[Eddo36]

It's stainless steel right? So that means a cold blue from Blue Wonder won't work, and I'll have to get it hot blued from a smith to get rid of the nicks and scratches? Not that mines have any yet, but just hypothetically, in the far future. I know there are people who wants to keep the nicks on their guns, but I guess I'm not one of those people. Does the hot blue have to be Black Melonite 68HRc exactly?

 

[Smith Shooter]

It's stainless steel right? So that means a cold blue from Blue Wonder won't work, and I'll have to get it hot blued from a smith to get rid of the nicks and scratches? Not that mines have any yet, but just hypothetically, in the far future. I know there are people who wants to keep the nicks on their guns, but I guess I'm not one of those people. Does the hot blue have to be Black Melonite 68HRc exactly?

First, Melonite is not a bluing of any kind. It is a modified polymer finish applied over a stainless steel slide. You cannot blue it, either hot or cold. Touch up of small cosmetic scratches has to be done with paint or a marking pen. When it gets bad enough, the slide has to be stripped and completely refinished.



The "68HRC" is a measure of the hardness of the Melonite finish. It means a hardness of 68 on the Rockwell C Hardness scale. For comparison, good quality knife blades have a HRC in the 58 to 61 range so the coating is VERY hard.

 

[YukonGlocker]

The Melonite actually penetrates the steel in addition to adding the black coating.

Here are some properties of the Melonite process:

Improved Wear Resistance

Improved Running Properties

Increased Fatigue and Rolling Fatigue Strengths

Heat Resistance

Black Color

Lower coefficient of Friction

Decreased surface roughness



As the black coating wears off, the steel retains the Melonite properties because it penetrates the surface of the steel.



I think nicks and wearing of the finish give a gun natural character. It's good to see a tool used as a tool.

 

[Eddo36]

I see, thanks a lot for the info. How much would it cost to re-melonite your gun? Just wondering, hypothetically.

 

[Eddo36]

Anyhow, I'm planning on covering small nicks/scratches with Duracoat, using the Black Oxide color since it most closely resembles the blue/Melonite color. Think it's a good idea? Anyone has experience with Duracoat?

 

[ShipWreck]

Hardchrome it