Anybody Cerakoted a gun?

[Electricmo]

I have a 1911 that I didn't have much money in and had the slide done. Seems like I just can't leave things alone sometime. Anyone here had there's done for any reasons? This has held up through about 400 rounds now and overall I'm pretty pleased with it.

 

[Aim1]

I know that Elite bows cerakoted their cams for a year or two but it wore so bad they stopped doing it.

And cams really don't get any abrasion which is weird.

 

[Starter52]

I have a S&W .44 that a previous owner had Teflon coated in the 1990's. When the Teflon wore off I had the gun Cerakoted.

It turned out OK.

 

[Aim1]

This one is nitride coated. Didn't turn out well. Not a fan of coatings.

 

[bersaguy]

I Ceracoated a Sistema model 1927 (Argentine Colt) probably about 7 or 8 years ago now. Its had a few thousand rounds through it since then. I'm pretty pleased with how the finish has held up. I think the shop that did it screwed it up the first time they applied it, I know they ended up redoing the process at least once, so it may be a thicker coating than what's standard, but haven't had any issues

 

[Electricmo]

I would probably do it again to cover up a bad or worn finish or maybe on a AR to offset it but just to do it because I can isn't going to happen again...

 

[Ignition Override]

Wanted to, but the preparation didn't work.

I couldn't get the double roll pin in my P6's slide to budge at all with various punch shapes (so wot...my Other P6 is near-pristine).
This roll pin would have required two trips to the gun smith (removal, then insertion), and at least one across town to the buddy (former USMC air traffic controller) who does some very nice Cerakoting, using the Correct procedures.

 

[Waveski]

Spray-on applications are unappealing to me. Makes steel look like polymer.
I'd rather see a worn steel surface with some white showing through , rubbed out and lubricated.

For an alloy frame I guess anything goes.

 

[larryh1108]

I've had several guns and slides Cerakoted. If a pro does it, they turn out nice. Does it look like a high polished blueing? Well, no but (IMO) it looks a lot better than Parkerizing and a lot better than a gun that has rust (not pitting though it helps a little there) and/or a lot of scratches. It is also, relatively speaking, rather inexpensive. If you do it yourself your results will vary, especially with the thickness of the coating and blending. Other than a collectible gun, I'd have no issue having one professionally coated.
A few Cerakoted guns:

 

[Waveski]

larryh -

I am interested to know just what variation of High Power that is ; top picture with the built up base at the rear sight.

 

[larryh1108]

That is an Inglis Hi Power circa 1944.
It was a rescue that turned out really nice.

 

[Waveski]

Interesting. Looks good. I wonder if there is a thread on Inglis HPs compared to FN and others.

 

[slowr1der]

I've never personally sprayed Cerakote on a gun myself, but I've had guns that have been professionally Cerakoted and I'm not a fan. The finish is much less durable than I'd like. Both guns I've had with it have gotten extreme amounts of holster wear fairly quickly. One of them was a Glock and the finish wasn't anywhere near as durable as the tenifer finish that came on it from the factory. The other was a cheap import pistol and it was the factory finish on it.

I had one of the guns redone with DuraCoat and I was less than impressed there too. It didn't seem any tougher, it doesn't hold up well to holster wear, and it's pretty thick which can cause issues. Mags seem to fit tight after having it DuraCoated and the slide was definitely a bit rougher when racking it. A friend had his pistol DuraCoated and ended up having problems with his gun afterwards. He eventually discovered the DuraCoat was thick enough that it was causing the issues. After lots of sanding and polishing, he finally got his gun working properly again, but then it left uncoated spots on the slide rails. Then after some use and cleaning, it's come off in other spots.

My experience with these finishes is that there are a lot of cool color options, and for a safe queen, they are probably fine. However, they don't stand up to the abuse of a carry gun, hunting rifle, etc. Not to mention they generally don't help the value at all. So anything you spend on the coating is money lost if you ever wnat to get rid of the gun. You're much better off leaving the factory finish on there imo. I'll never pay to have another gun coated.

 

[larryh1108]

I'm not aware of any Inglis thread. The differences are few and mostly in the slide. The lower is the same as any Hi Power except the Inglis models with the slot in the back grip for the arm brace for a Chinese contract that never materialized.

The upper differences is the rear sight (obviously) and there are rear sights with a rifle like tangent for longer distances. Those are worth more than this type of fixed sight. Also, the Inglis models had an internal extractor instead of the external used since the 50s.

 

[Demi-human]

This one is nitride coated. Didn't turn out well.

Ferritic nitro-carburization is not a coating, it is a tempering process. Done in a salt bath at several hundred degrees. It does not add a coating, so would be impossible to "cover up" any logos or emblems.

That is a bad spray job, being sold with a buzz-word.
And terrible home-made grips.

My Airwieght Jframe came factory Cerakoted. It has worn off every edge and in any spots where a holster stitch touched the frame.
I am disillusioned to claims of Cerakote being something more than paint. It is a paint. A very good one. But a polymer coating, none the less.




Now Plasti-Dip, that's more my style.

Need a lime green zombie gun to irritate and offend Fudds at the range?

But you're not really one of those prepper types that would ruin a fine firearm with "radiation burns" and fake blood splatter?

Dip it!

Just spray it on! Goes on like paint.(The worst smelling, acrid, bog-shmutz oder smelling paint ever...)

Spray your team colors for the match. Stomp your opponents to the earth and peel away your color buffs for the next week end's game.

Take that glorious glossy classic out for a hard, swamp-bottom hunt.
Of course sprayed in a concealing coat of camouflage! One that will protect that fine finish and give a rubberized high traction grip, too!

And when you've bagged your Swamp Donkey and are settled down with a single malt regaleing takes of the harvest, you can have the coat peeled right clean, with no defects to your pristine walnut. No scratches from the brush.
And a look of awe from your friends that you would take such a marvelous weapon out to the Brack and hunt it!

In all seriousness, I expected Cerakote to be tougher. But I only have the one pistol with it...

 

[BSA1]

The Lady has a Ruger SR22 that is factory Ceracoated. We both like it. I am mostly bummed out on all black guns anymore so I am looking at having other guns either factory Ceracoated (the Ruger Wrangler) or done by a gunsmith (I have a AR project waiting to be Ceracoated).

 

[BrocLuno]

I have an E model Savage 99 that was a ranch gun in western Sonoma County (cow country). It was pretty worn, bluing gone, etc. I broke it down and did the stock repairs myself. Sent the barreled action to Arizona Response Systems to get it cleaned up and Metacol Coated (Beretta's proprietary coating system). It came out beautifully and I would do it again in a heart beat if I wanted dissimilar metals coated to look the same. In the case of the 99e, it has a cast steel receiver and high nickle content barrel steel. You can't get them to blue the same ...

https://www.arizonaresponsesystems.com/ Highly recommended. Not fast on turn around, but excellent work