly prepared metal surfaces including aluminum, stainless steel, titanium, copper, silver solder, and Parkerizing....the original Moly Resin coating was initially developed in 1980 for aluminum AR-15/M-16 receivers and stainless steel sound suppressors.

Answer to a FAQ: Moly Resin is made to be applied directly to fresh clean blasted slightly textured metal, over Parkerizing or other surfaces that are not polished or slick.

Use fine grit sized media to remove existing finish to get to fresh clean metal or place over degreased/cleaned Parkerizing. 40 psi for aluminum and 60-80 for steel.