Removing the finish off a USP

**FCRPhila** · January 31st, 2011, 04:42 AM

Hey guys, I have a H&K USP9 that I bought awhile ago. It was a police trade-in so the finish on the slide is a bit rough. I was wondering how difficult/expensive it would be to just remove the finish and be left with a SS slide.

**marinville** · January 31st, 2011, 05:48 PM

Well, one thing I can tell you is that if you did strip the finish off your USP you would not be left with a stainless slide, because the regular USP's do not have stainless steel slides.

There is a variation of USP that uses a stainless slide, but I'm assuming it's not what you have, because they don't have a finish covering the stainless to begin with.

However, I have heard that HK uses a process similar to glock's tennifer to treat their slides. (HK calls this a HE finish, which stands for hostile environment) which penetrates the top layers of metal.

A USP stripped of it's surface finish should still be protected by their treating process.

Unfortunately I can not tell you the best way to remove the finish, but if you asked around at the hk pro forums, I'm sure someone there has done it before, and could give you some pointers.

**Steve_NEPhila** · January 31st, 2011, 05:56 PM

I would either leave the finish as it is or send it off to have it professionally re-finished. My finish of choice would be Robar's NP3 Plus. Grinding the finish off yourself may screw up the pistol (finishes are removed chemically), expose you to toxic materials (as well as leave the residue in your house) and ruin your day. If the finish blemishes are only cosmetic, leave them be... it does not have to be pretty to be effective.

**SCBaldr** · January 31st, 2011, 05:58 PM

I would say to try aircraft stripper and a fiber or bronze bristled brush. If that won't do it. Take Steve's advice and get it robarized.

**harold63** · January 31st, 2011, 06:01 PM

With the proper tools, both finishes can be removed. Neither is very thick. You would be left with a steel slide that will rust just by showing it some water. The best thing to do (IMO) would be to simply smooth the slide and refinish right over the parkerizing. If you decide you want the bear metal look (bear in mind, this will take a lot of work) you will have to immediately cover the bare metal with a two stage enamel or epoxy, clear of course. It will not have the look of stainless steel, but new carbon steel.

**CHEMICAL** · January 31st, 2011, 06:15 PM

HK uses carbon steel. i wouldn't recommend stripping it and not refinishing it. There is a place in Wyndmoor Pa that quoted me around $85.00 to refinish a slide with Nitro carburizing (similar to Sig's Nitron finish) or black oxide. (similar to HK's finish)

http://www.metlabheattreat.com/index.php

ETA: They are not an FFL or gunsmith so you would have to probably detail strip the slide yourself if you didn't want the internals getting coated.