Help, please: Need to know about a gun? XD .45 subcompact

The gun is a XD .45 subcompact. Guy wants the slide engraved. I have never engraved a gun before. But I have almost ten years engraving experience. So my question is: does anybody have any knowledge, good or bad about this gun. Or suggestions of what to look for! I dont want to start something I cant finish, but Im excited about working on a gun finally.

Hi Johnny,
I know nothing about this particular auto. With that said a couple of reminders, you have probably heard this before but:

You must have an FFL to engrave someone Else's gun. You can can engrave a gun YOU own without it if you get my drift.

who is going to strip the weapon down and do the prep work? If it is you don't forget to charge for this service.

who is going to refinish the weapon when engraving is done?

Who is responsible if the bluer screws it up.

Just some things to keep in mind as you consider making the move to gun engraving

Fred

I've got a couple of XD's. The .45 is the 5" Tactical model but my 9mm is the Sub Compact.

As Fred pointed out, the ATF is very picky about working on someone else's gun. You should be ok in this case if you have him field strip the gun and give you just the slide - it's the serialized frame that's legally 'the gun'.

But there is the problem of the finish. If you're going to engrave through the factory finish you'll have to be very careful about slips, scribe lines, and anything else that will show later. If you're going to have that removed then as Fred said, the question is who's going to do it and how. After you're done engraving then something has to be done to protect it for the future.

Not to stress you out too much, just things to think about so you don't wind up with real stress later.

Personally I'll be watching this thread to see how it goes with the finish stuff - as I said, I've got a couple of XD's myself and you never know when I might want to add a little bling to them.

Thanks guys. Its these concerns that have kept me away from guns for so long. But as I get better and more serious (if thats possible) about engraving. I need to take the leap forward. I am just planning to take the slide, nothing else. Thanks for the pointers about removing and replacing the finish. Thats exactly the info i was looking for.