Finish for a pistol?

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sumoj275

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Thinking about having a HK P7 hard chromed, or another finish on a good pistol that needs a freshening up. What finishes have you guys gone with, and liked, other than a painted finish?
Thanks
 

APH Tactical

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I did see a couple P7s in NP3 that looked nice, however I think I kinda like OPs idea of chrome. A few decent examples of custom P7s on Google to take a look at, and even saw a gold (TiN) one that looked very cleanly done.

Season to taste brutha!
 

65ny

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Thinking about having a HK P7 hard chromed, or another finish on a good pistol that needs a freshening up. What finishes have you guys gone with, and liked, other than a painted finish?
Thanks

Maybe you should just sell that P7 and get a new one... I might know a guy that would take a junky old finish challenged P7 off your hands.
 

JD8

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I have a Greyson built 1911 in NP3+. Best coating out there IMO, would take it any day over HC.
 

APH Tactical

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Also, Diamon-Like Carbon Alloy(DLC) or Aluminum Titanium Nitride (ALTIN) both offer excellent scratch resistance and are charcoal grey to black in color. Plus, you can have them range from being very matte to a polished gloss look.
We sent off some components (to include slides and barrels) for each coating recently and are expecting them back fairly soon, so PM me if you'd like me to try to remember to take you a picture of each.

Mike
 
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I have a Greyson built 1911 in NP3+. Best coating out there IMO, would take it any day over HC.

Is the NP3 really that good?
I was sold on hard chrome back when I had a Tanfo Limited in HC for USPSA. I can't count how many holster draws that gun got and I never saw a bit of wear on the slide.
My current comp gun is cerakote and there's holster wear all over the place.
 

APH Tactical

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Is the NP3 really that good?
I was sold on hard chrome back when I had a Tanfo Limited in HC for USPSA. I can't count how many holster draws that gun got and I never saw a bit of wear on the slide.
My current comp gun is cerakote and there's holster wear all over the place.

So for holster wear/daily scratch resistance, you're primarily concerned with how hard the coating is. The NP3 Plus is some fairly hard stuff with a Rockwell C hardness of 35-50 which converts to a Vickers hardness of 320-550. As a comparison, the proprietary DLC and AlTiN we use has a Vickers of 2,600 and 3,300(respectively) which in Rockwell C is converted as (RC +90). THEORETICALY (meaning not recommended) as Hardened Tool Steel generally has an RC hardness of 62-66, scratching a hammer from home Depot against a DLC/AlTiN coated slide, should produce wear and scratches on the surface of the hammer well before it affects the pistol slide.
 
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