Thread: duracoat experiences

I have seen the same thing on a couple of mates rifles,
Some Ceracoat peeling off in flakes, and some so thin it rubbed through in weeks.. this comes down to bad prep and application not the product itself.
With that said it is a VERY thin coating just the nature of that product. Personally I think painting it on the inside of actions and on moving surfaces like bolts is a mistake no matter what they claim (makes it slicker, holds lube etc).
I have had to clean out more than one action internally due to binding from flaking off Ceraracoat.
Dont do it. Those areas should be masked of and other metal coatings used if there is problematic bare metal. There are lots of companies that use Ceracoat on their new rifles and you will notice the dont spray they inside of actions. Things like magazines with constant rub points can also wear Ceracoat off prematurely.
Ceracoats other Achilles is its adhesion to polymers/plastic. Thae nature of it as a ceramic coat means that it has to be baked quite hot to get to its final hardend tough state which can be disastrous for some plastic parts. It can be done at a lower heat for longer but it doesnt reach the same hardness as it would on metal baked hotter so therefore wears off quicker.


I I had to pick a favorite Id go with Duracoat every time. It is easier to build up thicker if needed and can be touched up easy if it takes a bad hit. It can be baked to speed up curing but it will reach maximum hardness even without baking if you give it the time it requires to properly cure. Leaving parts in the sun helps too.

Let me dig out a spec sheet and Ill post a pic of it for more info in regards to application and durability claims.

Ill also drag out some rifles and show you some close ups of the wear of both products so you can make your own decisions.

Just to be clear, I dont work for either company, I am speaking from my own person experience with both products, some of which have had the coatings applied by "professionals" and gun manufacturing companies and some by myself.

Ok so the following pics are f my personal experience with both products not pics of others failed coatings from bad application. If the owners wish to share that experience Ill will leave that to them.

So Ill start with my Desert tech rifle that is Ceracoated from the factory. This is a work rifle so its not a babied safe queen, it is by no means abused but while I am careful not to knock it around it is carried and transported a lot so shows signs of cosmetic wear.

The Black alloy parts are in good shape with the exception of the front of the handgaurd which has worn back to the alloy in places and some of the most handled surfaces are a little glossier than the original matte finish.



One of the 2 magazines showed a lot of wear to the finish and got badly scratched up:





I stripped the grey Ceracoat back to bare metal and gave it a coat of matte black Duracoat.





This is both of my mags a year and a half on; the second Ceracoated grey mag is showing signs of wear and the duracoat has held up well with only minor scratches from the mag latch and mag well.






The chassis skins were factory black polymer but I wanted OD green. I prepped them and sprayed them with Duracoat tactical OD green without baking it and cured in in the sun only.
They have stood up to use very well! better than I expected. The only wear I can find is a small rub through at the front where is rubs on my pack while slung on my back and on the quad bike. There are also signs of glossier spots in the matte finish of the high wear areas.
The barrel shown in the last pic is my 19: light weight 6.5 Creedmoor barrel which I only painted a few months back but you can see the shiny spots from removing and fitting it in the chassis clamping system.
















The second example I have is CZ 527 Grendel chassis.
The action mag, barrel and suppressor was sprayed with Ceracoat (not by me) and I sprayed the chassis to match with Duracoat. the Ceracoat is notably older than the chassis job but as you can see all the sharp edges an high wear contact points on the mag have worn through. The barrel has worn to the S/S barrel where the suppressor bush rubs it.










My honest opinion is that Duracoat lasts better with the same prep and all other things being equal. Although the manifactures boast that "Duracoat doesnt wear" it absolutely does.. but I truely believe it wears less than Ceracoat in the examples and personal experience Ive seen. This is primarily because Ceracoat is applied thinner and for this reason marketed as a good coating of internal pistol and action parts.. I strongly disagree as would and honest applicator of their product.
I am from a aviation background where material anti corosive/wear coatings and treatments were of the upmost importance.. we used many milspec products with some nasty heath restrictions on them.
I used a Dupont milspec product that we used as an anti glare matte black paint in front of the cockpit that was an amazing product. I painted many AR15s etc with it and it held up better than both duracoat and ceracoat but the closest thing to the durability of this and other coating we used I have found has been Duracoat.

Thanks wingman, exactly what I was looking for. 100% nail hit on head. Thanks mate. Lars.

Originally Posted by Larskramer

Thanks wingman, exactly what I was looking for. 100% nail hit on head. Thanks mate. Lars.

All good mate.

Id be interested to hear/see other peoples experience with both products, the good, the bad the ugly?

Ill show some of the ugly.

This rifle was done by Cerakote NZ before I owned it, the owner was so disappointed in the coating job that he sold it cheap just to get rid of it. The inside of the action had been covered in ceracoat to the point the bolt was stiff as the guides on the bolt were snagging on the inside runs, all the pins and buttons had just been sprayed in place rather than removed and done separately, the DPT suppressor was done as one piece and no longer comes apart, the rings were done with the bolts in place which then caused the bolts to break off trying to get them out, the inside of the mag had been sprayed which caused feeding issues and in some spots the ceracoat left on the outside of the rifle is just peeling/flaking off.

I spent MANY hours removing the ceracoat from inside the action and polishing it back up, had to buy new rings and a new mag, had to replace the extractor (it was broken in half but don't know when/how that happened), still cant split the DPT suppressor open and have to live with the spots where the coating has just peeled off.

The owner of Cerakote NZ did offer to re-do the rifle for me but given this display of workmanship I declined his offer.

+1 for airbrush and Duracoat.

Found the Preval sprayer absolute shit. As mentioned earlier it sprayed in a really thick, choppy manner....for about 20 seconds then shit itself. May have just been a dud but you can get a perfectly acceptable hobby airbrush more not much $ and from any ripco/super cheap which allows for much better control and finish hands down.

.5 needle and nozzle and I didn't even need to reduce the product.

The little automotive touch up spray guns would work really well too I bet. As for durability, have seen good and bad from both but most issues I suspect are prep or application related.

Duracoat wins for myself because it is a f@ck load cheaper, easy to use and seems to hold up as well as I need.

Oh and definitely don't spray into action or very fine tolerance areas, you will never get it thick enough to work without having problems.

Also be aware that although duracoat says reassemble in 24 hours the longer you leave it the better.

It will feel hard as but it is still very easy to scratch for a few days I found.

Have not tried baking it but air drying it takes 3-4 weeks to achieve true hardness (depending on environment)

So, if I diuracoat,

Would the following he a good process

1. Get components vapour blasted
2 use finlays wax n grease remover
3 apply light coat of finlays primer
4.apply duracoat to desired level
5.wait longerbthan 24 hours before reassembly.

Would you recommend the above order? Or can I skip out the "primer" part?

And also airbrush the coating.

Ive never used the primer so cant comment on that but a good even media blast is important.

Originally Posted by Larskramer

So, if I diuracoat,

Would the following he a good process

1. Get components vapour blasted
2 use finlays wax n grease remover
3 apply light coat of finlays primer
4.apply duracoat to desired level
5.wait longerbthan 24 hours before reassembly.

Would you recommend the above order? Or can I skip out the "primer" part?

And also airbrush the coating.

howd you go with this?

He had a mate do it.

I did'nt use primer though.
I followed Jan le Roux's advice and I'd say the gun came out great.

Jokes aside, I like working with Duracote. I beat blast all componants to be coated and I allow enough time to cure.

Very interesting post. I'd like to learn about Duracoat ... it's for use in air rifles. Sounds better to me than strutting them. I only use pavon in firearms.

from my understanding there's a massive difference with cerakote that hast been baked on just used air dry and using proper baked on method

And bubba Weatherby uses Rustoleum rattle cans at $12 a pop, epoxy solvent to clean, followed up by a clean with meths, spray light coat and hang in a sunny corner, repeat the next day and leave for a few days. Sure it isn't as "hard" as cera or dura, but it survives normal hunting use fine and I can touch up bang and done if I feel the need.