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I'm looking at this finish as a possibility on a future build but have yet to see it in person and, while all reports that I've read so far have been good, I'm still ramping up my enthusiasm for it. Anyone have any reports "from the field" on how it holds up on a gun that is carried every day? Preferably in a humid climate?

Etreat will not rust.
Keep in mind that all parts CANNOT be etreated. Hammer, mag catch, grip screws,pins, extractor...those are a few. They can rust!

Consider Etreat just like tenifer with a black oxide finish like older Glocks.
The oxide will wear a bit, but the top skin of the metal is so hardened to a degree that it will not rust.

My Etreat gun has a few kydex scrapes and some wear on the barrel hood but it is the toughest finish I have so far encountered.

IF you want the ultimate in rust proofing, etreat you blaster and have the smaller parts gunkoted. Should work just fine...

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Do you have any pictures of the wear that you've experienced?

I was actually hoping that someone would compare it to the finish on the older Glocks. I've always had good experiences with that.

Why can the small parts not be treated?

Harold, its just like a Glock finish,,sorry, no pics.

You cannot etreat small thin parts or springs or you will change their temper. Notice on a Glock, only the slide ad barrel are tenifer. Small parts and springs are black oxide,nickel or other type of plated (or plastic!).

The wear you see on an older (pre-polymer finish) glock is the type of wear you see on etreat.

George will not say what the process is, but based on what my eyes see it is Melonite/tenifer/cyanide salt bath nitriding..

_________________
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Ahh...ok. The light is dawning. I see what you're getting at.

Looks like I may go with E-treat after all, then.

I am understanding, then, that E-treating the slide and frame causes no more harm than heat-treating a knife edge? The exterior of the slide and frame being, in some ways, equivalent to a hamon while the inner metal remains the same (and softer, like a knife spine)? And to attempt to E-treat the small parts would (might) result in too great a depth being treated and, therefore (as you said), ruining whatever heat treat/temper that they might have (probably, following this line of thought, making them brittle)?

Is this the correct way of viewing it?

ah so grasshopper!

Good analogy.

_________________
"The most effective armor is to keep out of range"-Italian proverb

CHECK OUT MY CUSTOM 1911 BLOG
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Without a spray-n-bake, would parkerizing be the best color match for treating the small parts?

Or would a matte blue be better...?

Thinking of having a hi-power treated this way.

You can put any finish over melonite, etreat, whatever. It just case hardens the metal and doesn't change the color of the substrate. You can parkerize, matte or polish blue (black oxide), paint or chrome even.

On my gun, etreat is a dead ringer for the fine matte blue of the small parts.

But again, it can be whatever you want it to be. Current Glocks are tenifered and then shake-and-bake (gunkotesque) finished.

_________________
"The most effective armor is to keep out of range"-Italian proverb

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Ahhh...another light dawns. E-treat is not the final finish! E-treat the gun and then apply a final finish? So I could have an E-treated gun that was then matte blued?

I'm glad I asked questions. My understanding of the finish wasn't what I thought it was.

That is how I understand the process

_________________
"The most effective armor is to keep out of range"-Italian proverb

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Harold and Anthony- my understanding is a bit different than what you've just said. Once E treated, which as I understand is Melonite QPQ done by Burlington Engineering, you can't put on another finish like blueing over it. You could put on a spray on finish, but there really wouldn't be a reason to. My understanding is that the black color of the Melonite QPQ is a black oxide that is applied as part of the process. The black oxide will wear with enough use, but the corrosion resistance of the worn areas will be unaffected. For what it's worth, I have a Kimber that was E Treated and after over 1,000 rounds and hundeds of draws from kydex holsters, there's not a hint of wear anywhere including the frame rails, which in my experience are the first areas to get the finish worn off.

Try this site for more info.

http://www.burlingtoneng.com/melonite.html

and:

http://www.trutecind.com/heat/melon.htm

From what I understand, the Melonite QPQ process is owned by a foreign company and licensed to several metal finishers in the US.

_________________
Ted

Bluing is black oxide

And yes, that is how the vendors finish the parts, but you can blast off the black oxide (bluing) and then apply any finish you like and the hardened surface skin remains.

Using Glock as an example, they are no longer black oxided, they are now doing a spray on type final finish.

_________________
"The most effective armor is to keep out of range"-Italian proverb

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"Bluing is black oxide"- my bad that's true

If you blast off the black oxide the corrosion resistance of the metal isn't changed so you couldn't then dip it in a blueing tank to refinish could you?

_________________
Ted

all finishing is done after processing, if not that Glock paint would melt off at 900 degrees

_________________
"The most effective armor is to keep out of range"-Italian proverb

CHECK OUT MY CUSTOM 1911 BLOG
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