Please post some melanite/non-melanite photos?

[DoctorDawg]

As mentioned in another thread, I'm hanging around waiting (very impatiently) until the XD-9 comes out in melanite (which I'm confident will happen, or may already be happening in dribs and drabs) so's I kin get me one. To help us all out, would someone consider being kind enough to post some really good pictures so we can all learn to spot the difference between melanite and the 'old' finish?

I'm thinking you'd want to use the 'macro' lens mode (very short focus) on your digicam, with very oblique lighting (to highlight surface texture) on both a .45 (melanite) and another caliber which you're pretty sure ain't in melanite, but which is still new enough to not show any significant wear.

Many, many thanks in advance....

[The Tengu]

If it is a blackened melonite finish like the melonite on S&W or the Nitron finish on SIG's, you won't be able to tell much of a difference from a photograph.

They all pretty much look like parkerizing.

[Spanky]

Aren't Glocks being made with Melonite now?

[DoctorDawg]

Originally Posted by Spanky

Aren't Glocks being made with Melonite now?

Nope...tenifer. This, however, is a distinction without a difference. 'Tenifer' and 'melonite' are both nitriding treatments which achieve the same end (that being chemical case-hardening).

[Frenchy]

Both the Tenifer and Melonite metal treatment is a colorless heat-treating process that is designed to penetrate the bare metal for corrosion protection.
The black finish that you see on the guns that have this treatment, have nothing to do with the treatment.

[The Tengu]

Glocks are nitrided, but they also have a coating applied on top of the tenifer.

It won't look the same as a melonite XD.

[Tempest]

The black finish that you see on the guns that have this treatment, have nothing to do with the treatment.

Incorrect.

The Burlington website (http://www.burlingtoneng.com/melonite.html) states that the black color is part of the process. Melonite is a high heat/salt bath process that does involve chemical reactions. The 1911 that I had processed by them is a very deep, dark black finish that is fairly smooth but not shiny. It looks and feels very much different from the stock black XD finish.

The finish for the .45ACP XD no doubt comes from a different vendor though, and I have not seen a .45 XD in person to compare the two.

[Odin]

If the melonite was a coating, my gun would have surely rusted by now. I have stripped all the original black finish off of my XD 45 and there is not a single spot of rust on it. I don't even have any kind of metal protectant on it either. My STAINLESS XD9 has bits of rust on it but the 45 doesn't that it would lead me to believe that the melonite is a treatment and not a coating.


One day I'll get around to fully polishing the whole slide.

[Frenchy]

Originally Posted by Tempest

Incorrect.

The Burlington website (http://www.burlingtoneng.com/melonite.html) states that the black color is part of the process. Melonite is a high heat/salt bath process that does involve chemical reactions. The 1911 that I had processed by them is a very deep, dark black finish that is fairly smooth but not shiny. It looks and feels very much different from the stock black XD finish.

The finish for the .45ACP XD no doubt comes from a different vendor though, and I have not seen a .45 XD in person to compare the two.

Yes...it is part of the process the same as the black coating that you find on the Glock, but that is not the same as part of the treatment. Automobiles have a corrosion-resistant primer applied, but that pretty candy-apple red you see ain't part of it.

[Tempest]

Originally Posted by Odin

If the melonite was a coating, my gun would have surely rusted by now. I have stripped all the original black finish off of my XD 45 and there is not a single spot of rust on it. I don't even have any kind of metal protectant on it either. My STAINLESS XD9 has bits of rust on it but the 45 doesn't that it would lead me to believe that the melonite is a treatment and not a coating.


One day I'll get around to fully polishing the whole slide.

From the Burlington link above:

Zone 1, called the compound or "white" layer, extends to a case depth of ~0.0004" to 0.0008". The compound layer is porous, which lends to the lubricity of the finish, and hard (~700HV to 1600HV). Zone 2, called the diffusion zone, extends to a case depth of ~.004" to 0.008".

Sounds like you took off the top .0004" or so, with the .004" or so still in the metal.

Yes...it is part of the process the same as the black coating that you find on the Glock, but that is not the same as part of the treatment. Automobiles have a corrosion-resistant primer applied, but that pretty candy-apple red you see ain't part of it.

So your saying that Melonite is a two step process with the black finish being a cosmetic add on? I have never seen this idea in all the research I have done on the finish, and the Burlington site gives no hint of this. If this were true, colors should be optional (including clear), yet black is the only color that is advertised.

Again, from the Burlington link:

The following chart demonstrates what properties are best enhanced by varying the Melonite process:

Melonite Processing: Melonite Q

• Improved Wear Resistance
• Improved Running Properties
• Increased Fatigue and Rolling Fatigue Strengths
• Heat Resistance
• Black Color

If you have a link to contrary information, please post it. Otherwise, it would seem that the black color is inherent to the processes.