Titanium Nitride Defiance Deviant - Love it, Hate it, In between?

[Romulus]

Coating Services group just sent my action back to my smith and he sent me a picture of it this morning.

He said it feels real nice and looks good, but definitely GOLD! ;D I know this isn't everyone's style but i thought it would be fun to try out since a few of my buddies have had their bolts grow a patina after rough matches in the rain and travel.

Let me know what you think good bad or in between. Really I'd like to hear from someone that may have tried this compared to other coatings.

I'll put out a few more staged pictures once the rifle is complete and I'll compare it to other deviants after shooting it for a while.

 

[Jason Boersma]

That looks awesome, can't wait to see the complete rifle.

 

[savageshooter86]

I like it. Very different

 

[MrMajestic]

Love it, maybe some accents?

 

[jonbearman]

That particular nitride is super tough. I worked at Eastman Kodak and when we made film ,scratches were always a problem so we coated 2 sets of collars that held the fracturing knives. We had to polish each one to remove any film base buildup. We polished those collars for nearly 20 years and only a couple being polished with diamond cakes every time, ever wore even slightly. One awesome coating. What exact company does this and what do they charge if I may ask.

 

[Romulus]

They're called Coating Services Group but their brand is "Titanium Gun" and they refer you to a firearms specific website to fill out an order.

Website: http://titaniumgun.com/Step_1.html
Pricing PDF: http://titaniumgun.com/uploads/OrderForm2014rev3.pdf

As far as build, this Deviant is going into a OD green J Allen stock (which was maxed out when I found it) and I was planning on 260 AI but i may do something with a little more barrel life. Trying to decide between my Tubb T7T or a Timney Calvin Elite that I bought for the build. Eventually I'll have a USO 27x on top of it with a reticle I've been working on but it will be Nightforce or Razor Gen II for now.

As far as aesthetics, I was going for a Boba Fett look with the green, gray, and gold. I may get the cheekpiece done in that dark red or just do it myself for a more weathered look. Fett is real cool, even though his turrets are at a 45 degree cant, lol.

 

[jonbearman]

Could you PM me what kind of money it costs to do a receiver? Thanks for the link.

 

[Romulus]

It was $272 to do this action which includes a hazmat fee, shipping, and little items like the extractor, bolt knob, shroud (some won't have and save $) and they cleaned and bead blasted it or it would have come out with a super high polish. I've included a second link in the previous post which leads directly to their Pricing PDF.

They said they needed to charge me for "a barrel" instead of a "bolt" like their pricing sheet says for my bolt action bolt since its surface area is much larger than the AR bolts they do.

I've talked with them about getting more done, and they said it would be substantially cheaper to do if I could get a batch of actions ready to do.

 

[Erud]

I think it looks pretty cool.

 

[jamesh]

I'm curious what the bolt raceway clearance was before and after. Did you happen to measure?

James

 

[Romulus]

No i did not. Titanium nitride coating through vapor deposition is supposed to only be 0.00020 in but that is not the same as measuring. The Smith said it's smooth, but I can have him look for any spots that feel rough. I worried about it pooling in certain areas but the company tried to reassure me that it would be a non-issue.

Once I get it in my hands I will know more. It was more a spur of the moment decision after the action was out of my hands. A couple friends were complaining their bolts had minor rust, so I said "I know a way it will never rust!" lol. And I just wanted to compare it to the melonite process which has slightly higher lubricity but is only 1/2-1/3 as hard.

Good question though. If there's a problem with it, my smith will let me know.

 

[Dusty Stevens]

Farley actions used to have the bolt done and i have a one off german action thats done in the polished finish and both are very slick. Even after thousands of rounds only the edges of the bolt shows any wear like on the edge before the cone. I love it. Little oil and its slick as glass

 

[Romulus]

Farley is/was right here in my hometown. I've been meaning to stop by the shop and look at a Widow and some other stuff like his triggers and rests.

Do you have a pic of yours?

 

[Dusty Stevens]

You know they dont have anything in stock! Take your new action over and show it to jim and tell him that i said to start coating bolts again like he did back in the 90's and give him the number. He lost a reliable company to do it for him after the first batch. And that trigger is rarer than cavities on hen's teeth, like unicorns and pots of gold at the end of rainbows.

 

[michaelnel]

Well, since you asked, that whole gold look does not appeal to me.

But it's your gun, why do you care what anyone else thinks about that look? If you like it, that's all that matters.

 

[Romulus]

lol, just sharing the idea and great service company with everyone. They had nothing but great CS on the phone.

I like to hear other opinions and was hoping to find a guy that had already done it to qualify or rant about the efficacy of the treatment. Or for easy joke material.

It's nice to root out the guys that like trying new stuff, so you can bounce ideas off them later down the road as most people are monkey see monkey do.

 

[LHSmith]

Well, since you asked, that whole gold look does not appeal to me.

But it's your gun, why do you care what anyone else thinks about that look? If you like it, that's all that matters.

+2...I'll tell you why... I have not had good experience with Ti N. The Redding bushings coated with it are problematic and I avoid them like the plague, and Ti N coated drill bits never cut as well as HSS. Therefore I associate the gold colored products as inferior at twice the cost. It may well be the best way to coat actions, but my first reaction is to avoid anything Ti N coated.

 

[Romulus]

What's the problem with the ti-ni bushings? I've had 3 and haven't had problems but I haven't used them as much as most F or BR guys.

 

[LHSmith]

What's the problem with the ti-ni bushings? I've had 3 and haven't had problems but I haven't used them as much as most F or BR guys.

They have a tendency to cause longitudinal grooves along the neck. Posts about the problem are common on this site.

 

[Romulus]

Thanks. Something to be already aware of when I run into that problem.