Melonite Surface Treatment for Barrels, Bolts, and Actions
Ace trigger-puller Joel Kendrick, a former IBS 600-yard Shooter of the Year, has been working on a MELONITE® nitrocarburizing process for surface-hardening barrels and other gun parts. The main advantage of Melonite barrel treatment is that it reduces friction in the bore and lessens bore surface wear, potentially extending barrel life. Melonite-treatment of a bore creates a new compound layer in the top 10-20 microns of the surface, creating a very hard, slick surface. Joel has found that this surface is so slick that carbon does not easily adhere, so the barrel is easier to keep clean. Real-world tests have shown that Melonite barrel treatment definitely reduces internal barrel friction. Joel notes that, after processing, barrels deliver 50 to 100 fps LESS velocity with the same load, a reliable indicator of reduced friction. (Likewise, you’ll get less velocity when switching from naked to moly-coated bullets.) Butch Lambert has tried some Melonite-treated barrels, and he reports: “I have had Joel Kendrick do three barrels for me in Melonite. I polished them first and the finish is like a deep polished black-bluing. One Krieger has 5000 rounds on it and it is shooting just as well as when new. It has been an incredible barrel. It has no throat erosion. It has developed a bunch of pinprick looking spots in the throat, but doesn’t seem to hurt anything. The finish is so hard you can’t thread it. I have not put one of the LV barrels on yet and the heavy is a great shooter and doesn’t have many rounds on it. My experience has been great, but a more extensive test is needed.”
Salt-bath nitrocarburizing by Melonite process has been applied in a wide range of industries throughout the world for many decades. It is used to improve the wear resistance, the fatigue strength, and corrosion resistance of components made from steel, cast iron, and sintered iron materials. The Melonite process is used as an alternative to other surface engineering processes such as case hardening.
Joel tells us: “I have been experimenting with this Melonite process for the last five years. I have been testing nitrocarburized barrels on my F-class and Long Range equipment since 2005 with good results. What will it cost? Joel expects Melonite treatment will cost under $100.00 per barrel, but the final pricing structure hasn’t been set yet. There will be volume discounts for gunsmiths and manufacturers.
There are many potential applications of Melonite processing for shooters, Joel believes. In addition to barrels, bolts, actions, internal components, and even reloading equipment can be surface-hardened with the Melonite process. After processing, the surface compound layers formed consist of iron, nitrogen, carbon and oxygen. Due to its microstructure, the compound layer does not possess metallic properties. Depending on material used, the compound layer will have a Vickers hardness of about 800 to 1500 HV, and a layer depth of 10 to 20 micorons. That’s so hard that conventional reamers won’t work well on a Melonited surface, so the barrel must be chambered BEFORE Melonite processing.
Lower Friction, Less Throat Erosion, Longer Barrel Life
Joel believes there are many benefits to Melonite barrel processing. The barrels he has treated and tested have shown reduced fouling, less throat erosion, and extended useful barrel life. Melonite-treated Chrome-moly barrels will have improved corrosion resistance as well. But are there negatives? According to Joel, “with stainless barrels, Melonite processing may reduce corrosion resistance slightly. Also, the treatment process makes the surface so hard that re-chambering is not practical — so this is something you do to already-chambered barrels.”
What about accuracy? Joel says: “Melonite barrel treatment should have no effect, positive or negative, on accuracy… except to the extent that your barrel may retain its best accuracy longer since it won’t wear out as fast.”
To learn more about the Melonite nitrocarburizing process and its application to shooting products, contact Joel Kendrick, joelkndrck [at] aol.com, or call (704) 616-6442.
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Tags: Barrel, Melonite, Metal Hardening
Kind of cost prohibitive on small scale..2 barrels .. 2 bolts..small batch fee $600.00
Check price for 2 barrels and 2 bolts…special rate for minimum or small order…$600.00. I don’t think I will purchase the service..
May be a great process and turn out to be highly advantageous, but until I see some “hard test numbers” of proven results, from outside sources, I personally would not be involved. To some extent, sounds very similar to what we were told approx. 10 yrs. ago about deep freezing barrels. I’m not knocking it: it could prove to a big plus with many advantages, but I must see proof, not claims made by the seller.
We tryed this about 10 years ago and got serius problem with the bore getting smaler and it shrinked more in the thicker parts of the barrel and i know that the defense industri in Sweden have had a lot of problem whith barrels and a simmular treatment.
Mr. Schuster, you are evidently not familiar with either process. Cryogenics was to help stress relieve barrels and is still used by Kreiger. Melonite in simple terms is a case hardening process to give a very hard surface.
You need to research Melonite as it is not a new process and has already been used by the gun manufacturers. It just has not been made available to the general public.
As far as cryo is concerned, it helps the barrel maker in machining the barrel. I don’t think in itself that it affects accuracy.
Butch
I had a rifle with the action, bolt and barrels melonited. Action near bolt stop was brittle and broke off. Some barrels developed an inside coating that had the color of rust on the patch. Not impressed. Would not do it again.
Butch Lambert: With all due respect to your experience & knowledge, obviousely greater than mine, thru your very imformative postings: I tried “freezing” a Hart 22-250 ( 300 below, from Ohio) and the results were a big zero. No advantage in any category. “Armalite” and Hart does not believe in the process ( with 416 s/s). I was careful not to condemn the process, since I’ll be the first to admit I have no knowledge of it. What I did say was “show me the proof”. When buying a new car, refrigerator, replacement windows for my house, etc. claims made by salespeople mean nothing to me: I research the item in “Consumer Reports”: in over 40 yrs, that “guide” has never failed me.
Butch Lambert: Your knowledge & experience is certainly at a greater level than mine, obvious from your very informative postings. I was careful to not condemn the procedure, since I know nothing about it. I am very familiar with cryo treating: had it done to a Hart 22-250 ss in ’98. The results were a big zero. Hart & Armalite also do not believe in it. All I asked for was some proof from an unbiased source of testing. For that matter, is it approved by any of todays barrelmakers like Krieger, Shilen, etc.?
Trying to understand just why this is here? I understand that is a new treatment but when I called the person I talked to didn’t sound like it was something they really wanted to do to just a few items. They are set up for 5000 pounds at a time and it would just be cost prohibitive for such little orders. So for the price of the treatment I can get a new barrel. Anyway, thats the answer I got when I called and inquired.
Mr. Schuster,
My comments were cryo aids in machining. That is the reason that Kreiger does it. I made no claims for accuracy. If you will read my post again, you will see what my experience was with the Melonite. I made no other claims. I really don’t care if you use it or not, I was asked for my personal experience and I gave it. I don’t believe that I said any barrel person has tried or recommended it.
Butch
Steve,
What knid of action and barrel assembly did you have Melonited? Where did you have processed? The action should not have been brittle since this is only case hardening 10 to 20 um. But you have to be very carefull when processing actions usually it will aneal or normalize steel depends on previous hardening. You have to know the history of components before processing, some components can not be process due to the draw down temperature is much less than processing temperatures.
Cost Factor
HEF will publish in a few days cost structure with a introductory minimum cost much less than standard cost of $600.00 per lot.
Smith Enterprises has performed this treatment for a few years to some products, mainly Chinese M-14 recievers. This treatment typically raises the hardness of the surface, yet drops the core hardness a point or 2. This provides a better wear surface yet maintains the ductility of the core.
I work for a melonite (salt bath nitriding) facility, and we will run sample
runs and production runs cheaper than anyone else doing this process. We run
hundreds of guns weekly and would love to run a sample run for your firm.
Samples normally are less than $200.00 depending on the quantity of barrels.
contact me at mwooldridge@nitriding.com
An interesting article. Melonite is the registered trade name owned by Durferritt for the Salt Bath Nitriding(SBN)process also commonly called just nitriding. SBN is well known by the gun industry used to provide improved corrosion resistance, resistance to wear and fatique and lubricity. Many major gun companies and parts suppliers use SBN. It is used to replace chrome, black oxide, manganese phosphate surface finishes. SBN is improved metal treating technoloy replacing the above because it provides all the above benefits in one treatment and is very cost competitive. SBN treatment results in hardening the gun metal within the molecular structure so it does not cause the parts to expand or warp nor add to the surface dimension as does chrome. It can be used on gun parts made of high or low alloy ferrous metals and stainless that have been machined, stamped, forged or cast. All SBN treated metal parts are turned black including SS. Its used on SS barrels and slides to kill the reflectivity but also for the improvement of wear on the OD and improved lubricity in the bore that results in longer life and reduced fouling. Magazines, trigger and bolt components, muzzle brake/blast/flash suppressors and choke tubes are SBN treated for the above benefits.
The primary consideration in using SBN on gun components is to cost competitively improve performance and provide protection to enhance reliable life function of the gun whether used as a weapon or for sport.
I work with gun companies and a major SBN provider that will free sample nitride gun parts so the manufacturer can test and prove the benefits of SBN. jackmridner@bellsouth.net
Jack,
You are correct with your statement that Melonite is a registered trademark of HEF Durferritt that is why I am have been working with HEF USA for the past 5 years with R&D development for this product line with firearms components.
HEF USA has been a R&D and support facility until last quarter of 08, they agreed to use their facility to process firearms components in Jan. 09 this is the next step is to inform shooters and manufactures of their service.
HEF USA also will provide free samples to firearms manufactures for their testing purposes. HEF USA will Quote price based on lot sizes for Melonite QPQ process.
Call for informatin and quotes.
Joelkndrck@aol.com
Mike,
My only comment to you is that you get what you pay for.
Does the shooter want a cheap price or quality product based on 5 years of R&D process development with competive pricing per current industry standards.
Joel Kendrick
Important note to M Woolridge: Sorry, but use of the term Melonite by your company is improper. Melonite is a registered trademark of HEF Durferrit, Mannheim, Germany. It’s reputation with the major gun manufacturers has been developed over over many years of application, and no one but HEF USA can authorize the use of Melonite in North America. For a list of authorized Melonite processors, please contact Mike Wright @ HEF USA – mwright@hefusa.net.
As would be the reference to a Skill saw or Crecent wrench. BUT! His website does not use the trade name, so an in-passing comment on an article of the process really isn’t a big deal. Had it been all over the site? Go get ‘em.
Great article though – I’m about to have my projects treated by this same process (I won’t use the M word since it is by another company) and it will be for a much lower cost – and apprecaite the usage report!
Well, the prices sure seem misleading compared to what was originally stated in the article. Until they can provide a service where I can send them a single barrel, have it treated for $100 or (hopefully) less and have it back within a couple weeks, there will not be a huge demand or following for the service.
How is it you obtain less friction and yet have a 50 – 100 fps less velocity with the same load as stated in the article. X amount of powder, X grain projectile and considering all things equal, then less friction (should) = HIGHER velocities. What’s wrong with this picture or advertisement?
Is there a real advantage and is it in longevity of barrel life because it is not an increase in long range shooting. Sounds to me like just another way to make money and cause the fellow shelling out the bucks to keep shelling out the bucks. I’m not Einstein, but I have enough since to realize less friction = higher speeds/velocity. I noted that to obtain the same velocities you would need to increase powder charge, that is if your a reloader and not loading at maximum charge already.
When friction is reduced (as with moly bullet treatment), the in-barrel pressure drops. You need to add more powder (typically about 1.0 grains for a .308) to get back to the same pressure, and equivalent velocities.
I have a springfield XDs. The barrel is Melonite finished. they claim it has “a deep penetrating finish that protects against corrosion”. Im going to shoot the hell out of this gun. I will conduct tests and team up with my engineering profressors at MIT to come up with my own findings!!
While reading the comments, I noticed that the keyboards are misspelling words. We need to ban all keyboards.