Posted: 5/2/2004 9:15:59 PM EDT
| anyone have a Glock or other pistol done with NP3? Worth it? How long does it last? Am considering having a Glock 19 done w/np3. |
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NP3 is wierd. It is nickle based, which in some light means it takes on a goldish tint. But in MOST light, it has a sort of wet silver-grey look to it. At wear points it turns a shinier silver. Its different looking than hardchrome. It almost has depth to it. The best part is how carbon just wipes right off the teflon surface. Cleans like a dream. Honestly, if I wanted a "white" gun, Id buy a blued gun and have it NP3'd long before Id buy stainless. |
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I agree with some of what Lumpy said, and have to disagree with some of it. His description of the color is dead on -- I think it looks kind of cool, and its something a little different. However, it is not that hard, as Robar will tell you, and certainly much softer than hard chrome. The gun below lives in a gamey-not-for-real-use-IPSC holster (Bianchi Hemesphere), so no part of the holster wears against gun finish. Where my stupid thumb rubs against the slide (not in the pic), it is very shiny, as opposed to the matt look of the finish on the rest of the gun. On the barrel, which takes a lot of wear obviously, the finish looks like it is gone, although Robar will tell you it is there it just looks different (I think that is BS). You can see a little bit of the shiney parts around my safety in the pic. The finish was also applied to to the internals, and my trigger was just fantastic when it came back from Robar -- I was really impressed. Also, I think the claims of increased lubricity are justified. I took a handgun course once and fired 2000 rounds in two days. Never oiled the gun (on purpose), just wipped it off after Saturday. No malfunctions, and that sucker was nasty by the end of the day Sunday. I would be a bit concerned about a gun going into a real holster and exposing the NP3 to wear day in and day out on the exterior. Maybe Lumpy could add something on this depending on how that gun was used at pin matches. Even if things didnt work out, you can always strip it away and start over. Good luck. 
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| I have handled and shot a SIG P226 that had all of its steel parts NP3'd and rode in a duty holster for more than 5 years. Normally on guns like the SIG, Robar does not coat the barrel since that particular type of barrel hood lock up can be tolerance sensitive. It had lots of silvery points in the high wear areas. Robar claims that the teflon is mixed in with the matrix of the nickle and thus is "always" there unless the finish has been worn completely off, which normally shouldnt happen, even with the hardest abuse. Nickle normally is a very stable metal to coat metal with, even high wear metal, but like any finish, it can wear depending on the point its applied and the level of use. |