Finish for stainless

[cptmclark]

Is there a practical way to put a dark finish on a stainless slide?

[Harry Bonar]

Dear Shooter;
Bead blast the slide and Use the Brownells Moly coat bake on coating; it is really hard.
Harry B.

[GunsnRovers]

There is a process that salt blackens stainless. It wears like blueing.

I know David Sams does it:

http://www.samscustomgunworksusa.com

I have not been pleased with the results of spray and bake over stainless and instead have my stainless guns matte hard chromed.

[oldwheat]

...it is preferable to bead blast before using spray finishes on stainless....If you can apply it with an airbrush, so much the better.........

[jd1967]

Or black chrome. Goes on over regular matte hard chromee because it's softer (comparatively).

[Unclenick]

Brownells sells bluing salts for stainless, but a professional bluing setup is expensive and you want to find someone who does it, as suggsted by Gunsnrovers. There is also a stainless cold blue called Instablak SS-370, by Electrochemical Products, but in my opinion none of the cold blacks are rugged enough for service wear.

It is necessary to blast stainless because it forms a layer of chromiim oxide at the surface that passivates it and helps prevent corrosion. This has to be removed to get a good chemical bond to the iron in it, so blasting is not optional.

Nick