Was that the bake on or the room temp cure Cerakote?
The bake on is a PITA to do correctly: If you overbuild it it will have a surface of the kote that is not bonded to the metal and so is softer wearing. It has to be applied to bare metal, NIC prefers a 120 mesh finish for it. If it is applied to a polished surface it does not penetrate and bond like it should. If you run your gun too low a pressure it will not atomize at the tip correctly and lay on thick and this gives a weak finish. Guess how I found all this out :eek:
The non bake on is supposedly easier to apply, but it is considerably softer. NIC will tell you this, it is meant for high temp conditions such as cans or barrels on weapons that see a lot of sustained FA, scopes, and other things that do not like being baked at 200 degree F for two hours. I have never used the non-bake, but I have handled samples and was able to scratch to metal with a quarter.
I have attacked the bake on with a quarter after I saw the scrape off with nobake and left a silverish residue on the finish, which came off with some CLP and a patch.
I have scraped the baked finish off with a knife blade, I have also chipped it by throwing it on the gravel driveway several times.
I curretnly have an 870 I did in OD and an upper that I did in Coyote, but have not assembled, to abuse this summer to see what I can do to it.
Saw this older thread and it looks like it was created before CERAKOTE was available commercially. If you want to purchase Cerakote you have to call NIC and set up an account. I only received my CK a few of days before returning overseas. I only had a chance to coat the two sights in the picture.
Easy to apply. All the work is in the prep.
You have to sand off any protective coating. Clean the part to be coated like you would for applying regular paint. CLEAN IT GOOD. BAKE AND CLEAN AGAIN.
CK is not thick like paint. The surface needs to be sanded so the CK has something to grab onto.
You can handle the coated item in one hour. But it takes five days to completely set.
No baking is required. But it’s recommended. For both cleaning and after coating.
Not including baking and drying time. Took me about 1.5 hours to complete these two sights.
Cost, $110 per quart. They sell it in 4oz bottles but one quart will go a long way. It only has a 4 month shelf life.
The weapons in the picture just came off the Range. The AP has some dirt and oil on it.
Another finish that seems to work well is DuraHeat, a ceramic based coating, made by DuraCoat. I have tried DuraCoat but the finish wears too quickly on the pistol slide after numerous holster presentations. I have found that DuraCoat on a rifle or on the frame of your pistol is more than adequate, but DuraHeat for the slide is an excellent finish. I have one 1911 completely DuraHeated and one with DuraHeat slide and DuraCoat frame.
Contact Les Leturno at Custom Firearm Finishes if you want to learn more. He has painted several of my pistols with great results and comes with excellent recommendations. http://customfirearmfinishes.com/brochure/modules/home/
The KimPro finish IS Gun Kote. So is the Wilson finish, Springfield and a few others.
They all use Gun Kote. Kimber gets theirs from 10 ring, but it’s the same product as the KG finish.
The moly based finish holds up better than the PTFE based finish offered by GunKote, but the only finish that I have found that simply won’t wear off is hard chrome. Too bad it looks like crap. (my opinion)
I’d rather see a worn finish on a guys gun than one that looks like it never gets used.
Went to a gun show the other day and there was a guy who was rhino lining stocks and certain parts of guns. Have yal seen this. does it work. I’d only do it on a Rem 700 stock or something like it.