questions about refinishing a shotgun duracoat

[AcceptableUserName]

i've never done this, but i'm kicking around the idea of converting an old blued Mossberg 500 receiver/short barrel combo into a total mall ninja gun. just for the heck of it.


i am wondering how durable is the duracoat camo paks? how does it work/apply? does anyone have any pics of of their KG coated or Duracoated shotguns? I'm planning on doing mine Urban Camo. It's by no means a practical or hd gun, just a fun little ninja item. i do want to have something that'll hold up though.

 

[THE DARK KNIGHT]

Well, for starters, I've learned a lot about spraying guns lately and am happy to share.

First, prep is everything! Sand the surface rough with something 100 grit or so, degrease with Brakleen brake cleaner, spray in 3-4 light, even coats, and give it plenty of cure time. A good hair-dryer is nice to have. Mask off the insides of the receiver etc very well with masking tape. Wear rubber gloves to keep your degreased surface free of oils.

Duracoat sprays from an airbrush, Wal Mart sells these kits, so do Home Depot and Dura-Coat sell them direct too.

 

[CCR]

The key to any good finish is in the prep work. You need to completely disassemble the gun and remove the old finish by media blasting it not with a piece of sand paper. Degrease each part and spray each part allow the Duracoat to cure before reassembly

Duracoat is OK but don't expect it to last forever it is not very abrasion resistant

 

[zhyla]

I've been looking into this as well. I've got a pistol that has a nickel finish which isn't holding up very well. I found some really detailed instructions somewhere but can't seem to locate them anymore. There was a table of what to do to prep various surfaces (blued, parkerized, plastic, etc). 100 grit is way too coarse (according to these instructions I can't find), I think they were talking about 600 grit or sand blast. I think parkerized didn't require any sanding.

For degreasing I've seen things like brake cleaner followed by MEK to remove the residue. The key is there must be no residue.

Here is a link to the actual instructions from Duracoat: http://www.garybarham.com/guns/duracoat/images/DuraCoatInstructions.pdf

Duracoat is OK but don't expect it to last forever it is not very abrasion resistant

This is one thing I haven't heard talked about much. Everyone is like "OMG check out my pink urban camo duracoat" but I haven't read anything about how well it holds up. I did see a guy who coated his pocket knife clip and showed the wear after a year (corners were rubbed off entirely). A pocket clip sees a lot more wear than most civilian guns ever will though.

 

[AndyJ]

Something like this?

I would recommend doing a few practice guns before you tackle a camo job. And as advised above, prep is critical and all important.

 

[AcceptableUserName]

that 870 is spiff. nice job