"Melonite" Finish

[jim4065]

I've had no problems with Glock or Beretta finishes, but I'm considering a 3.8" XD(M) in 40 S&W and know nothing about the "Melonite" used by Springfield and Smith. Any feedback on how well it's holding up? Hate to pony up an extra $60 for stainless, but I hate rust even more. :(

[anachronism]

I don't believe melonite prevents rust at all. Isn't it just a surface hardening process, that's usually parked over?

[bdutro]

It wouldn't stand up to the pressure of the X-frame cylinders. Hence, I have a two-tone gun.

[MtGun44]

Melonite is nitrocarburizing - hardens and adds corrosion resistance. Very good
gun finish, not easy to do - specialized industrial surface finishing process.

Bill

[BarryinIN]

I carry a custom Browning HiPower that I had Melonited.
It was a beautiful polished blue when I got it back from the custom work, but bluing just doesn't hold up for me when carrying a gun inside waistband in all temps. I carry a gun all day every day, and it's under my shirt right against my skin, so it's rough on finishes.
Yeah, I know- clean the gun and take care of it and it won't happen. That's often easier said than done, however. On vacation in Panama City FL the summer after I started carrying that gun, I had rust forming before getting back to the room at the end of the day. At my in-laws in south GA, it's also a daily battle if it's really hot, and with them being a little gun squeamish I have to be sneaky with my gun maintenence.
So I need something durable and rust resistant.

I would have gone with matte hard chrome from the start, but prefer guns to be blue-black. I still think it's the best finish for this. I just don't like the look.

After hoping and trying to make standard bluing work for a year, I gave up and sent this BHP off to a guy in OH who does Meloniting named Drake Oldham to give it a try. The last I heard, he got so busy with his gunsmithing work that he had to stop taking guns in for refinish only and just does it on guns he does the custom work on, but here is his website anyway in case that changed: www.drakesgunworks.com

It left like this:
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c240/ColtsR4Football/Picture476.jpg
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c240/ColtsR4Football/Picture474.jpg


And came back like this:
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c240/ColtsR4Football/Picture705.jpg
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c240/ColtsR4Football/Picture704.jpg
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c240/ColtsR4Football/Picture706.jpg

I was monitoring the wear, but gave up. I checked it at 500 rounds and the slide rails weren't hardly worn:
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c240/ColtsR4Football/Picture725.jpg

I checked it regularly for wear, but didn't see a thing until I checked at 1,414 and thought I saw a little on the high areas inside, but wasn't sure. At 1,596, I started to see a little on high wear areas inside like the cartridge pickup rail of the slide and frame rails. Even then, it was not so much "wear" as it was more of a colr change as it was rubbed to a slightly less darker shade of gray-black.

The last time I took pictures was at 3,500 rounds:
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c240/ColtsR4Football/IMG_0740.jpg
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c240/ColtsR4Football/IMG_0742.jpg
The wear was so slight that I quit checking.
Since getting it done in Nov of 2007, it's been carried every single day in all weather, has gone through a few training classes, and has a little over 12,000 rounds since the Melonite. It looks pretty much like it did when it came back from being done. I think I see a little lightening of the color at the muzzle but that's about it. Other than that, not even shiny spots from holster contact.
As you might guess, I couldn't be happier with how it's held up.

Of course, nothing is perfect. Because of the high heat involved, Drake didn't treat every single part. Because they are so thin, he was afraid the magazines and their floorplates might warp from the heat. My gun has a thumb safety with an extension silver soldered on. The Melonite does not reach silver solder temp but it gets close (I knew the numbers once, but not right now) and Drake seems to be a pretty careful guy so rather than risk it, he finished the thumb safety in some other black process (sounded similar to Parkerizing). To my surprise, it matched. The safety did start to wear and show rust, but he later got some coating process and had me return the safety to be refinished then coated, and it has held up pretty well.
Not a complaint about the process or the work, but just letting you know that you might not be able to get the gun 100% Melonited because of the heat involved.

That heat treating must not hurt anything structurally. The gun has held up to a lot of shooting. I did break the tip off an extractor at about 10,000 rds, but that's about the point where one failed on another BHP I have in standard blue so I don't blame the finish at all. The slide and frame an interesting "ring" to them now when bumped by a hard object.

Here is some info on the finish itself:
http://www.burlingtoneng.com/

I think Coal Creek Armory does it now, but they call it Isonite. It may not be the same, but it is another quench/polish/quench finish at any rate.

[jim4065]

Thanks Barry! Your smith did a fine job on that Browning, and the wear/corrosion resistance shows that it's a very good process. That decided the Melonite question. :drinks: