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Robar NP3 Possible Alternatives


Milspec

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I didn't want to keep hijacking SD's thread.  While digging around I found a couple of interesting alternatives to look at.  So far my research is limited but I thought I would share.

Disclaimer: I don't work for these places, know anything about them or have any clue per say.  They just looked pretty interesting.

 

This company has so far caught my attention the most:

http://nutmegchrome.com/page/slik-shot-electroless-plated-coating 

 

Here is another that might have some potential.  Although their fancy space age plating can't be done on aluminum apparently.

http://www.ccrrefinishing.com/pricing.html

 

I throw this one in for two reasons even though they are Cerakote peeps. 

https://www.libertycoatings.com/cerakote-elite-series/

1.)  I have reason to believe that they do Cerakote for Benelli.  ( I can neither confirm or deny this.)

      The owner was very quick to respond to my inquiry.  His semi cryptic reply lead me to believe that this Benelli thing may be true.

2.)  Look at their pics on the website.  They obviously are doing work for many firearm manufactures.  I will note that they don't state that they are Cerakote factory certified.  I'm not sure if this should be a concern or not.. 

 

 

 

 

Edited by Milspec
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Yeah, through my searching I stumbled on to Nutmeg.  They are local so they could be real convenient for drop offs if that Slick Shot proves to be legit.

I believe they apply it in a process similar to NP3.  It also looks like they bake it which puzzles me a little.

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Here is a 1911 done in Slick Shot that I found.  The guy that had it done said that he has firearms done in NP3 as well.  It's his opinion that it's little more gray and NP3 is a little more silver.  However, he feels that they are both similar in durability and lubricity.

 

28B7DD28-DF4D-4D81-9B87-4CB33F6B5B41.jpg

Edited by Milspec
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  • 1 month later...

I got excited when I saw your post so I contacted them to ask if they can take the M4 apart or if I need to break it down before sending.

This was their response:

“ You cannot make a Benelli M4 an H2O model after it has been assembled.  There are steel parts staked into place in the aluminum receiver and you cannot mix steel and aluminum in the plating tank.”

Makes one wonder why Robar could do it but they can’t?

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They're probably talking about the receiver extension and under the impression that it cannot be disassembled. When Robar did barrels, they didn't do the part that goes into the receiver. It was left whatever matte chrome it was originally finished in. I assume to avoid plating the area with the riveted on ejector.

 

I'm surprised they are able to do that in house. I thought Suarez was a pretty small time operation.

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A glimmer of hope for NP3:

Robar Closure

ATTENTION GUN OWNERS:

With the closing of the Robar Companies the question of accessing NP3©, NP3+© and ArmorLube© coatings has come up. Coating Technologies LLC (CTL) is the owner of these processes. We are currently exploring a methodology to help facilitate individual access to our finishes. This will take some time but we will announce availability to Distributors via electronic and printed media as quickly as we can.

To be added to our contact list and receive an update as information becomes available, please send an email with your name, phone number and email address to [email protected].

Please note: CTL does NOT have any gunsmithing services nor can we accept work on an individual basis.

Thank you for your patience and we are looking forward to resuming our great relationship with our firearm owning friends.

Robbie Barrkman
CEO

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On 10/9/2019 at 8:25 PM, StrangerDanger said:

Maybe ask if you have everything disassembled fully if they'll take it on? And what kind of price point they're asking for all the small parts and the larger ones.

I asked about sending it in disassembled and they said, "We would rather not work on it."

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33 minutes ago, Milspec said:

I asked about sending it in disassembled and they said, "We would rather not work on it."

That was the positive with Robar....you could trust them to do it right. Disassembly and reassembly.

In my mind it'll take a long time for some other company to build that kind of trust, even if they'll work on an M4.

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It looks like WMD offers a Nickel Teflon coating.  I don’t know if they would have the same apprehension.

SD had them do one of his M4’s in Nickel Boron.  If I remember correctly he wasn’t warm and fuzzy about it.  Although this may have been more in relation to the Nickel Boron itself.  (Tolerance stacking from the plating etc)

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Yep. Lot of tolerance issues. Think spinning pistons in a drill chuck while holding fine sand paper on the high spots to make them fit in the barrel. Lots of hand fitting on the trigger pack to make everything function smoothly. 
 

WMD was easy to work with though. I never sent them anything they had to disassemble and reassemble though. 

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On 10/10/2019 at 8:17 PM, StrangerDanger said:

I reached out to CTL and never got any kind of response.

 

Sucks that Suarez wasn't willing to just plate parts with zero need for reassembly.

Im sorry if no one has gotten back to you yet. Please email me at [email protected] with your contact information and i will add you to the email list.

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Hello everyone

We have identified 3 companies we will be Partnering with for our metal finishes for the Firearms Industry. The losing of The Robar Companies inc. did not effect any of our OEM accounts , we still have many companies that have been sending us parts for metal finish, Robar (being in the same building) was the only gunsmith shop that was allowed to do firearms directly with us. We will be letting everyone know soon where they can send their firearms and parts to for all our metal finishes. 

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On 10/9/2019 at 6:17 PM, Milspec said:

I got excited when I saw your post so I contacted them to ask if they can take the M4 apart or if I need to break it down before sending.

This was their response:

“ You cannot make a Benelli M4 an H2O model after it has been assembled.  There are steel parts staked into place in the aluminum receiver and you cannot mix steel and aluminum in the plating tank.”

Makes one wonder why Robar could do it but they can’t?

Sorry guys I didn't mean to get everyone hopes up. I just contacted them and they said yeah we do NP3 so I assumed they would do all firearms. But I guess not. However it looks like we will still have a option hopefully in the near future. 

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CTL seems really promising. They're the ones who were actually doing Robar's plating. So if you like it, you'll like their product. I'm setting up under my FFL to be a processor/dealer for them. I don't think they intend to accept firearms from the general public, but their dealers will be able to act as a middleman. It doesn't seem like they'll have any gunsmithing services for complex disassembly.

If this all shakes out, I'll gladly accept shipments as I've done for years and be that middle man who can tear it down and reassemble it properly.

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13 hours ago, Redweirdbeard said:

Sorry guys I didn't mean to get everyone hopes up. I just contacted them and they said yeah we do NP3 so I assumed they would do all firearms. But I guess not. However it looks like we will still have a option hopefully in the near future. 

No worries.  It was a good lead.  It’s not your fault.  Thanks for bringing it up as a possibility.

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