How has your nitron finish on all metal Sigs held up to kydex holsters? As a comparison, if you carry your sig in leather, how has the finish held up over time? Pics help.

Thanks

The only way to prevent any and all holster wear on a gun is to never put it in the holster. If you carry, practice with and shoot your gun extensively, it will eventually develop some "character" on it. But in my own experience and reading, Kydex just "burnishes" the edges and corners, while rough-side-in (most are) leather contacts more of the gun's surfaces and acts like a razor strop, eventually creating more wear.

Also, Nitron is (to the best of my knowledge) not just a coating, but a surface hardening treatment that penetrates the metal. As such, it is far harder/tougher than bluing.

My P6 came with a lot of holster wear from the Polizei leather holsters.

My P365 has been in a leather holster for a few years without any signs of wear.

My full sized pistols when carried, are in Safariland holsters, but the ones with the liner on the inside. No noticeable wear on those either.

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I always thought Nitron was salt bath ferric nitrocarborizing.

quote:

Originally posted by egregore:
Also, Nitron is (to the best of my knowledge) not just a coating, but a surface hardening treatment that penetrates the metal. As such, it is far harder/tougher than bluing.

quote:

Originally posted by Abn556:
My P6 came with a lot of holster wear from the Polizei leather holsters.

My P365 has been in a leather holster for a few years without any signs of wear.

My full sized pistols when carried, are in Safariland holsters, but the ones with the liner on the inside. No noticeable wear on those either.

+

Thank you

I only prolonged EDC-carried a SIG once at any time in my life; a P229R German frame for about a period of 6 months. It was carried in a leather holster (DeSantis, if I remember right), and that holster did affect the Nitron finish a lot more that I thought it should have, given what I thought was a relatively short time that I actually carried the gun. The anodized frame also showed some edge wear as well, but it wasn't nearly as disappointing as the slide finish wear. Prior to the SIG I'd carried a Gen2 G19 for around 17 years in a couple of different leather holster, and I thought the slide on that Glock held up quite well in similar leather holsters. The poly frame's finish however didn't fare so well. Well worn smooth at spots on the sides of the polymer, but I'd expect that after over a decade and a half of almost daily carrying, which made the SIG's finish performance all that more disappointing given how relatively short its carry stint was.

I didn't have any holster made of Kydex or injected polymer for that gun at the time, so I have no reference on that aspect. Far more recently, I did carry my at-one-time secondary P365 a few times in a Kydex holster, though not enough so that I can offer a legitimate read on how well/bad that one's Nitron slide held up from consistent and prolonged carrying/handling.

Best of both worlds: leather-lined kydex. Garrett Holsters.

If you carry it it's gonna get wear...you've just gotta embrace that. If you want it to stay pretty leave it in the box. IMO the durability and retention of the holster trumps whatever it does to the finish of the gun. In my experience, both will burnish a Nitron finish. If you open or duty carry, though, the wear from the holster on the slide will be nothing compared to the scratches and chips on the anodized frame.

Rust is also a consideration, and regular wipedows/lube are important. I've gotten rust on the slides of stamped-steel sigs, mag releases of my P320s, and on Glock sights. Kydex doesn't hold moisture as much as leather, but sweat and the elements can cause problems for guns in either type of rig.

In my experience, with nearly all finishes, contact points on leather vs. kydex behave in two different ways.
Leather mainly polishes the high points on a pistol.
Kydex contact points will leave what can really only be described as a scratch.
Personally, I like what leather does to the finish of a pistol over the years.
Keeping a kydex holster wiped out will prevent dust, sand, tribbles, whatever, from building up and scratching the finish.
But it’s still gonna happen.
I have an old P220 that I carried in a hybrid holster for years. The leather side is nicely burnished. The kydex side has one or two long “scratches” where it came in contact with the holster.
But remember, this took years.
An old Glock G23 that I have mostly carried in leather has taken on a nice patina (IMO) where the holster has polished all the sharp corners.
YMMV.

Nothing wrong with honest wear...Just sayin'

My P320 has been in a hybrid [leather back, kydex front] IWB since I bought it.
Years of EDC & there's some slight wear on the kydex side right where the top edge of the holster touches the slide.
None that I can recall on the leather side.

quote:

Originally posted by BBMW:
I always thought Nitron was salt bath ferric nitrocarborizing.

quote:

Originally posted by egregore:
Also, Nitron is (to the best of my knowledge) not just a coating, but a surface hardening treatment that penetrates the metal. As such, it is far harder/tougher than bluing.

From everything I have been able to find, Nitron is just a DLC coating.

quote:

Originally posted by nhracecraft:
Nothing wrong with honest wear...Just sayin'

No but it's the dishonest wear that hurts. I literally ruined the finish on a pistol holstering/re-holstering it THREE times in one of my kydex holsters. No, it doesn't say much for the finish.

I recently bought my third Garret holster and they'll be my go to for such things from here on.