new member xdm finish question

[paniconthenet]

Hey all. new to xd &xdm, but not Springfield. I currently own three Loaded's and a range officer.

I looked at a 4.25 xdm in 45 today, its lightly used and looks to be well taken care of. Not much in the way of wear and tear on the inside or out. the gun comes with the briefcase hard case with all the accessories including four extra factory mags (on top of the standard three that come with the accessory case), two extra mag pouches, a nice leather paddle holster & a nice leather iwb holster. also a very nice blackhawk range bag. the price is great,sweetened because the shop owner owes me a favor or two.
My only reservation is the slide finish. it was a factory blued (black paint I presume)that someone has done what appears to be a home made "black chrome" job, meaning it looks like a gun metal gray almost like they buffed the bluing or black coating down to close to bare metal, just a little darker than the silver two tone look. the serrations are still black and the inside and under lug is still black. I was a little bit excited it might have been a professionally customized weapon, my joy quickly changed to fear it could just be a a backyard gun smith job. the only reason I didn't buy it today is because of this.

I trust the guys at the shop to tell me the truth. they know I will walk out and look somewhere else if things feel odd. They know no back history of the gun except the gun was bought from there store new bythe same person in December of 2010.
Honestly, the look isn't bad. I'm worried about the life of a weapon I an to carry on me or in my vehicle in south Georgia in the blistering heat. I carry and sweat, two things any normal fun finish should be able to handle. am I going to end up paying more in the end to keep this gun up or, is it going to be fine with regular cleaning?

thanks all, I'm excited about my time here. I'm actually looking at two other xdm's as well. Both are 3.8 compact 9's. one for me and one for my wife. one in black & one two tone.
thank you all. sorry to the mods if I put this in the wrong spot and didn't do a search before hand... I have run the gammet of Google searches for xd stuff, and upgrades, and modifications. ill search from now on...give me one free pass!

[wgedwards]

Hello and welcome to the forum from Florida. Good luck with your choice. See if the will let you shoot it before you buy.

Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk 2

[dglock]

Originally Posted by paniconthenet

Hey all. new to xd &xdm, but not Springfield. I currently own three Loaded's and a range officer.

I looked at a 4.25 xdm in 45 today, its lightly used and looks to be well taken care of. Not much in the way of wear and tear on the inside or out. the gun comes with the briefcase hard case with all the accessories including four extra factory mags (on top of the standard three that come with the accessory case), two extra mag pouches, a nice leather paddle holster & a nice leather iwb holster. also a very nice blackhawk range bag. the price is great,sweetened because the shop owner owes me a favor or two.
My only reservation is the slide finish. it was a factory blued (black paint I presume)that someone has done what appears to be a home made "black chrome" job, meaning it looks like a gun metal gray almost like they buffed the bluing or black coating down to close to bare metal, just a little darker than the silver two tone look. the serrations are still black and the inside and under lug is still black. I was a little bit excited it might have been a professionally customized weapon, my joy quickly changed to fear it could just be a a backyard gun smith job. the only reason I didn't buy it today is because of this.

I trust the guys at the shop to tell me the truth. they know I will walk out and look somewhere else if things feel odd. They know no back history of the gun except the gun was bought from there store new bythe same person in December of 2010.
Honestly, the look isn't bad. I'm worried about the life of a weapon I an to carry on me or in my vehicle in south Georgia in the blistering heat. I carry and sweat, two things any normal fun finish should be able to handle. am I going to end up paying more in the end to keep this gun up or, is it going to be fine with regular cleaning?

thanks all, I'm excited about my time here. I'm actually looking at two other xdm's as well. Both are 3.8 compact 9's. one for me and one for my wife. one in black & one two tone.
thank you all. sorry to the mods if I put this in the wrong spot and didn't do a search before hand... I have run the gammet of Google searches for xd stuff, and upgrades, and modifications. ill search from now on...give me one free pass!

It would depend on how good the price is, if its cheap enough you can have it re-finished if it causes problems.

don

[Blak1508]

I agree with Don, if you can get a good enough price ,it might be worth your while to get it refinished, in case you find any issues with the finish already on the gun. Is there any way you can take a picture of the gun to post it here? It would give us a better idea of what your looking at. Best of luck to you and I hope everything works out.

[Kaboom]

XD/XDm's have a Melonite finish that goes below the surface of the metal, you wont have any rust problems and if you did SA would fix it for free, doesn't matter if you're the original owner or not.
Now, I don't think SA will refinish it for free just because some goober mucked up a perfectly fine finish, but for a price they WILL refinish it for you.

[paniconthenet]

Thanks guys. The price is 450 at the moment, for me.
ill get pics tomorrow for you guys to look at it, its at a pawnshop.
thanks all. I'm getting excited about it and the other two xdm's I plan on purchasing, they are getting ordered Tuesday.

Has anyone had there gun "upgraded" by robar? that seems like a doable option. or just get the slide finished.

[dglock]

Originally Posted by paniconthenet

Thanks guys. The price is 450 at the moment, for me.
ill get pics tomorrow for you guys to look at it, its at a pawnshop.
thanks all. I'm getting excited about it and the other two xdm's I plan on purchasing, they are getting ordered Tuesday.

Has anyone had there gun "upgraded" by robar? that seems like a doable option. or just get the slide finished.

Yes, i had robar refinish a kimber 45 and it came out great!

This was done 10 years ago and the finish still looks like new.

don

[paniconthenet]

Got pictures. I think they just pulled the bluing off, not sure how, but I.other I'm going to need to refinishing. here's the pictures.









I don't know. I like the look and idea they had going into it. but being as I'm going to be carrying this I am not sold on spending the money and then finishing it right off the bat. tell me what you guys think. some "expert" that was shopping there told me there is a protective coating between the actual steel and the bluing, and that it wasn't messed up and its in great shape. if that's true, why is the blue cheaper than the two tone crime the factory?

[Kaboom]

Originally Posted by paniconthenet

Got pictures. I think they just pulled the bluing off, not sure how, but I.other I'm going to need to refinishing. here's the pictures.

I don't know. I like the look and idea they had going into it. but being as I'm going to be carrying this I am not sold on spending the money and then finishing it right off the bat. tell me what you guys think. some "expert" that was shopping there told me there is a protective coating between the actual steel and the bluing, and that it wasn't messed up and its in great shape. if that's true, why is the blue cheaper than the two tone crime the factory?

I don't know if I'm seeing it accurately but if I am I kinda like the way it looks.
Yeah as I stated the Melonite is a metal treatment and goes below the so called "bluing".
The bi-tone guns cost more because they are stainless not carbon steel like the blackened ones and plus they look kooler which always costs more

[paniconthenet]

Originally Posted by Kaboom

I don't know if I'm seeing it accurately but if I am I kinda like the way it looks.
Yeah as I stated the Melonite is a metal treatment and goes below the so called "bluing".
The bi-tone guns cost more because they are stainless not carbon steel like the blackened ones and plus they look kooler which always costs more

These are the best pictures I could get with the ambient lighting in the shop, I took about ten, of them I think these for best represent the finish. I actually like the look too. I am purely worried about hold up. I live in south Georgia, hot muggy humidity can do a number on most metal around here, so my only true concern is the state of protection of the slide as it stands now.
I'm recently married and with the wife wanting to redo the house our house, wanting a newwer car and kids down the road, my gun hobby is slowly taking a back seat to everyday life. I carry a rough rock island 1911 as my truck gun and a Sig p238 as a pocket gun. I think the rock island is on its last leg, and being as it was my first dip into
45acp & 1911's I would like to shelf it for my next generation (if that ever happens) to learn and enjoy.
I also just have a thing for Springfield. I've owned glocks and s&w's and can say without hesitation that the xd platform exceeds my needs and wants.

So, my back story divulged, for the life of the gun as my personal duty piece, does it need to be finished or have a I got a couple month (years, decades) to work with the current finish?