[Spackler4013]

As a first-time Sig owner, I can already see that the blued finish is going to wear pretty quickly. Have any of you had your slides coated or plated, and if so, by whom, and how is the new finish holding up?

 

[Terry Peters]

I have had both my P226 and P228 coated with the NP3 finish in what is called the Norton Package.

All steel done and no aluminum or alloy parts. The guns were done in early 1991 and 1992 and have been carried consistently for duty for the past 10 and 9 years respectively.

I have worn through the finish on the slide on the P228 but that is not a complaint on the front left corner where the slide make constant contact with the holster. This is every day exposed to the elements, thousand and thousands of presentations, countless rounds fired.

I got my moneys worth.

It is a good finish and I would do it again. I will send you some jpegs off line if you email off line.
_________________
Be safe and keep the brass flying,
Terry Peters formerly known as PT-Partners
http://www.pt-partners.com

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Terry Peters on 2001-10-13 09:48 ]</font>

 

[N-Frame Guy]

I have had good luck with a local guy who does industrial plating. I have him apply electroless nickel (satin nickel) to the steel parts and it holds up very well in our humid Texas weather.

 

[Wade]

This P220 had a lot of rust and discoloration on the slide and mags so I gunkoted them. Last report, it was holding up well.

 

[tribologist]

you wouldn't have had rust if you just wiped a bit of TW-25B on the outside. Sigarms Academy recommends this stuff.

http://www.mil-comm.com

 

[JohnH]

I had my Sig P220 "BearCoated" by Rocky Mountain Arms. Their delivery and processing of the gun was not as promised and my Sig was returned to me assembled incorrectly (non-firing). The finish wore quickly and I would not recommend them.

 

[T. M. Graham]

double check that Pin H/D inner and Outer, Wade - its hard to tell from the picture but it appears to be pointing to the rear. Sig specification of this set of special pins is the Outer opens to 12 and the inner to 6. This matches the point of highest shear force to the strongest aspect of the pins.

ARS coats slides in a variety of colors from $85. See website linked below.

 

[imported_vluc]

I've seen the ARS work first hand with the Metacol finish on a Glock used in USPSA for a few seasons. no wear, beautiful finish...when I am ready for my 226 to be done, it will go off to Mark.

 

[BigJon]

Autauga Rifles black tefloned my P220 slide three or four years ago. Since then, it has been carried almost daily. The finish has suffered expected holster wear on and around the dust cover, but overall the finish has held up well, even after having been immersed in salt water a few times.

Regards,
Jon

 

[M. Hall]

I had Birdsong Black T my P220, but it was a little 'soft' and wore thru
quickly. I had Novak's do some more work on it, then after talking
to Mr. Birdsong, he convinced me to try it again. This time it has held
up very well, either that or the holsters I use broke in some more :-?

 

[MickAv8r]

Mark did my P220 many moons ago...

I may send him my P229 soon as I'm getting tired of dealing with rust (I work in a marine environment) however simple wipe downs with oil work just fine I'm just lazy. I also have come to like the look of a "working gun" with some holster wear.

Tom O'Toole
Nashua, NH

 

[imported_Dr Heckel]

I had my 229s slide coated by BigBore in PHX with a silver moly-finish. It was worth the 55$ but it is showing quite a bit of wear already. I think Ill be getting the metacol finish soon.

[/img]

 

[UrbanKnight]

My 226 is Metalife plated,as are all of my mags and I can't be happier with the durability of the finish. Done in 1994 and still looks brand new.


UK

 

[metrocop]

FYI,

There were a couple of older duty carry P220's refinished at my PD, including my own. The standard blue doesn't stand up to any type of regular carry very well.

If you do refinish a Sig, don't bother trying to get the factory to touch the gun afterwards. Their position is that refinishing outside of the factory will change the tolerances of the gun and cause malfunctions that they will not take responsibility for.

I found this to be true. One of these P220s ended up with a take down lever hole in the frame streched out of round. One would drop the magazine on each firing. I managed to screw mine up all on my own, at no specific fault of the finish, or gun.

With the arrival of the all stainless models, I would assume the the sensativity of the aluminum alloy frames will no longer be an issue.

On this topic, does anyone know what type of finish is being put on the black parts of the ST madels?

 

[chiromikey]

i had my 239 stainless slide hardchromed by tripp research. he did have to tweak his specs to accomidate the stainless steel but it turned out flawless.

so far it shows zero signs of wear.

i highly recommend virgil tripp's work, especially since his turn around time is 8 days (or less in some cases) whereas several others make you wait 8 WEEKS and can't even match the quality.

 

[Poohgyrr]

The slide on my P220 was hardchromed via Mark Kearns locally to prevent rusting. Great job.

 

[Coop57]

I had my 229 refinished by Robar. The finish was NP3 and I was very disapointed. The finish was nice enough but here is the problem. Underneath the original SIG finish there was some pitting on top of the slide. I did not know this. Robar took the original SIG finish off then NP3d it with out removing the pit marks. The result was a nice NP3 finish that showed the pit marks. I called Robar to complain and was told that I had not requested any modifications to the slide. A good customer service department would have called me when the pitting was discovered and asked if I would like the pit marks removed. Needless to say Robar will not be getting any more of my business. I ended up selling the 229 at a much lower price than I could have gotten had the job been done right.

 

[luckyhoser]

I also had a gun done by Robar in NP3, and they didn't do much prep work at all. The gun was a new Colt 1991 that had some rough spots, and they really showed up after the NP3 was put on. They had told me that they would prep the gun in a matte finish by bead blasting, but they didn't do a very good job. Apparently unlike other shops, the exhorbitant fee you pay to have your guns coated with their magical NP3 doesn't get you any prep work beyond just removing the original finish.