Thread: Cerakote yay or nay?

Remove the scope mount screws and TIGHTLY wrap short section of either tape or I found paper towels to be effective. Make sure they don't overhang and don't be afraid if TOP thread is visible- just don't flood coat it.



The way I look at spray coats on fire arms is as an EXTERNAL protection. Sure Ceracoat says it can be used on bearing surfaces etc but I don't want to run the risk of the enormous fuck about fixing issues relating to that.

In my opinion - keep aftermarket coating out of fine tolerance areas. Not worth the hassle/risk. Just clean / oil etc as you normally do on chamber etc.

Bolt handle and back shroud will be fine, but stay off the bolt proper.

Just as an aside, that metalwork looks mint.

Maybe just buff in a series of coats of something like Birchwood Casey gun wax with a soft pad on a Dremel?

I gave it a tickle up in the blasting cabinet using the finest grade media we had. It’s come up quite well so hopefully the Duracoat adheres to it like shit to a blanket.

Quick update:

I went with Duracoat M11 Tungsten. Sprayed on with the $60 HVLP gun sold to me by the Duracoat distributor. So far I’m very impressed with how things have gone. I have zero experience applying coatings or painting so went with what @Preacher had recommended in this thread.

The Duracoat goes on very easily with no sign of any runs, in fact, I was trying to get it to run on a test piece and that required a fair bit of effort to produce a run. On Finlay’s recommendation I set the gun to 30psi and turned the paint control to a pretty low setting. Seemed to be spot on.

A lesson learnt is that I probably had the pressure set to high/to course of a media when I sand blasted the parts. It’s left a relatively rough to touch feel. I like the look of it as it accentuates the metallic flake within the paint, some may not like that though.

She’s only being curing for a few days so I’ll update with finished pictures in the stock when it’s all said and done.

Looking good. May have done with a bit more paint flow but once fully cured rub a bunch of oil into it and she be sweet.

@Preacher

As the forum Duracoat Guru, what would the higher flow done to the finish? Would it have filled in the surface dimples better?

What’s the idea of the oil on the duracoat once cured?

I had the steady as she goes approach so it probably was on the to lighter flow side. All learning, I’ll do another one soon.

Thanks for your advice!

I definitely would not consider myself a guru.

I mean by starting with a quite dry coat then a mid wet then a wet coat to finish. First drier coat allows next ones to sit with less risk of runs etc. Final wet coat can dry almost mirror smooth if paint flow/pressure balance is correct. And temp too.

The oil will just help stop dirt and crap sticking in the pores. But I don't think it would be a problem anyway. In a couple weeks/month that stuff should be pretty amazingly durable.

Ah I see. Will definitely try that on the next project!

Thanks @Preacher.