The present invention relates to a method for providing a
coating to the inner surface of a
barrel of a small- or medium-
caliber firearm, wherein the inner surface defines the internal volume, and the method provides a firearm including the
barrel to be processed in a
reaction chamber, and provides a
cylindrical electrode having an outer surface and including a target material substantially coaxially within the
barrel, closes the
reaction chamber, reduces the pressure to a predetermined pressure value, supplies gas to the
reaction chamber, thereby supplying gas into the internal volume, and raises the pressure within the reaction chamber to an operating pressure, using the
electrode as a target
cathode and the barrel as an
anode. The process includes the steps of: applying a first
electric field to the
electrode to activate the gas into a
plasma gas; using the
plasma gas to remove the target material and deposit it on the inner surface; turning off the first
electric field; stopping the
gas supply; returning the reaction chamber to
atmospheric pressure; and removing the firearm, including the processed barrel, from the reaction chamber, wherein the distance between the outer surface of the
electrode and the inner surface of the barrel is at least 0.5 mm, the
electric field is applied for a time long enough to form a layer of the target material on the inner surface of the barrel, and the product of the operating pressure and the distance between the electrode and the inner surface is 10 -5 This concerns the method of
Torr.cm ~ 45
Torr.cm.