Titanium nitride vs tenifer

S

snowman748

New member
Ok, not sure which part of the forum this belongs in but figured this would probably be a safe bet. I recently picked up a Glock 19 Gen 3 at a pawn shop. I like to do press checks and forward serrations help with that. Obviously the Glock doesn't have them. I found a company that will do very basic slide serrations (Brazen Firearms) and I'm thinking about having this done. However the stock tenifer finish seems really very tough. If I get the gun milled I'll need to get it recoated to keep it from rusting. Brazen offers Titanium Nitride which I know is a VERY hard finish. I have 0 experience with tenifer so my question is which is harder? Is Titanium Nitride significantly harder or just moderately harder then Tenifer?
 
While TiN is hard it's a plated coating .Tenifer is a diffusion process not a coating ! the latest diffusion coatings on Glock, HK etc are proven wear resistant , corrosion resistant , treatments !!
I'd take tenifer !
If you are working with either make sure you have it done by a reliable company with gun experience !
 
While Tenifer is a superb finish, there is absolutely no reason that you would be dissatisfied with a TiN coating as well. Besides, if it is tough enough for drill bits, it is tough enough for firearms.
 
TiN Coating Advantages

mete, first off, you're way off on what a TiN coating really is. Its a PVD process under a fine vacuum. Titanium is changed from a solid to a gas and reacted with nitrogen in a vacuum, which creates a very thin film on whatever is in the vacuum chamber.
I wont go into the entire process, but i can tell you as a PVD Tech, i see DOD aircraft bearings everyday being coated in my chambers. Along with various gun parts every week or so.

TiN is by far the best option for coating gun parts.
 
So my understanding of most nitrided steels was that it was actually a diffusive surface hardening, and therefore added no "layers" so to speak, just hardened a certain depth into the material. I looked it up and "TiN" (Titanium Nitride) as a specific case is many times a ceramic coating with extreme hardness, and pretty low thickness (a la 0.00020in).

So which is it that is usually applied to firearms?
 
Phosphate, Nickel, Nitride, and Titanium Nitride are common for AR 15 BCG.
personally, i have my fns 9mm and walther 9mm barrels coated in TiN. depending on how thick the coating is and the finishing afterwards, barrels are proving very easy to clean, very smooth and slick to the touch.

i prefer the gold TiN coating, looks great with a black slide.
 
As a gunsmith, I usually advise my clients to "keep it simple". Tenifer, Melonite and Nitron (among others) are brand names for ferritic nitrocarburizing. This process surface hardens the metal, making it black and extremely hard. There are a number of companies offering this process to firearms owners at reasonable to ridiculous prices.

So, talk to your smith about which process you would like, then let him choose the vendor who will treat the slide after the serrations are cut. That way, if there are any issues, the smith owns the project and you gain one-stop shopping convenience.

Another option is to buy an aftermarket slide for your Glock and keep the factory slide as-is in case you opt to sell it days/months/years down the road. Cost will be similar to having the smith do a one-off.
 
Scorch said:
As a gunsmith, I usually advise my clients to "keep it simple". Tenifer, Melonite and Nitron (among others) are brand names for ferritic nitrocarburizing. This process surface hardens the metal, making it black and extremely hard. There are a number of companies offering this process to firearms owners at reasonable to ridiculous prices.
Click to expand...

As a hobbyist, someone not in the industry, it's hard to know whether a ridiculous price relates to a better service.

Scorch said:
Another option is to buy an aftermarket slide for your Glock and keep the factory slide as-is in case you opt to sell it days/months/years down the road. Cost will be similar to having the smith do a one-off.
Click to expand...

That's solid advice. It's a happy but rare accident when a buyer values our modifications as highly as we did when we did them.
 
A resurrected post, op likely l9ng gone.

In any case i would not mill serrations in a hlock slide and hork up the finish. Stick the sides of the slide with skateboard tape and call ot a day. Btdt.
 
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