action nitride/melonite or dlc coating

G37some

FNG
Joined
Mar 21, 2022
I have a stainless tikka action that I would like to get coated or treated either by nitriding/melonite or DLC coating. are there any companys or shops that offer this kind of work? seems all I can find are places that do the work for manufactures. I would even consider having the action and bolt microslicked. kinda spoiled by the absolute smoothness of my tikka CTR.
 
When I looked into DLC / Ion-bond, this place was recommended by a guy who used them. I have no personal experience with them and wound up leaving my Tikka action bare stainless.

 
The salt bath nitride process uses temps up to about 1000F which is way below the temps required to produce martensite crystals like you would during quench hardening. It’s more analogous to a chemical version of case hardening. Case hardening has been used on guns safely for centuries. Perhaps you might be concerned about warpage, but that shouldn’t be a problem with a properly stress relieved barrel or action and allowing the metal to cool slowly after the process. I’d like to see manuafacturers use nitride/melonite finishes more often. I prefer them to coatings. I have not used any aftermarket services for this on a bolt gun. If you do it, let us know how it works for you.
 
Keep in mind, the DLC coatings themselves are super hard and very very thin, but the material underneath wont be. Any impact with rocks/metal that is severe enough to dent the stainless will go right through the coatings.

Nitriding give you a better surface, but whenever you apply that much heat to a metal you'll run the risk of warping.
 
Any updates on the coating? Did you have one done and how did it turn out?

Seems like there is a lot of discussions on theoretical concerns for altering accuracy and if anyone has any updates that would be greatly appreciated
 
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