Glock changed their slide finish?

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Anyone here has any experience with the new slide coating that Glock has been using in the last few months? It seems like they moved away from the Teflon like coating to spray painting one WTF.
 
Are you talking gen4? I have a gen3 g17 and a gen4 g26. I prefer the feel of the gen3 finish. The gen4 finish feels too slick for me. I do think it looks slightly better though. But saying a glock looks good isn't much.

My gen4 g26 was purchased about a month ago, so I'd assume it has to coating you're referring to.
 
Anyone here has any experience with the new slide coating that Glock has been using in the last few months? It seems like they moved away from the Teflon like coating to spray painting one WTF.

Glock has like a half dozen slide finishes at this point. The newest one seems like a "smooth parkerizing". Doesn't seem bad to me, although some people on the interwebs are whining about scuffmarks and stuff, but I haven't had any of those kinds of problems... and even I did,. I wouldn't care, because it's a Glock. Long as it don't corrode I'm happy. I do kinda wish they had just stuck with the gloss black one that was on a lot of their guns at one point.

-Mike
 
The one I have is different than my G23 Gen 4 I had few months ago. That one had the thicker shinier Tenifer look and it was hard as hell, really hard to scratch. This one I have now is like mate black, not shinny or slick and it feels like is just painted and easy to scratch. I don't care since they are tools but I have never seen one like this. All Glocks I had (Gen4's) had the same tenifer like finish which I loved.


Are you talking gen4? I have a gen3 g17 and a gen4 g26. I prefer the feel of the gen3 finish. The gen4 finish feels too slick for me. I do think it looks slightly better though. But saying a glock looks good isn't much.

My gen4 g26 was purchased about a month ago, so I'd assume it has to coating you're referring to.
 
I tried capturing how it looks, it's not slick but matte and smooth.


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My understanding was, they had to move away from the Tenifer finish for guns manufactured in the U.S. The E.P.A. did not approve the chemicals used in the process.

Whether the bit about tenifer is true or not, why are there like 4 different finishes since 2008? [laugh]

-Mike
 
Whether the bit about tenifer is true or not, why are there like 4 different finishes since 2008? [laugh]

-Mike

I'm not sure. The guy I took the armorers course from a few years ago, said that they where going to a new finish so they could manufacture in the U.S. I think that was around 2008 or 9. He did say that the black finish was not the Tenifer. It was a treatment to the steel and the black was just a coloring. If it wears off the metal is still protected.
 
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Well my gen4 26 is definitely not tenifer. I feel like it would be more prone to scratches, but again I've only had it about 4 weeks. We'll see. I think it's more slippery than the tenifer finish too.
 
My first gen 4 glock does seem to scratch a little easier than my earlier models, could just be me haha
 
The older Tenifer and newer Melonite is not what gives the slide it's color. They are metal treatments that permeate a minuscule amount into the surface of the metal itself, protecting it from corrosion. They used to use Tenifer when all the models were manufactured in Austria. The newer Melonite process is because of the EPA's stricter guidelines when manufacturing in America. The color on the slide, wether it be the older gloss black, the newer matte greyish or any other shade of black in between is simply parkerizing, black oxide or bluing and are all just surface treatments after the Tenifer or Melonite had already been applied.
 


Not necessarily agreeing the video per se... I mean my attitude is, its a friggan glock, shoot it, carry it, stop caring. This does show the difference in at least 2 of the finishes though.

-Mike
 
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I just don't understand why you would want a slippery surface for your slide. Sure it might "look better" but it's less functional. Fingers more likely to slip when you need to rack it.
 
The older Tenifer and newer Melonite is not what gives the slide it's color. They are metal treatments that permeate a minuscule amount into the surface of the metal itself, protecting it from corrosion. They used to use Tenifer when all the models were manufactured in Austria. The newer Melonite process is because of the EPA's stricter guidelines when manufacturing in America. The color on the slide, wether it be the older gloss black, the newer matte greyish or any other shade of black in between is simply parkerizing, black oxide or bluing and are all just surface treatments after the Tenifer or Melonite had already been applied.

Perfectly put.

Meloniting, gas nitriding, salt bath carburizing (sp) and Tenifer are all close to the same process and harden the metal. The final cosmetic finish is not from the meloniting. Same reason a Glock can have a ton of holster wear and still not rust. The hardening is still there providing the corrosion resistance. The cosmetic overlay finish is just worn off.
 
The only Glock I have is a Gen 4 17. The slide finish is dark grey with a slightly rough texture. It's quite different than the black, smooth finish my HKs have.
 
The only Glock I have is a Gen 4 17. The slide finish is dark grey with a slightly rough texture. It's quite different than the black, smooth finish my HKs have.

Same here with my Gen4 19. Actually it's sort of smooth. Either way the slide serrations make it easy to rack IMHO.

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There she is making out with an FNS 9. Too lazy to take new pics.
 
Pretty sure a lot of people here have the wrong idea about Tenifer. It goes steel, Tenifer, finish. The finish that you see and feel is on top of the much harder Tenifer and if your Glock has Austria stamped on the slide my understanding is that there is Tenifer under the finish. I understand the USA stamped Glocks don't have it for regulatory reasons.

Seems like every time Glock changes the finish people aren't happy with it. They changed it to the gray-ish, slicker finish that I have on my Gen 4 and everyone said they missed the less slippery black finish. Now they seem to have gone back to a less slippery black finish and everyone wants gray back. I say it's a Glock. If you don't like the finish get it Cerekoted and call it a day.

They changed it a few years ago actually.

The finish the OP posted pics of is definitely different than my 2012 Gen 4.
 
Pretty sure a lot of people here have the wrong idea about Tenifer. It goes steel, Tenifer, finish. The finish that you see and feel is on top of the much harder Tenifer and if your Glock has Austria stamped on the slide my understanding is that there is Tenifer under the finish. I understand the USA stamped Glocks don't have it for regulatory reasons.

Seems like every time Glock changes the finish people aren't happy with it. They changed it to the gray-ish, slicker finish that I have on my Gen 4 and everyone said they missed the less slippery black finish. Now they seem to have gone back to a less slippery black finish and everyone wants gray back. I say it's a Glock. If you don't like the finish get it Cerekoted and call it a day.



The finish the OP posted pics of is definitely different than my 2012 Gen 4.

This

the tenifer is a metal treatment. Not a finish. The finish is put on after and glock has used a couple over the years

Personally i think the newer grey gen 4 finish is great. Seems extremely durable and wear resistant compared to the black finish that was used previously


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i have noticed my latest gen 4 g19 scuffs a little easier than usual, it polishes right out with a rag though?

its a glock, if your not using it to bang staples into targets your doing it wrong.
 
I recently got a 34 gen4 and the slide finish differs from my 17 gen4. The 17, as I previously described, has a finish that's sort of like grey orange peel. The 34 has a significantly smoother finish. It's a lot like the DLC finish on my PM9.
 
Yes, Glock has moved away from Tenifer finishes because of the need for cyanide in the precess. They now use Melonite finishes, think M&P, in the end it is the same result using a less toxic process.
 
I was checking out a few new glocks today, and see the difference between these and my gen 4 G21, has the more textured grey. This new finish sucks, cheap looking and thin, a few of the guns were already scratched similar to what the video was saying. Its not a big deal, on a glock, but why in the world would you go from one of the best finishes in the industry to possibly the worst I've seen. One that isn't even durable enough to ship.

I'd definately take the old black textured or grey textured over this POS finish.
 
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