bluing a glock slide

[Guest carter]

I didn't want to hijack someone else thread with this...

 

But, has anyone used a cold blue on a glock slide...or will it work on the metal... i've got a pretty good shine on my slide right now... been polishing and polishing...  the finish was pretty worn and its a very early g27 ... I'm tapping the sights out and going to break it down... have new factory sights ordered to replace the old ones

 

Just trying to save a buck and put a finish on it... i was going to just leave it polished but now after watching videos on the oxford cold blue...was thinking of trying it

 

 

[graycrait]

Why not try and blue it at home? You can still rattle can it if you need to. However, tenifer treated steel might not take bluing well.  I have had 3 slides that were stripped, one for a very long time and I never had rust on them.  Although never having tired it I think bluing might not work too well on tenifer treated metal.  You might want to try Brownells Gunkote, follow the directions, it works pretty well or just use some metal paint and pay attention to the metal cure times between coats. 

[Dolomite_supafly]

I would use Brownells bluing agent in cream form. It works great ans stays where you put it. Most liquid forms are hard to use on large areas, like a slide, without being able to dip it. I have used the cream for large items, like barrels, without having any issues. Another big problem with liquid is it can turn out blotchy.

 

http://www.brownells.com/gunsmith-tools-supplies/metal-prep-coloring/metal-bluing/paste-cold-bluing-chemicals/oxpho-blue-creme-prod1108.aspx?ttver=2

 

And if all else fails you can just coat of paint it again. A cheap way to apply a decent finish is to clean it good and spray it with chaulk board paint. Then preheat an oven to 300 degrees. Put the part in the oven and turn the oven off. When the part is cool enough to touch, a few hours, the paint dry and is very durable. There is something in chaulkboard paint that makes it durable enough to stand up to chaulk. The onyl drawback is you canoot clean with some agressive solvents like brake cleaner. I only use a grab to clean anyways. Krylon is very durable once baked on.

 

I have used Gunkote too and it works great. There is enough in the can you get to do a couple of handguns. You just need to make sure you do your prep meticulously or the finish will not be durable.

 

If you have a compressor, even a small one, you can buy small hand held media blasters for less than $15 at Harbor Freight or Northern Tool. If not most automotive shops have blast cabinets and would probably let you use it for either a small fee or free if they think what you are doing is interesting. If all else fails then you can use sand paper to roughen the surface. It is not ideal but it will work.

Use gloves, respirator (not a particle mask) and safety glasses when working with everything. To keep your skin oils off the parts as well as keep potentially harmful stuff off of you, out of your lungs and out of your eyes. When you start boiling the solution go ahead and preheat the oven to the required temp. I normally run it at 200 degrees when I am using Gunkote to preheat the parts.

Here is what I do:
Disassemble the parts to be coated as completely as you can
Clean and degrease all the parts the best you can using non-chorinated brake cleaner
Media blast or sand all the parts to be coated (I used medium aluminum oxide from Northern Tool)
Bring a pot of 1/2 gallon distilled water and 1/2 gallon Simple Green to near boil
As the bubbles start to form remove from heat, letting it sit for a minute or so to allow the temp to equalize
Place the parts to be coated in the Simple Green solution and let it sit for about 15 minutes
***Do not breath the steam***
Stir the parts occasionally to help break any oils loose
At the same time start boiling some distilled water and turn your oven on its lowest setting
When it starts to boil remove from heat, letting it sit for a minute or so to allow the temp to equalize
Remove the parts from the Simple Green solution and place in the distilled water for another 15 minutes
***Do not breath the steam***
Remove the parts from the water and place them in the oven long enough for all the water to evaporate
Remove the parts one at a time, not all at the same time, and coat them according to the instructions*

*If you remove them all at the same time and the first ones will be warmer than the last ones causing them to look different

This is the down and dirty way I have done it for the last few years and works great. I have only done handguns and small parts but I have went thru at least 4 cans of Gunkote so far. If you have any quesitons feel free to ask. The prep is going to be the same regardless of the coating used, be it Cerakote, Gunkote, Durakote or even Krylon. Even spary on paints like Krylon are very durable once the proper prep is done and it is baked on.

Dolomite             
 

[Guest carter]

well it's nothing to take a glock slide completely apart... i've tapped the sights out already... just waiting on my micro wrench to come in from amazon for the front sight... have a new set of ball-in-bucket glock sights to put on afterwards... so i can dip it if need be... i did see a guy on youetube do a nitre blue job on his...it came out look sort of a copper color... which i dont care...just didnt want to paint it with anything then it really not last... 

 

i have totally stripped the slide of it's finish... and hit it with the dremel and some high gloss polish... its not a mirror finish but pretty clean... so i might try bluing it...still up in the air... or just drop the 100 bucks for a CPII finish from CCR and have a Talo looking g27

 

just was curious about the cold blue... 

[graycrait]

Don't forget the striker channel liner, best to just put in a new one if you "dug" the old one out.

[Byedan]

Glock will refinish the top end for like 80

[Guest carter]

Glock will refinish the top end for like 80

I was iffy about this cause I've read it looked like it was spray painted and the finish was lousy. Has anyone sent there slide back to glock for a refinish? 

 

also CCR has there CP2 finish for $100 and would basically be a Talo edition.

Edited February 21, 2013 by carter

[dralarms]

Reminds me of something my grandmother used to say. "put a dress on a pig, it's still a pig". :D

[RED333]

Reminds me of something my grandmother used to say. "put a dress on a pig, it's still a pig". :D

No that was uncalled for! :usa:

[dralarms]

No that was uncalled for! :usa:

 

 

Forgot to add that at the time she was talking about my ex wife (i was still married to her at the time). :p

[Byedan]

I would say depends on what gen glock it is. The finish is like the third and fourth gen finish and not first or second gen finish. You. Could dura coat it or cera coat