Okay, other then being a fine reason why people need to think before whipping out the old dremel tool I am looking for some advice here, but we’ll get to that here in a minute.
Also, what sits below may not be for the faint of heart as even while this lower was a DPMS I do not feel it deserved this treatment.
First the story behind how I ended up with this bastard, what you see below is a DPMS lower that I recently acquired. Now, first off I wouldn’t have even looked at this thing, except that a member of my mom’s church recently lost his job and has a new born and needed the money. While I didn’t think that the lower was going to be in the condition you see here (It was painted black and came completed), it did come with several brand new D&H mags and a good bit of ammo. I tore the lower down once I got it home with intentions of stripping the rattle can job off it since it was put on so heavily that it probably added an extra half a pound to the weight of the lower, and then trying to figure out what the hell to do with it from there. If I had known what sat beneath it I would have taken pictures before I started but alas I did not know the horrors that awaited my eyes. At first as the black paint came off I thought that perhaps someone had gotten the bright idea to prime the sucker with white paint. But paint stripper didn’t even phase it and soon I was looking at a nice shiny finish in other areas and momentarily made me fear I had stripped all the way down to the bare metal.
So I washed it off and cleaned up the lower and started looking hard at the abomination in my hands and From what I can gather here the lower was originally white to start with. I am guessing one of DPMS’s Arctic models or whatever for mall ninjas in Alaska. The fact that all the engraving is filed with the white finish would appear to support this idea. Someone later down the road decided that white must have clashed with their underwear and took a dremel tool to the finish and from the looks of everything they did it while the rifle was complete :blink::nono:
Anyway, there are some remnants of the original anodizing still on the lower and I am in a bit of a dilemma as to what the hell to do with it. I don’t have a whole hell of a lot invested in the lower, actually with the sale of the parts and RE that I pulled off the lower, and the value of the mags and ammo included in the deal I have less than a nice dinner out into it, but as you can see from the pictures the finish is, to put things kindly, ****ed.
My question comes down to this as I have not been able to find it in my searching over the past week, since not only the secondary finish(the white coating) but much of the original anodizing has been removed should I look into getting the sucker reanodized or would just having the sucker cerakoted suffice? Is there another decent finish that I should consider?
At any rate, like the poor abandoned puppy at the local pound with one leg and a mangled ear the poor lower has grown on me in that it does have a certain charm in just how badly it has been mistreated. It all does function by the way so if nothing else I think it would make a fine beater or .22lr trainer once fixed.
Well, while cerakoting is what is on the list, I am just wanting to make sure that with some of the metal bare that it will hold up and not leave the metal soft or exposed or something. Or perhaps I am over thinking everything and should get have it coated and call it done.
Will not lie, that has crossed my mind. My only concern is that with as much bare metal as it has, I think having a decent base coat of something that isn’t going to wash off under cleaning solvents would be nice.
Lol. Well I could get it cerakoted something like FDE and charge $500 for it stripped since FDE seems to run an super premium for some reason. lol. But the grill paint is an idea that I will look into. Of course, I could go get myself a dremel tool and take off the rest of the original finish and polish it and sell it as a polished lower, considering I used to see polished Glocks and other polished “custom” guns going for $200 more than retail it might be a momentary gain. But, nevertheless, the grill paint is something I will look into.
Lol. Well, at least as a paperweight it could still be functional. Lol.
As far as why. It is a project that allows me, how shall I say, no fear in regards to screwing it up. As badly as it currently sits it is a great item for me to better learn to use and build the AR and considering I have honestly the cost of 3 PMAGS in it. I guess I am trying to use it to learn from the mistakes of others. And Wellll… I have run the numbers to refinish it local and build it. Well cheaping out and geting with second rate parts, albeit decent ones, I would have about $150 in it complete and possibly less if I recycled so old parts and stuff laying around after having it refinished. Going my current route I would end up with about $190 in it because I would likely go with an ALG trigger and a couple other parts.
Again, and not trying to be a dick so forgive me and the beers I have drank if it comes across as this. I am wanting to know, more than anything, if a cerakote or similar finish would suffice to make it more serviceable than it is. After that I am just trying to make a fair warning to others because I did not know what I was buying, but then again all things considered I am out basically nothing and am having a merry time with it so the entertainment value and learning experience is lovely as far as I am concerned. Though I will admit I am a little disappointed since I thought about putting it up for my nephew as building him a nice AR for his high school graduation. Though it works out for him since know I am just saying to hell with it and planning on buying him a BCM lower and building him a nice BCM.
Cost to prep and reanodize the lower would be about $150 +shipping. Not worth the expense for a DPMS lower, as quality lowers can be had for the same price or less. Best bet is a good hand sanding to remove remaining coating and smooth the surface imperfections, clean/degrease, then rattle can prime and paint.
ETA: Could also AlumaBlack it before the rattle can, the oxidized surface would be a little tougher than the white aluminum and would provide a better surface for the primer to adhere to.
At the price API Stripped lowers are running, I wouldn’t invest more than the cost of a rattle can making this pretty. Good base for a truck gun, especially with some of the odd PSA el-cheapo upper deals to build a true beater gun off of.
$150 for complete lower, can’t recall if that was including a BCM m4 stock on not. Not $150 for just the lower, I’d say **** it an order a Noveske stripped lower before that. I am crazy, not stupid.
For a local Cerakote job, just be spending 20 minutes looking around would run be + or - about $50 buck. So all said and done I would end up with about maybe $80-85 in the lower going that route. Rattle can and others would obviously be cheaper. I am just wanting something durable for use since an old Bushy of mine which has seen far from hard use has bits of anodizing missing. Then again, it is a low quality AR so maybe that should be a clue… I may just hit it will oven cured grill paint and slap an upper on it, and while I have considered doing a cheapo AR with a PSA upper on this thing, I don’t think i could bring myself to trust my ass to one. Though the idea of being about to have sub $600 into a complete AR is appealing, I would rather not as I am afraid I could not put it and my BCM in the safe together.
As far as the API lowers, while I have seriously considering picking a handful of them up, the more I think about it, with other lowers I have in inventory, this abomination of a lower is not the only one awaiting a build, I truthfully feel I would be more satisfied with a couple BCM or Noveske lowers opposed to a half a dozen API lowers. So who the hell knows, may I will give PSA a second chance and order one of their cheapo uppers for a range rifle and then build the ones I really want with BCM, Noveske, and alike parts for my personal use and enjoyment. Really too early to call, I just finished a build recently and am feeling a void as I don’t have a high priority build to worry about.
Go to your local airport with a six pack of something good to drink and talk one of the local aircraft mechanics or a painter to treat the lower with Alodine. Not quite as good as anodizing but it’s the next best thing. You could also bribe them to paint it with black or gray propeller epoxy. Propeller epoxy is tougher than regular spray paint and is a satin finish
Like any good auto body shop, a professional shop that would be able to refinish this lower may let a turd come into their shop but they aren’t going to let a turd leave. That surface would need some serious re-adjustment if the cuts into the metal are as bad as the pictures make it look, and whatever time/cost it would take to prep before painting would be mandatory for the painter. Looking at a higher cost than standard refinishing and I could see some shops not even wanting to deal with it.
If you want this thing salvaged at a manageable cost I say you strip the rest of the remaining finish off and go through a stepped up progression of sanding. Lower grit to higher grit and finish off with a very fine 1000-2000 or higher. Buy yourself some Rustoleum or Aervoe in the color of your choice and go with several light coats with adequate dry times in between. Spend about 20-40 bucks on material and a few weekend days of your time and it could look like new.
:blink::nono:
