Blackening Stainless Steel

[selfshrevident]

Does anybody know of a way to apply an anti-wear/corrosion resistant treatment or coating to stainless steel that would blacken it? I was going to use perma blue but it says right on the back of the package that it WILL NOT work on stainless.

I am trying to apply this to a socket head cap screw that will be sticking out of the guide rod hole of my pistol. As it sits now it's chrome looking and looks tacky. I want to blacken it with something that'll last through the wear and tear.

[WDE91]

I did something similar for the grip frame on my Jframe

the OEM screw was steel and would rust so stainless was inorder

I took a mapp gas torch,place the screw in the vise and heated it up till it was orange and then dunked it in some motor oil, I repeated this a couple times over

This is a no stress area just holding the two grips together so Im not overly concerned about how the heat affected the metal if it was in a negative way

This is what worked well for me so you might consider it

[uxo2]

Guncoat...norrells mollyresin....nitride..

[Calif Mini]

Blacken SS

Try ....... www.caswellplating.com

Stainless Steel Blackener 370.
On sale now till the 28th......... $15.99

[Gunsmith Dan]

There is only 2 ways to get Stainless Steel black:

1) Chemical process both hot and cold like steel

2) Coat it

Just like steel there is special chemicals that work only on Stainless Steel that can be applied both cold or hot in a bath like Hot Bluing to blacken stainless. The processes are the same as with bluing steel, cold is cheap, easy to apply but offers no real protection while hot is very durable and offers better protection and can be polished but requires special equipment to apply it.

If you plan to coat it Cerakote is the best all around coating for firearms on the market. It is a ceramic based resin similar to a high grade epoxy made specifically for firearms that lasts a long time and is very chemical proof and extremely durable.

Cerakote is practically rust proof but on stainless steel the biggest problem is not corrosion but acid pitting because every thinks you do not need to clean and oil stainless because it will not rust. The problems is when gunpowder, oil and moisture from humidity combine it forms a acid that will etch into metals, but Cerakote is very chemical resistance, even surviving being soaked in Hydrochloric Acid, Acetone, Gasoline etc..

[ar15barrels]

Black oxide will turn stainless parts black.
The lot charge might be a little high though for just a single screw.
I use pentrate in downtown la.
Around $50 per lot, but a lot of parts is about as much as you can put in a common size shoe box.

[LynnJr]

Joel Kendrick at QPC coatings can melonite stainless steel and it comes out like a semi gloss finish.

[tommyid1]

severns custom hard hat treatment.

[adamsreeftank]

The caswell chemical works well, but I suggest you blast the part first. I did that with a stainless barrel and you can't tell it's not parkerized. It seems pretty tough too.