I would like to get my blued Tikka action melonite treated for corrosion protection. There is some concern that the melonite process could damage the heat treatment of the action and lead to premature wear. Any experiences good or bad with doing this on a Tikka? The rifle is a Tikka T3 Varmint in .308 that has just over 400 rounds through it.
Anybody melonite treated a blued Tikka?
- Thread starter Brett_B
- Start date
You will not have an issue with the meloniting damaging anything. It brings up the metal to about 60 rockwell so if anything it's just going to get harder and smoother. I melonite everything with fantastic results. Give Bear at H&M a call, he knows the firearms aspect of the business and will take good care of you
I had my bolt & action melonited and it made an already slick action even better. I didn't do the barrel since there were about a hundred rounds down it, and had heard that while a few down the pipe is ok & good (due to smoothing out the bore), anything more than a few can present some issues. Doesn't sound like you were thinking about doing the barrel anyways though, so you should be good to go. As far as premature wear, everything I have heard, is that meloniting helps with wear.
I will say, that if you are going to do any polishing of the bolt & action, make sure you do it before you get it melonited. As the melonitng hardens the steel its a little easier to do any polishing first, plus you wont be wearing thru that nice black finish of the meloniting. I polished/honed a few areas in the action & bolt and man, especially with it being melonited, it is increadibly smooth. Take a look at the DIY lightening up bolt lift thread that Cptn Kirk did if your interested.
good luck!
I will say, that if you are going to do any polishing of the bolt & action, make sure you do it before you get it melonited. As the melonitng hardens the steel its a little easier to do any polishing first, plus you wont be wearing thru that nice black finish of the meloniting. I polished/honed a few areas in the action & bolt and man, especially with it being melonited, it is increadibly smooth. Take a look at the DIY lightening up bolt lift thread that Cptn Kirk did if your interested.
good luck!
There is no risk with the round count it has at all. It's got 400 rounds on it and it's a 308. 4k maybe. Call them and talk to them
Thanks, I did just hear back from H&M. The gentleman I spoke with is going to pass my info/questions along to one of their metallurgist to see what he thinks. I will post back with what I learn.
A buddy of mine shot a match with his 6.5 Creedmore before sending it in, probably about 180 round through it. No problems at all, it's a hammer
