Parkerize urban legend

[neomentat]

Someone told me that pistols with parkerized finish do not rub off or get holster wear. Is this true? Would you post pics of your parkerized gun with extensive "holster wear"?

[E. Fudd]

I don't think that's true. It will eventually wear with lots of holster use. You can see parkerized finishes worn off on some of the more heavily used military curio and relics.

The good news is that it is relatively inexpensive to re-parkerize, compared to other corrosion resistant finishes.

I understand hardchrome has better longevity compared to teflon and other baked on finishes.

[ar15barrels]

Parkerizing is not really a finish.
It's a surface conversion process.
Parkerizing itself provides little protection.
During the process, the surface gets very rough/pourous (at the microscopic level) and this porosity retains oil.
The oil is what really protects the steel.