Anybody use any of the "gun paint" type finishes?

[Pistolero]

Thinking about finishing a rifle, not looking for some perfect miracle finish, just something to dress up
a bit and protect a beater. I see Brownell's Durakote, preheat to 100F, spray, let dry and then bake at
350F in oven. $32 a can sounds about right for this project, but I wonder if there are better things out
there, or cheaper that is just as good.

Any one's experience with this would be helpful. I have considered just getting some hardware store
"epoxy paint" and doing the same basic process with it for $5 or $7 or whatever. Wonder if the fancy
gun paints are really much of an improvement.

Bill

 

[Ian]

I've been super happy with Lauer Duracoat. Lauer offers it now in rattle cans that have a hardener cartridge inside for room temperature coat and cure. All I've used is the liquid stuff in bottles so I can mix, thin, add matting agent, etc. to taste and spray it myself with airbrush or Preval sprayers from the home stores. Ceracoat is also supposed to be good but I've been so pleased with the Duracoat that I never tried it. If you want anything other than the basic stuff Brownells sells, buy direct from Lauer; they kill you on freight cost but you can order exactly what you want, and it's fresh.

Forget about the Lauer high-heat stuff, it's garbage. I got some for my suppressors and cured them in the propane grill (convection oven wouldn't get over 500°F as required for cure), the stuff looks good and will take the heat for sure without losing color at all, but it comes off with acetone (Ed's Red), chlorinated brake cleaner, or mild handling (like being inside a Nylon rifle scabbard in the trunk), about like VHT engine paint.

 

[fiver]

ceracoat is pretty decent.
if you lay on a smooth coat and can hang the part to cook.

I understand it can be cured on wood at a lower temp for a longer time frame but haven't tried it nor talked to anyone that has.

I'm trying to figure out how to cure a barrel and action all together with the ceracoat stuff, I just don't have a big enough oven to do the job.

 

[Pistolero]

Ian,
Do you think that Duracoat is actually a lot more durable than an oven baked ordinary
epoxy paint would be? I have the idea that it is more durable, but need to hear from someone
who actually has used a gun-- does it scrape and scratch and wear off easily, or is it a lot
tougher than ordinary good grade of paints?

Bill

 

[Pistolero]

Fiver -
I wonder about the cost of Ceracote. Seems a lot higher than Duracote, and for this particular
situation, I am not goint to make a silk purse out of this particular sow's ear no matter what sort
of finish I put on it.

Bill

 

[Ian]

Bill, the Duracoat is a two-part urethane epoxy. Properly mixed, applied, and cured, it's hard as coffin nails yet not extremely brittle, and can take a considerable bit of heat (barrels and suppressors). It's difficult to quantify how tough it is, but it's tougher than any other coating I've ever tried except powder coating. I'd actually put it really close if not equal to thermo-set powder coat. It hasn't chipped off of the shell deflector on my .458 Socom upper with those big cases beating on it, if that's any indication.

 

[fiver]

that's why i bought the ceracoat.
a small can was more than I thought it should be but the gun looked a lot better than the rust and pits and patches of 80 year old war time blue it had before.

 

[Pistolero]

Fiver - I see oven cure and air-dry versions of cerakote. Which did you use?

Bill

 

[fiver]

oven cure I didn't know about the air dry version.
it's been a couple of years now, so they might not have had the air dry one then, or [shrug] I wasn't aware of it cause I didn't know till just now.

 

[Pistolero]

OK, thanks for the info, I'll think about this a while. Sounds like each can be pretty
durable, maybe Duracoat is a bit easier to apply, but not certain at this point.

Bill

 

[Rally Hess]

One of the trappers boards has a thread going about this topic also. One guy is getting stencils that will leave a “gator” pattern. I’m thinking a Stevens 325 in .30-30 I bought a couple days ago would look real neat in “snow gator” pattern. It’s on trapperman.com on the main board if anyone is interested. Sorry I don’t know how to post links from one site to another.

 

[fiver]

Rally:
you just have to open a new tab to the thread you want to link, then go to the top bar and highlight it.
hit copy it and paste it here.
it will automatically link to the thread or other website.

 

[Ian]

Some of the coating lines also sport a compatible sort of body filler, excellent for filling pits, scratches, and dings.

 

[Pistolero]

Ian, that may be useful for other projects, but this one is not something that is going to be
pretty, no matter what gets done to it. Functional, same color and I will be happy.
The more I think, I am leaning towards Duracoat for this one, may try Cerkote for a future
project where the extra cost might make some sense.

"Snow gator camo pattern"????? I used to live in Fla, saw a lot of gators, never in snow. Not sure what
that would even mean.

Bill

 

[fiver]

it's kind of a light green over a white back round.
it always looked more like a hexagon turtle pattern to me.

 

[Pistolero]

OK, got it, something like a gator hide......I was imagining little Lacoste alligator shapes
in different colors.....on white bkground, which made no sense, really.

Hmm. I'll pass on this one, just a beater that I want to look a bit better and not rust, cover
bare steel bbl and action with something to protect it. No kind of fancy, maybe on some
other rifle.

Bill

 

[Rally]

Fiver,
Do I start in this reply box? Like posting a picture?

Bill,
Image a cattail marsh (dead grass color), with gator scales in white. My understanding is you use a solid base color, then use the stencil to spray the scales. I understand they make lots of different stencils for different shapes and patterns. The AR package the guy has pictured is done with dead grass base and then a flat brown. I'd be afraid to set it down in a marsh!

 

[Pistolero]

yes, in this reply box, open another window with the pic of interest, right click on the
picture, you will get a box with choices, one of which will be "copy this image". Click on
that. Now the image is stored in your "paste buffer" - a place to temporarily store stuff.

Then come back to your reply box, like this one and right click here. One of the choices is
"Paste", select that. The image is moved from your paste buffer to this reply box.



It also asks if you want a thumbnail or full image.

I just grabbed this image on the web, and pasted it here as a demo.

Bill

 

[Rally Hess]

I’ll give it a try. My brother, who writes code for banks calls me a Luddite, but he
Fell overboard the last time I took him fishing. Lol
Can’t seem to get it with this iPad.i’ll try Tomorrow on my puter when I get home.

 

[Ian]

I've been called a Luddite quite a few times myself. I do resemble the accusation. Maybe it has something to do with having read thousands of books by kerosene lamp, and not having electricity or hot running water until moving into a college dormitory.