Spray on, bake on gun finish

[Wolfer]

Anyone here have any experience with the spray on, bake on finish. I'm thinking about giving one a try. Not sure which one. I don't have an airbrush so would like something in an aerosol can.

Brownells has different ones but according to them they're all the best things since ready rolled cigarettes.

[Der Gebirgsjager]

I've used them extensively. I had the most experience with the baking lacquer, but have also used the others. A couple of tips--you'll get a better job with an air brush using the baking lacquer than just using a spray can. I've got 3 of them, one expensive one I bought from Brownells', one cheapie from Harbor Freight made in China, and the other is somewhere in between. I'd urge you to consider the investment. If you do use a spray can (any of their finishes) order some of the replacement nozzles. Always shake the can very well before using. Read the directions carefully about when you can recoat. Keep the can 10-12 inches away from the work, and keep the spray moving to avoid runs. Actually, the same is true for using the air brush. Your wife may not like it if you use her range or toaster oven for curing the paint. I've also used AlumaHyde II, which air dries and doesn't require baking. Once it cures it's pretty tough. I did a Star Mod. B with it last year because it gets outside in our damp Oregon weather and kept trying to rust. I guess I should explain that when I bought the pistol several years earlier it was rusted and I cleaned it up, but sometimes firearms that have been rusted have a propensity to resume the process. So I decided that although it went against my personal taste and principles I'd resort to paint to seal the surface from the moisture. It isn't too bad..anyway, no more rust, and I have a couple of nice blued specimens to look at also.
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[huntrick64]

I have used gun-kote a few times with excellent results each time. Use an air-brush and use the k-phos coating after the metal is white. I used a blast cabinet with a fine zinc-oxide abrasive to remove the old bluing and etch the surface to hold the new coating. Once you use it, you will find many uses for it, both the air brush and the coating. The Harbor Freight air brush is a workable solution and very affordable. These coatings are pretty durable. I have a shotgun that I did in flat black about 5-6 years ago. I have put over 3,000 rounds through it and it still looks great. It also has spent a lot of that time in the field so it has not been babied.

[huntrick64]

Correction I think) to my above post. I actually think I used aluminum-oxide instead of zinc-oxide in the bead blaster.

[Victor N TN]

A friend of mine has done a lot of it on his own guns and 1 for me. I know he has used the stuff from Brownell's. I'm not sure what he is using these days. But it's tough as nails. I'll probably never have another gun blued. Unless it's a show piece. My brother in law did a shotgun several years ago. I know it's been in the field a lot. It still looks just like it did right after he did it.

Good luck.

[noisewaterphd]

In the past I have used both Cerakote, and Duracoat. They both worked out quite well.

Here is the thing, to me a traditional blued finish is beautiful when new, and even better as it wears in. Holster wear, etc., do not bother me on a blued gun, I like it.

I do not like the bake on finishes as they wear. Just doesn't look as natural or pretty. Looks like ****. Granted, they are pretty tough finishes, but they do wear.

So, I started having these folks do my guns with their "black ice" finish: http://blackicecoatings.com/Black%20Ice-coating.html. It's a teflon coating, but an extremely durable teflon coating. The stuff just doesn't wear.

[waksupi]

I did one with Duracoat. Sand blasted the metal, cleaned it with lacquer thinner, air brushed, then baked. After very little time, it shos wear spots, some down to bare metal. I suspect most others will be the same. We used to get guns Seracoated, by a company at Columbia Falls, Mt., but I don't recall the name of the place. Ran out of the guys home workshop. It seemed to wear quite well, from what we saw of rifles that were used in Alaska and Africa.

[swmass]

I did my AR with brownells alluma-hyde 2. Didn't do any metal, just the furniture but if my memory serves me right all I did was wash it down with dish soap, sprayed the parts with brake cleaner, hung em up and gave em a light coat or two making sure not to lay it on too thick. It came out great. Shot it with/showed it to many of my buddies and no one ever noticed I had done it myself, they all thought it came that way. Its wearing a coat of black krylon nowa days since it was too "tacticool" for my taste but the stuff itself worked fine. I've heard of people baking it on but I never did. I may have heated it up with a hair dryer before spraying it but its been a while... It comes in a ton of colors and its pretty cheap besides the haz mat shipping :roll:. I'll probably be spraying my wasr with it once it gets a little more beat up. I sprayed it in my garage when it was about 40 out and the nozzle didnt clog up on me.

[Lloyd Smale]

duracoat never impressed me. I did a couple guns and it never held up well. I had a rifle camo dipped last year and he offered a clear duracoat overspray as an option. I had it done and just range work had a lot of wear on the finish. Later last year I had another gun dipped and used 4 coats of DuPont matte clear wheel paint over the dip and its held up much better. If you want a matte black id try some matte black wheel paint and clear over it. Id bet it would hold up at least as well as duracoat. Just did a little savage 22 bolt gun. The dipper I used moved and it didn't want to fool with shipping so I bought a 20 dollar wrap kit off of ebay. Put it on and again sprayed matte clear wheel paint over the whole thing. Looks real good. time will tell how it holds up.

Ill tell you another duracoat failure I had. It was a Mossberg atr 06 I bought. My buddy duracoated it a desert camo. I cleaned it good with break cleaner and he took a scotch pad to it and then a degreaser again afterward. turned out nice. Gave the gun to my buddys daughter who hunted with it one season and stuck it in the safe. She took it out that spring and it had rust bleeding out all over. I don't know what caused it. my guess is a bad batch of steal that had impurity's in it. It took a lot of work to sand it all off. We had it dipped afterward and cleared it with wheel paint and its been two years now without rust so it almost looks to me like that duracote reacted with something in the steel or with the bluing Mossberg used. I'm no metal expert so will probably never know.

[berksglh]

I have used Brownells Teflon /Moly oven cure matt black in a rattle can for a few jobs. Keep it 10" away like stated, keep moving and don't coat thick. If you dont like the look before curing lightly buff with fine scotchbrite to remove blemishes. Recoating after that can help or hurt. Air brush would be better, but the rattle cans do ok.

I did my 1911 with it and sprayed the rails to be able to custom fit and eliminate the slop with the teflon molly coat being somewhat slippery.

Its my fun to shoot beater gun, so looks wasn't a major priority.158646

[Blackwater]

I and some friends got into Gun Coat for a while, and it's a very good finish IF you apply it right. The key is preparing the metal so it'll stick well, and baking at just the right temps. I'd get your stuff together just as you're going to use it, and try a smaller something first to get a good feel for whether your oven goes to the right temps or not (many don't) and don't believe the thermostat's printed temps, ever! Use a real thermometer. And yes, it really does matter.

[brassrat]

I redid a gun that came out, poorly, yrs. ago. I used a new Brownells spray can. This time, I read and followed instructions. I only hand sanded the old coat and disassembled, without going to the metal, for the most part. I made a cardboard spray booth in my (rental) kitchen and used the gas oven, with ventilation. It wasn't too bad and the coating came out much better, not counting the coverage, which came out much better too. Don't do in kitchen lol but have a way to hang parts properly ready to go.

[actionpistol327]

I used cerakote on a revolver and a 1911 happy with the finish. Follow directions I used harbor freight low volume sprayer and sand blasted for prep

[yovinny]

Whatever you do, do NOT plan on baking one in the kitchen oven....Even if you dont have women folks around.
I've done a few in an old oven in the shop, when I can keep the over head doors open. But even at that, I can seem to smell that stuff for months.

[Wolfer]

Hmmmm, this is something I hadn't considered. The kitchen oven is the only one I have. May have to rethink this!

[Petrol & Powder]

I used the Brownells Gun-Kote (yes it is spelled with a "K") on the grip frame of a Ruger MKII. It turned out very well. I used a cheap toaster oven from a Dollar Store or equivalent and I can recommend that you do NOT use your kitchen oven !

Like most finishing projects, preparation is key. I used a soft wire brush followed by a polishing wheel. The spray-on, bake-on finishes can hide a little more than traditional bluing and it is even somewhat beneficial to avoid getting the surface ultra polished. After achieving the desired amount of polishing, degrease the item thoroughly and dry it. I used a propane torch to evaporate the acetone I used to degrease the steel but I didn't get the parts hot. The torch was used very sparingly to get the items just slightly warmer than room temp before the coating was applied. It is critical that you work out how you intend to suspend / support the parts in the oven before you spray on the finish!!

Gun-Kote is pretty tough stuff and although it is not the equal of some of the high end finishes, it is a very good solution for the low budget do-it-yourself kind of operation.

BTW I've also used Gun-Kote to color house keys for quick identification.

[Jim Flinchbaugh]

I did one with Duracoat. Sand blasted the metal, cleaned it with lacquer thinner, air brushed, then baked. After very little time, it shos wear spots, some down to bare metal. I suspect most others will be the same. We used to get guns Seracoated, by a company at Columbia Falls, Mt., but I don't recall the name of the place. Ran out of the guys home workshop. It seemed to wear quite well, from what we saw of rifles that were used in Alaska and Africa.

Jeff @ Falcon Coat I bet, HE did my 223 and it is tough as nails.
I got a kit of Duracoat on the desk to try here pretty quick (non aerosol)

[noisewaterphd]

Duracoat is very sensitive to prep work and bake temp in my experience.

If you do a good prep job, and bake it carefully, it is about the same "toughness" as Cerakote. Maybe a little less.

Certainly not terrible. But, I wouldn't use any of them.