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What are people using for durable all-weather protection other than ceramic paint coatings (i.e Cerakote, Duracoat, etc.) to finish firearms these days? I want a finish that is bomb proof, that does not significantly change tolerances or gum up actions, and impervious to weather. I have done some research on nitride, DLC, nickle boron, and hard chrome. Unfortunately NP3 is no longer available. I've got a couple of M70 hunting rifle builds I'm planning out and want to do something better than typical cerakote. I see H&M nitride talked about a lot, Mahovsky's metalife, etc. I understand nitride is more or a surface treatment than a finish. What are you guys using these days?

Only have experience with having one done but so far its holding up nicely and looks really nice and slick. Its the Birdsong Black-T finish. Not sure what exactly makes it different, but it is thinner then Cerakote and seems smoother. My smith suggested it since I wanted to coat a Defiance action which isn't always doable with Cerakote.
Down side is you have limited color choices but the Black-T looks great IMHO.

I understand that NP3 is still available, Robbie Barrkman licensed the firearm finishing so that they would still be around after he retired. Only the gunsmith business is gone.

Well, I feel like an idiot. I just looked up the company that took over the NP3 business. The finish isn’t available anymore.
https://wrightarmory.com/np3-metal-finishing/

I do my own work on 70s and 700s and my personal, all weather rifles, four 700s, sport hard chrome, satin finish. I prefer chrome molly actions. The hard chrome coating is by Bob Cogan, Accurate Plating from AL. The barrels are LW SS barrels in a satin. SS triggers and synthetic glass bedded stocks. The rifles do well in fog, rain, sleet and snow. That hard crome is slick in a bolt action, best of both worlds.
I have seen a lot of Bob's work at big, like state, regional, national and world championship matches. Guns look like stainless but they are not. That is how I came to the bullet proof coating, I do the base prep, trueing, squaring, recut the threads, etc, then Bob does the finish prep and coating.

Today, it is always good to call first to make sure the doors are still open.

It's a shame NP3 is no longer an option. Had this .376 Steyr done up and have been very pleased with the outcome.




Also think highly of electroless nickel. Mahovsky did this Remington 8mm-06 for me.

I just got an Email from them announcing the pre-sale on NT7:

"NT7® is a surface treatment for steel and metal alloys that combines sub-micron particles of PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene), otherwise known as Teflon, with electroless nickel. The application of NT7® is auto-catalytic or electroless. This process is preferable to standard electrolytic plating as all active surfaces are plated with uniform thickness, which is crucial when working with firearms.

The replacement coatings NT7™ & NT7 Plus™ will have very similar performance specs to the NP3 specs and just like their predecessors the “Plus” coating will have a higher corrosion resistance. NT7™ and NT7 Plus™ are based on a Nickel Teflon coating so they will have a similar satin Nickel appearance and the same low coefficient of friction and non-stick properties that we have all come to know and love over the years."

That is fantastic news, thank you for sharing that!

Hard chrome. Got a Howa 1500 barreled action back from Mahovsky in just over two weeks. He also did a Mauser custom for me many moons ago. Can forward pics if you'd like.

I also have used Wright Armory for NP3 on a model 70 barreled action and could not be more pleased with the results. I will try NT7 when available.

Had Wby MK V cerakoted. It was a surprise when I got it home. The action felt gritty. A couple hundred clackety-clacks on the couch while watching television smoothed right out. I could not be happier. Sure wouldn’t do that on my Borden actions though.

FYI, Suarez tactical in AZ has contract for batch orders through CTI (the owner/applicator of NP3). They are an OEM and have their own parts done, same as several other brands. Suarez will let you send your item(s) in to be NP3 coated. The website only shows a few options; 870 shotgun, pistol slide, a few others. If you contact them a gentleman named Josh will respond and get you set up.

They did an AR receiver and buffer tube set for me last year, and this year a P320 Slide and a few misc parts. 100% though, DO NOT SEND them your parts if you're in a hurry. These are batch orders, and your odds and ends parts are at the bottom of the list...they're not making money off selling you the coating. I would say minimum be prepared for 3 months, but I wouldn't send them anything you can't live without for 6 months +.

I'm anxiously awaiting reviews of the new Wright NT7. Haven't seen anybody post a finished product yet. I did read that it is applied/sprayed differently and may be a little thicker. Take that with a grain of salt, just something I read on a forum.

Bead blasted hard chrome and camo paint and stainless steel and camo paint. No glint off too bright a barrel and no oil stink protecting the metal.

Cerokote is great but for reasons I can't figure out it sometimes comes out very smooth but more often adds stickiness or roughness. I've had very slick actions cerokoted which looked very smooth and felt smooth to the touch but permanently needed a drop of oil on the bolt to keep them from sticking.

Black-T is very slick and is nice if you're worried about that, it will smooth up a rough action (like an old Mauser or something), but the color wears more quickly than cerokote.

NP3 was always my favorite. It's almost too slick for semi-autos...can be harder to get a purchase on the slide to rack it. Just a great, basically invincible, very smooth finish. If this NT7 is similar...that's great.

If I need something done quickly I'll get my local guy to cerokote it.

Back in the old days, I would do NP3 if I could handle a long wait time. Even when Robar was doing it, it was slow. Wright Armory was always really slow (but did good work).

Birdsong is pretty quick on turnaround time with Black-T

Just got this one back from a local Cerakote shop. Pretty nice work, and lots of options with cerakote. Bolt was a bit tight at first, but it smoothed out quickly with lube and a some cycling. It's a stainless all-weather, so no real need for the coating, but I just got the urge to do it. Now wears a green camo laminate stock.

A Karl Feldkamp Cerakote on my 416 M70. While it won't see many seasons of use I am pleased.

I've used most of the above and just about all of them have their place. I have gone to using black nitride most often for two reasons:

-it adds little to no dimension to the components so it does not alter barrel timing or bedding.

-it protects the inside of the bore

⬆️ what he said, in spades. The nitride on CZ rifles is both attractive and tough. Same goes for the version on S&W pistols, which is over SS for a double whammy against bad things. Since it goes into the metal, even if it starts to wear (which hasn’t happened on any of mine yet), the protection and lubricity remain, or so “they” say.

I wish more makers would go to it instead of the crappy black bluing they use and save us the expense and trouble.

Have you ever have any trouble , caused by nitriding a firearm?

Hal

No problems whatsoever on steel but I did find out the hard way that a handgun trigger was partially made of polymer.