Cerakote vs Nitride

[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.

[VIP3R 237]

Parkerizing is good for corrosion resistance but nitride also increases the surface hardness and reduces friction.

Moly Resin is decent and many AK builders use it but I like how thin you lay down cerakote (1mil dft) and it’s better with corrosion resistance.

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.

[m4brian]

The salt tests for Cerkote are deceiving - if the paint is scratched through it will rust - its bare metal. Nitride penetrates the surface.

[call_me_ski]

I had an engineer cringe when I told him that some people were reapplying Tennifer/melonite after mulling to parts that had already had it applied. He said to avoid that. I didn’t ask for a break down but it has made me skeptical of doing it.

[Coal Dragger]

Well then let's hope that the company Primary Machine is using for nitrocarburizing understands what needs to be done to re-nitride a part.

[contax_shooter]

Comparing my cerakoted ATEI'd front serrated G19.3 with a stock G19.5 MOS, I prefer the gritty texture of the cerakoted slide much more.

[m4brian]

Had my once painted PreB redone in Nitride - like this better than Cerkote every day of the week, and it will wear better.

[ABNAK]

I have just about all my weapons Duracoated (except handguns, go figure). My good friend is a Lauer-certified Duracoat applicator. I am not into camo patterns, just have them Duracoated to match the underlying color, i.e. "Colt Gray" for parkerized parts and matte black for anodized parts. That way if a scratch happens it won't show. I realize that Cerakote is a "tougher" product but my main goal is corrosion resistance, and Duracoat fits the bill nicely (and no shipping guns either, just drive over to my buddy's!).

Whether it be Cerakote or Duracoat, to coat a slide after having it milled you will most likely remove the coating from the newly machined dovetail as you tap the sight into place, since it's obviously such a tight fit. If it was, in the case of some of the newer Glocks for instance, finished at the factory after the dovetail was milled there is obviously no issue. But since a dovetailed sight is such a tight fit I would guess either Cerakote or Duracoat would be scraped off installing the sight.

[maximus83]

No background with nitride except for what's on the new M&P pistols (Shield and Compact 4") I just acquired, so we'll see how that holds up.

As for Cerakote: I live in one of the more humid areas of the US (PNW) and all my firearms except my Remington 700 rifle are either stainless, cerakoted, or both. Cerakote has a 100% track record for me on several firearms, so I can say it has done the job in VERY humid/wet shooting conditions. Most recently, the Cerakote on my C&S 1911 9mm Commander has been impressive and held up to a lot of use. There may be some detailed studies showing the technical differences between nitride and cerakote, might be worth searching for those. I have to assume S&W started using it on their M&P's for a good reason. Honestly, if you get a good Cerakote or Nitride job done by a reputable place, either one is probably going to do the job.

[m4brian]

The technical difference is simple: Nitride is a treatment of the steel that penetrates the surface, hardens it, and provides a good level of corrosion protection as well. Cerakote is paint - maybe the best, and if applied correctly, provides better corrosion protection than most if not all other paints. Perhaps better corrosion protection than Nitride.

But nitride can get worn through and still provide protection. When ANY paint wears through, it is bare metal, and the metal will corrode as bare metal will.