I am picking up a new full SS 1911 (I hate stainless but waiting a year or more for the 'black' version is not wanted) so I was hoping to see if anyone has meloinited their SS 1911 and the results...
Thanks!
Thanks!
Sidearms & Scatterguns Any had their SS 1911 melonited??
- Thread starter Fly_True
- Start date
I'm not a 1911 guy, but I've had a lot of (non-1911) gun parts SBN'd, both by MMI and H&M.
Both finishes have come out excellent though a little different. Provided your part was initially very smooth/polished, MMI will return it bright and shiny black - almost as if it were blued. H&M comes back a much more subdued satin black.
Both shops achieve a show-worthy quality finish.
Be sure to separate your carbon steel parts from the stainless ones, and label appropriately. Don't process springs.
Both finishes have come out excellent though a little different. Provided your part was initially very smooth/polished, MMI will return it bright and shiny black - almost as if it were blued. H&M comes back a much more subdued satin black.
Both shops achieve a show-worthy quality finish.
Be sure to separate your carbon steel parts from the stainless ones, and label appropriately. Don't process springs.
Had my ss DW CBOB ( lot of acronyms there) done by Drakes Gunworks at the end of 07, here's a link to a report I did after around 10K through it. Sorry the pics have long since gone...
The finish will depend very much on the surface prep of the steel, high polish will give a sheen to it, blasted finish will be matte.
As it was explained to me, the nitrocarburizing leaves the metal a dull dark grey, the final black color comes from an immersion in good old bluing salts. The blackness of the finish will depend on the duration, temp and brand of salts used....
As process temp is very high and embrittlement can occur, springs and some small parts are not SBN'd, just finished in the final bluing process so the color matches.
I have a Nighthawk and Guncrafter No Name both SBN'd and they look spanking new too.
The finish will depend very much on the surface prep of the steel, high polish will give a sheen to it, blasted finish will be matte.
As it was explained to me, the nitrocarburizing leaves the metal a dull dark grey, the final black color comes from an immersion in good old bluing salts. The blackness of the finish will depend on the duration, temp and brand of salts used....
As process temp is very high and embrittlement can occur, springs and some small parts are not SBN'd, just finished in the final bluing process so the color matches.
I have a Nighthawk and Guncrafter No Name both SBN'd and they look spanking new too.
I had my last 2011 melonite treated, it turned out great, I used MMI
nope, it's about as far away a finish as possible...it's a treatment, salt bath ferric nitrocarburizing, aka melonite aka Hard Hat aka Diamond Black aka E Treat aka Duty Treat depending on the vendor. Early versions of Glocks Tennifer finish was similar in properties.
the outer few microns of the metal is chemically altered to make it very, very hard and corrosion resistant. Armory Kote, Amor Tuff, Kimpro Gun Kote and such are heat cured, spray applied finishes that bond to the metal. They will wear and are prone to scratches and nicks. Melonite is pretty permanent, so do all your gun smithing, checkering etc before you treat it.
Thanks for the explanation. My only other venture into aftermarket finishes was a Metaloy hard chrome job on a S&W 586 back when dinosaurs still roamed the earth.
I have done quite a few and really like the finish. I have used H&M for all of mine.
Thanks for the feedback! I had H&M do my entire 260 build (Defiance Devient, Bolt, barrel) and it turned out amazing. Most of the guys I shoot precision rifle with are all H&M customers and we have all had wonderful results with them so far. Looks like I'll be sending this DW off next week.
I had one Springfield TRP SS melonited (would do it again in a heartbeat!), and had one Ed Brown Kobra SS Black-T'd - much prefer the melonite in terms of long-term wear. I've since left the 1911 world but I had both of those done when I lived on the water in FL and wanted as much corrosion resistance as possible.
Look into IONBOND. Just throwing my two cents in. I have a custom build 1911 with this finish and as far as I know it is the toughest stuff out there. Looks great as well.
IonBond is fantastic, it looks great over finely brushed stainless. Here's my DW Valor:
looks almost blued, just a bit "grayer"
it's not as tough as melonite. It's a PVD applied micro coating so although it's harder than melonite and is very good at resisting abrasion and scratches, it's relatively easy to ding through if it gets knocked about.
looks almost blued, just a bit "grayer"
it's not as tough as melonite. It's a PVD applied micro coating so although it's harder than melonite and is very good at resisting abrasion and scratches, it's relatively easy to ding through if it gets knocked about.
I did Ionbond and Cerakote combo. Bonded the high wear items/Slide/Barrel etc………..Cerakote frame.
In the end, I would strongly recommend Cerakote's latest versions or Nitride possibly. I guess it really comes down to the Prep work, but you can get rust under the coatings if not done right, where as QPQ/Melonite is a sfc treatment and not a coating.
In the end, I would strongly recommend Cerakote's latest versions or Nitride possibly. I guess it really comes down to the Prep work, but you can get rust under the coatings if not done right, where as QPQ/Melonite is a sfc treatment and not a coating.
