Glock Tennifer Coating. To blue or not to blue?

R

Rickmeister

New member
Hi. I recently added a Glock 17 to my humble collection, and wonder if anyone out there has had any problems with the finish on metal parts. I've read that Glocks have a Tennifer coating, and that this makes them more durable than most. But I still wonder if I'll eventually have to get mine re-blued.

By the way, is Tennifer that visible matte outer-finish, or is it something applied over the base metal, and then blued over? Will I see scuff marks on the slide somewhere down the line? Will the finish wear off after extensive use?

Also, how does one normally care for their Glock? The manual says a lot about inside cleaning and caring, but little about how to keep the outside looking best. Will a thin film of high quality gun lubricant applied with a silicon cloth be enough?

Any thoughts on this matter are greatly appreciated.
 
Tennifer is a process done to the bare metal------the black coating is merely a finish-----even if the black is gone---the tennifer is still there.

I think Glock will re-finish your gun for a fairly small fee-----you might want to call Glock directly.
 
Since bluing is controlled oxidation, it won't work on anything that's not supposed to rust. Parkerizing, like the factory finish, can be put on top of the Tenifer (nitro carburizing heat treatment) and is one of the toughest, and cheapest, finishes for a Tenifer part.
 
It's highly unlikely that you will need the Tennifer replaced. It is the hardest, most corrosion proof finish in common use in the firearm world at the moment (Yes, harder than chrome or nickel). I believe that some of the exotic nitrides are harder, but are also not so common and a bit expensive.

You might want to get the gun reparkerized (the flat black finish OVER the Tennifer finish) at some time in the future and Glock will do it for you. The parkerization is purely cosmetic and has no effect on the durability or corrosion resistance of the gun--the underlying Tennifer is the true protection.

You would have to sandblast the Tennifer off before you could blue the gun.
 
Listen to JohnKsa. Glock starts with weapons grade carbon steel. Then they apply the Tennifer through a high heat process that essentially coats the steel with a tarnish that is almost diamond hard.

Recent Glocks are then coated with a teflon shiney surface. Older Glocks were parkerized. No matter, nothing short of a nuclear blast will scratch the Tennifer. A burnished Glock is in my opinion an accomplished Glock.

No cosmetic change will affect the Glock's ability to shoot.
 
Update: I put 100 rounds through my new Glock 17 at the range the other day. Moderately dusty conditions. Many productions from a Kydex holster. Had to lay the gun down on a rough bench while re-loading. Looked used by the time I was ready to leave.

Mine is a third generation Glock, and I hear that it has a teflon coating over the blue. I don't know. All I can say is that oiling it with standard Klean Bore and wiping it with a silicone cloth restored it to its original look---nay, made it look even better!

I doubt I'll ever have to get it reblued :)
 
I think the tennifer finish actually penetrates several microns deep into the steel, so it will not wear off. As others have said, it is harder than just about anything short of diamond, so it won't scratch. The black coating is purely cosmetic.
 
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