Shield Slider Paint Question

[andrew8404]

Okay, I'll try to make this short as possible. I just recently had Trijicon night sights placed on by my local gunsmith. He scratched up the slider pretty good and said he ran out of matte black paint and to come back when he got some in stock.

This is what it looked like after.

I came back about a week later and he attempted to fix it with the new paint but no go it wouldn't stick. So he said he would have to order a stronger paint if he could get it since CA outlaws it. After two weeks I finally go in today to try and get it fixed a third time. He's still having trouble matching the paint saying it's brighter then the stock color. He layers in some blue to try to make it match. This is what it looks like now.

Not the best shots but is it normally this hard to repaint a slider?? It looks like its filled in with a marker. Plus, it's splotchy/faded on the top. Its not a huge deal but still I like my things to look clean. So I guess I'm asking what are my options. This is the closest gunsmith so should I take it elsewhere? Or should I just strip it? To his credit he didn't charge me anything for putting on the sights or the applied paint. Anyways, any input would help thanks!

 

[Bkreutz]

I think your gunsmith owes you a new slide. There's more damage there than just the finish. Then trying to cover up his screw up with paint is just dumb, the finish isn't paint, and it isn't blueing. It looks horrible in all the pictures, I wouldn't settle for anything other than a new slide. Him not charging you for his "work" is a poor attempt to get out of buying you a new slide. It might be possible to get the whole slide "professionally" refinished (not by him obviously), but that dent in the slide will still be there.

 

[M&Pmeister]

New slide is right. Do a search for Melonite. And find a real armorer this time.

Sorry to be blunt, that nobody who earns a living working on guns can f-up that bad... and so be lacking in integrity so as to tell the customer black paint is an acceptable fix.

 

[Lycan]

Your local Gunsmith messed up your gun. I don't think re-finishing is going to help at this point. Like others mentioned, he needs to replace the slide. I would expect and accept no less if I were you.

 

[andrew8404]

Thanks guys. Yeah, I'm just trying to figure out the best course of action now. I really like the hard chrome finish that someone did on this forum but the 4-6 week wait time would be killer. I just talked to another gunsmith and he said the finishes on the newer guns are more difficult to do so he wasn't sure if he could even do anything. He said he could probably strip it to a satin chrome but that's it. I'll look into melonite thanks!

 

[rags]

Give the guy S&W's phone number. Nothing for you to figure out.

 

[NoogMan]

Jeesh, he must have banged the hell outta that thing. I'd also ask for a new slide. The slides are pretty hard to damage like that...crazy!

Good luck with it...keep us posted.

 

[Jiman]

Another option could be for your smith to flip the cost of sending it to someone like ATEi who does Melonite ($90), assuming the S&W route is more expensive or some other reason.

Welcome To ATEI | ATEi

Get your gun pimped to fix the dent while you're at it and justify at least a portion of the expense to your smith.

As far as him working on your gun anymore though, I wouldn't. If he thinks a coating like tenifer/melonite can just be rattle canned on there, he's waay behind the learning curve. That's not even addressing how you dent a slide that bad by installing sights. He either missed really bad with a punch and/or the slide came out of his vise and hit the ground (or hit something).

Actually after looking at your pics more, I'd agree with everyone else; he owes you a new slide. Unless it's the angle, it looks like he's actually sanded the area down so much your rear slide serrations are worn down

I get accidents happen, but IMO this guy should not be making a living working on other peoples guns.

 

[Gunsnwater]

Wow he screwed that slide up! He is treating you like a chump. He is not able to fix it. I bet he won't pay for it either. I feel for you, you tried to have a professional install the sights. How were you to know he is so poor. Send it home to Smith and have it fixed right. Take him to small claims court to pay the bill. He sanded the heck out of that slide and messed the scales and rear sight up. He didn't even address the rear sight. He has no skills and unless he sends it to Smith&Wesson don't let him touch it. Good luck.

 

[Vision Remodeling]

What ever you do, do not let him touch any of your guns again. Anyone who thinks a little paint to cover up a scratch is going to work has no clue. The least he could have done is bead blasted and Cerakoted or Duracoted the entire slide. I would want a new slide.

What in the world are you doing with your finger on the trigger in those pics!!!!!!
Yes,I see the slide is open and the chamber is empty.
It is a rule for a reason. A rule not a suggestion.
My10 year old daughter knows better.
Form good habits.
I am really sick and tired of politicians telling me about common sense gun control and then never putting the real common sense gun control rules out there. Here they are.

Treat every gun as if it was loaded

KEEP YOUR FINGER OFF THE TRIGGER, until you are ready to shoot. (see the next two rules before you think you are ready to shoot)

never point it at anything you are not willing to kill or destroy.

Know your target, what lies beyond it and what is in between you and your target.

Genuinely sorry to see this happen to you. I hope this guy will take care of you, but from the looks of his first solution I would not hold my breath.

"Clearly we have seen the end of common sense in America"
Janet Parshall 2014

 

[bmb96mus]

I agree with everyone. Id be pissed. And u know the slides are not just painted. That paint well come right off after holstering a few times. There's no reason why they don't just replace it if their a reputable business

 

[andrew8404]

I agree I'll have to talk to him and see what he says.

Sent from my VS985 4G using Tapatalk

 

[bfm]

What in the world are you doing with your finger on the trigger in those pics!!!!!!
Yes,I see the slide is open and the chamber is empty.
It is a rule for a reason. A rule not a suggestion.
My10 year old daughter knows better.
Form good habits.

Actually, seeing a finger on the trigger with the slide locked back and a visually empty mag well bothers me a lot less than the use of the word slider. Now I can't get White Castle out of my head.

 

[richca]

How did he remove the original sights did he use a torch? It almost looks like he took a sander to it, but that wouldnt make sense.
The person that did that is not a gunsmith.
Depends on what you find to be acceptable but if that were my gun I would want a slide replacement and the sights taken off to be reinstalled by someone else.

 

[3dots]

Gunsmith? Really? The guy has an ID10T problem. Even I have a sight pusher. Melonite is oxidized nickel. The nickel was electroplated over the stainless slide and then treated. This slide cannot be repaired/re-plated/re-melonited or anything else...it's scrap.

 

[gwpercle]

So do you like the new Trijicon Night Sights better than the stock S&W sights?

 

[bmb96mus]

^^^^^^^^ LOL!

 

[Watchdog]

Paint? C'mon. Gunsmith? Sorry, no.

 

[VictorLouis]

First few respondents expressed it as I would.

 

[MSG Glenn]

Gotta agree with everybody. Your "gunsmith" did a terrible job on your slide. He owes you a new one but I wouldn't trust him to swap out the sights from the old one.