Recommend a finish for a SIG P220?

D

Don Gwinn

Staff Emeritus
My P220 is looking a little tired. I think I've put more wear on the razor-thin bluing in the few months since I bought it than the original owner did. I probably won't do anything until after Christmas, but you never know. Here's what I'm thinking about:

Hard chrome. Is this stuff as indestructible as it's supposed to be? I know it's hard, but I've also been told it's porous and allows moisture to reach the steel below unless the gun is kept carefully oiled as I do now. I don't want to pay to have a custom finish applied and then find it being flaked off by rust underneath. Is there any difference between the silver and the black chrome? I'd probably rather have the black.

Black-T. This is Teflon, I believe. Does that mean it's soft? Will it take more scratches and scuffs than hard chrome, for instance, all other things being equal?

Bearcoat. I just plain don't know much about this one.

Re-bluing. Anything to recommend this besides price? Obviously I don't want another SIG bluing job, but a local gunsmith could probably put a pretty nice finish on for me.

Above all, I don't want to hamper the function of the pistol.
 
Don: Bearcoat is teflon. I had some AR-15 mags bearcoated. I think any of the teflon coats will wear, but I do not know at what degree they will wear compared to a blued firearm. I have never had a pistol that has been hard chromed, but all of my research leads me to believe that it is the hardest and most durable finish. There is a lot of people that have had the chrome put on their pistols, and I have only heard positive comments. Speaking of the black chrome, I saw a Sig that had been black chromed, and it was absolutely the best finish that I have ever seen. Another consideration would be the new Ilaflon finish by the Sig factory. I do not know if the finish has been released yet by the factory or not. You can find more information about the finish at the Sig web site. If it were me, I would stay away from the Robar,(too dang expensive and time consuming)Bearcoat, and other teflon finishes. Choices for me would be hard chroming, taking a chance on the Ilaflon, or just having it reblued by a good smith.
 
I asked Sig this week about the Ilaflon finish because I am considering buying a new P220. Sig has not started using it yet. It may be available in the first quarter of next year.
 
Might want to look into Metalife {Chromium S} http://www.metalifeind.com It is one of the few finishes that Chuck Taylor recomends. Can get it done "bright" or dull. have seen one of his Colt 1911's done with it and am more than favorably impressed. Obviously they can't do the alloy frame. Have a used 228 that will probably get this "fix" late this winter.
 
I had a stainless Douglas rifle barrel "Black T'd"
I don't know about carbon steel and Al but the stainless must be glass beaded first. This makes it a matte, but I would guess it would be a semi gloss type on a smooth surface. I like it.
 
Hardchrome the slide

AP&W, Metaloy or Metalife. Teflon finishes are good but won't hold up in the long haul.
 
From what I've read, the most durable finish is titanium nitride, but most places only do it in gold. I sent my HK P7M8 to be hard chromed by the cofounder of Checkmate who has now broken off from the company. Supposedly, he uses a different type of hard chroming than Metalife, Accurate Plating and Weaponry, & Metaloy.
 
I had my 220 hard satin chromed,the slide,hammer,take down lever,trigger and the four grip screws.I love it and have just sent my P226 out for the same.These are my two ccw guns and the 220 had alot of holster wear,so far(3 months)there has been no wear and i don't think you will see any.

Kevin
 
Thanks, guys. It sounds like hard chrome is the choice. Maybe I'll rethink the silver finish and do a two-tone look--the aluminum frame is still fine and I don't really want to bother with it.

I know--I'll ask my wife which is prettier!
 
That's the way i did it,i think it looks better with the frame black.Everybody that has seen it said having the slide and all the moving parts satin chromed and leaving the frame black has really improved the looks and most of these people already like the looks of the Sig P series.

Kevin
 
I have to second Victor Louis on Mac's retorations
They did an E.German Makarov for me that had alot of scratches(looked like someone took steel wool to it). I had him do a 2 tone,grey frame and black slide,they disassemble the whole pistol,every bit of it,bead blast all parts,polish mag and feed ramps,lap the slide etc. They are very thorough,it is not a high gloss finish,but very classy looking,great for ccw,you cannot hardly hurt this finish. They did a beautiful job,and have several color schemes available,they also did 6 mags for me all included in the price..cost $95.00..I am a happy camper,and I am hard to please...PJ
 
Alloy framed guns can be hard chromed by Metalife.

Don and others: Let me clear up the misconception that Sig aluminum frames can or can not be hard chromed. Sig frames can be hard chromed by Metalife. They have to double chrome the aluminum Sig frames, and this will incur a $15.00 extra charge because of the extra work involved. This information is straight from the horse's mouth.
Sling Shot
 
slingshot: great pictures over on that sig forum to give a good comparision between the hard chrome(H/C) and electroless nickel(factory finish)

don: my blued 226 finish lasted less then half a year, the seatbelt took the finish off the top of the slide in my squad car.

i looked into hardchrome because thats what was hot in IPSC at the time. but i was told, then, that they would not H/C the alloy frame. so i went with the factory electroless nickel(E/N).

this was back in the days when sig imported all their guns. they tried to use regular nicel plating at first but had a problem with peeling. they brought their guns, to be nickeled, into the country in "the white" and had them E/N'ed " in-country.

i hunted down their plating folks in Texas, T and T Technologies, and had them do my 226 and 3 mags, in a matt finish (bead blasted) for about $100; there might have been a small L/E discount.

14 years later, riding in a duty holster and various off-duty rigs, the only obvious wear is a burnishing of high spots on the slide from rubbing on the holsters. the rails and face of the hammer are a little shinny too.

my 226 is 100% reliable and slick as toad snot, the mags just jump out of the well when released, the finish has even held up through the bending and straightening of the mag bases from being dropped.

their E/N is the same finish used in off-shore drilling rigs and tested to 400hrs in saltwater.

i think the hardchrome is likely harder, but do you need that much more protection.
 
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