Does anyone know why the slight grey/green coloring in the S9 slide coating? Was it for a particular purpose, ie. ID it as the shorter slide?
Some of the old hands can jump in here...but I think it was discussed back before the move here to SteyrClub. My M9 slide is slightly greenish...particularly noticeable in bright light. I think it has more to do with the metal treatment process than any kind of color coding system. Jim
My old M40 was in the 10,000 area and had a the shiny black finish, but my S9 and S40 both have the flat greyish look. I assumed that the shiny black was something they used to do and stopped for some reason. I have no idea what the technical difference between the finishes are. Does anyone have a M model that with a >30,000 seriel number that has a black finish?
Both my M9 & S9 have the same flat-black slide. I guess I can understand why some people call it "greenish". They look identical to me. My M9's serial is 26***, and the S9 is 34***
I know at different points in the 5 years the original M/S's were produced they used three different finish treatments. I do not remember the dates or serial ranges of which was when (dig it up on GT or DAIadvisor or MrApathy would be the two who would know, or ask Steyr). There was a shiny black (unrembered finish type), then a dull black (again ? type), then a parkerizing with a greenish/grayish tinge last (some more gray some more green). That order is off memory though, so not gospel. Since the metal itself is tennifer treated the differences are really of little consequence to corrosion or wear protection.
Tennifer is a heat and chemical process that actually treats the metal itself. It goes into the metal below the surface. It makes the metal very very corrosion resistant. H&K calls it HEF (hostile environement finish) The black on the metal is just a surface coating for looks.
