Posted: 7/28/2010 5:01:15 PM EDT
| I just picked up a used M8 and was wondering why the slide is a purple color. Is this normal or has it been reblued? |
| Normal. Older P7s and P7-M8s often have a purplish hue to the slide. There are many theories about why this happens to some and not others but I wonder if anyone knows for certain. I have heard contaminated bluing salts to the type of metal used reacting with different lots of bluing solution. I am not sure I buy either of these. I doubt HK or anyone else lets there bluing solution get contaminated to that point and I also doubt they change the composition of the metal in their slides all that often. All I know for certain is that it happens and not just to HKs. I have a very old Ruger No. 1 V model that came from the factory blued black as pitch. The receiver some 35 years later now has a very plum patina to it and it gets more purple every time I take it out of the safe. Sometimes they just turn purple with age. |
| It's normal. I have a P7PSP with a plum colored slide while my P7M8 is black. Doesn't hurt a thing and doesn't affect prices. As with Big Bore I haven't a clue as to what causes the color change. You'll find a lot of explanations if you Google the question. One thing for sure, it doesn't affect the accuracy one iota. MyP7s are among the most accurate pistols I own. |