Best gun finish

"Ceracoat, Duracoat, sports coat, winter coat, etc."

For some reason that made me bust out laughing. Thanks.
 
Any finish regardless of plating or coating will wear and deteriorate.

Its all in maintenance and how you take care of your firearm or item you are coating or plating.

I do both, plating and Cerakote. After testing several coatings on the market and having other vendors "proprietary" coatings ,that turned out to be just renamed regular coatings available, found Cerakote to hold up the best.

You can check out my website for videos were we acid test, torch test, machine test etc Cerakote.

The pro's and cons of coatings and plating in a quick look.

Coatings

Pros Different colors, lubricating properties, rust properties. Easily repairable if damaged.

Cons Can be scratched , worn and chipped if not properly taken care of.

Plating

Pros Strong hard finish. Some with lubricating properties and rust properties.

Cons Can be scratched , worn and chipped if not properly taken care of, repairing requires stripping entire plated area, fixing and replating, costly, Only available in one or two colors.

I do both and make sure customers know the advantages and disadvantages of each.

Brushed and polished stainless is one of my favorites since you can easily fix it and its durable.

But NOTHING is wear resistant, NOTHING.
 
Nickel is not as hard as chrome, and it is a different color. Chrome plating should be done in three stages. Copper, then nickel, then chrome.
Chrome over copper alone will not last. For example (for all of you old enough)
the 1942 Chevrolet grill was chromed without nickel because of the need for nickel in the war. After a year or two they turned black.
Just the ramblings of an old plater...:D
 
I've got a Smith & Wesson Model 66 made back in '72. It's one of the original all stainless guns (even the sights on this gun are in stainless steel) and it doesn't look a day older than the day it left the factory. No rust, no pitting, no mars on its surface. I can't imagine an applied finish that will serve better than that.
 
Guns are not car bumpers. Decorative chroming on bumpers is done with copper/nickel/chrome.
Firearms plating is different. When nickel plating, no copper underplate is used. When applying hard chrome, no underplate is used. Decorative chrome on guns may or may not use an underplate.
 
I prefer stainless steel because of the resistance to rusy. My Rossi 462 is not only my daily carry weapon but my camping and fishing companion, and has seen its share of water, dew and persperation. Just to clear the air, remember stainless steel is not a "finish", it is the metal alloy that the weapon is made out of. The way the stainless steel is "finished (polished or brushed) determines whether the gun has a bright or dull appearance, but it will be stainless steel through and through, not just on the surface.
 
The original S&W stainless was very close to marine grade, a magnet would not stick to it and it did not rust.....but was too hard on tooling in the manufacturing process. Today's S&W will rust.

ALL of today's stainless firearms WILL rust ! Doesn't matter who makes them.

In finishes: the ceramics are made for BBQ grills and engine headers. They are pretty tough...but when they flake off they will cut into the base metal changing the fit of gun parts....BAD ! They offer NO lubricity !

Hard Chrome is very durable IF done correctly and BAKED per mil spec to eliminate hydrogen embrittlement (cracked slides/frames)

KG Gun coat is very durable for the do it at home and follow the directions.
It is used by many professional gunsmiths.

Duracoat isn't anything but paint (really a Sherwin-Williams product). It is Not protective of the metal from rust or corrosion and offers No lubricating factors. Any solvent melts it away and makes a mess like bad make-up. Gun cleaning solvents soften it REAL fast ! But it looks pretty !

TEFLON: In the testing of all finishes available for the FBI sniper rifles finish, only one finish made the cut...ALL the others failed ! The winner was DuPont Industrial Grade Teflon-S. That is what HS Precision applies to their fine rifles. Rocky Mountain Arms is the other applicator. Marketed as bearcoat, they finish firearms direct to the public as well as Les Baer and Weatherby.
The material is NOT available direct for do it your self finishing.

PVD finishes such as IonBond and Black Diamond as well as others are very durable and very hard. Application temperatures are a little high for gunparts and many small parts can't be done as they will deform in the process. It only comes in black. Is applied in a million $$$ machine. All fitting of parts must be done prior to finishing. Can be Gold as in movie "Face Off"

NP3 is good IF you can live with the silvery color of electroless nickle with a PTFE clearcoat.

Blueing: it is controlled rust ....the old Colt royal blue was beautiful .
Done correctly, it is an art..numbers are not smeared, key is polishing !

Black oxide: That's the black on Glock slides over the Tenifer ...will show holster wear. It's like blueing without the polishing process. Blast N Dip !

Parkerizing: best used as a surface prep..NOT a finish. WW1 & WW2 Military arms were oil dipped and baked for durability. Will rust if not oiled.

Nickle: Must be applied over copper plating and still flakes off.

KRYLON FUSION: Is use throughout IRAQ and Afghanistan on M-16's and M-4's as the Pentagon is too cheap to buy tan rifles ! (NOT Recommended)

YMMV...basically you get what you pay for ! :D
 
Let me say this for the third time:
NICKEL DOES NOT REQUIRE A COPPER UNDERCOAT!
No major firearms manufacturer uses a copper undercoat on nickel finishes.
The zinc guns like High Points must be copper undercoated, but steel and aluminum are not undercoated.
Properly applied nickel plating does not flake if cared for.
NP3 is electroless nickel with Teflon added.
 
I had a P7 Robar NP3 finish....I loved it and stupidly sold it....

I have this one and love it.....

Robar.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top