Cerakote, Duracoat, Kimpro, it's all junk ....

[FredAlert]

Over the years I've had alot of these finished guns that look so sexy and that I so desperately wanted to love. It started with the Kimbers with the "KimPro" finishes a Warrior and an Ultra Carry II and I began to notice how fickle the finishes were. It seemed like anything that touched it would scratch or chip the finish under regular use. Then it moved on to Duracoat which everyone raved about and it was really just more of the same. It was more durable than the KimPro stuff but it still chipped or scrapped off if anything accidentally dragged across it. What's a boy to do when his pretty new gun has a big gouge out of the finish right? ... So then we had Cerakote, a new revolution, much better than duracoat right? Not so much. I got a couple of sig scorpions (P229 and 2 of the 1911's) and it took only few days to realize that they weren't kydex safe because the finish around the trigger guard already showed wear and that if you bumped it even a little on something else metal it scratched the finish off .... I'll give you that I don't baby my guns every day used guns like some of you do but these finishes are extremely expensive and claim to be "combat ready" and "tough" but they scrape off almost as easily as krylon (assuming the krylon was applied by someone who knows how to paint) so at this point I'm ready to call all of these gun finishes just plain garbage and not worth the $$ that they cost to apply.

The only finish that is similar to any of these that seems to wear ok that I've run into are the ionbond finishes and whatever kimber calls "matte black" on their TLE line of 1911s ... these both seem to wear very, very well over the short time (2-3 months) that I have had them but we'll see.

For now I think I'm going to have to stick to mostly coated stainless slides, ALA HK and sig or just plain stainless guns because I have no faith in most of these finishes whatsoever.

What really bothers me is this video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ksj-XJzVQik

It's a stupid rigged test that shows nothing. It ROLLS an abrasive wheel across the finish which shows absolutely nothing. If they stopped the wheel from rolling and dragged it even for a fraction of a second the finish would be stripped off very quickly.

So what I wonder is ..... if you were to sandblast the gun and make it rough and then cerakote it would it be better ....

 

[Kyzrsoze]

I'll add that my experience with two different Nickel Boron coated guns was no better.

 

[FredAlert]

Makes me glad I never put the extra $100 into one of those failzero/nibx glocks

I'll add that my experience with two different Nickel Boron coated guns was no better.

 

[jclem02]

So what I wonder is ..... if you were to sandblast the gun and make it rough and then cerakote it would it be better ....[/QUOTE]

If the coating was applied properly, the gun was blasted to begin with. As a matter of fact, I'm betting most of your issues with the aftermarket coatings are due to applicator error. It is a process putting any of that stuff on, and the biggest part of it is metal preparation. Everything should be degreased and blasted, and at least with cerakote should be heated and allowed to cool PRIOR to the application of cerakote. As far as blasting goes, you don't want to do it enough to create pitting the coating has to fill as it is not designed for that. If the process is done properly, cerakote should be standing up to a lot of wear. The only other things I could think of with that is if the applicator is not using enough hardening substance in the mix, or if they are using the wrong grade of cerakote for their firearms refinishing, or if they are not curing at the right temps for the right amount of time...or some combination of all that! Hope this helps!

 

[AR556]

I've never had any issues with Cerakote.

 

[timbgtm]

I have seen new sig scorpions scratched with very general holster wear.Their claim on the finish is BS.If the factory can't get it right that's pathetic.

 

[BlackRifler42]

I carry a G19 that's cerakoted and no scratches or wear of any kind.

 

[jpm2953]

I have one of my 10/22's coating in that dupont Paradigm stuff....not sure if its in the same league as cerekote or duracoat but it seems to be very very durable and stand up to anything i have thrown at it

 

[howwie]

I'm 50/50. I did a ria a while back, looked great held up fine but I never used it with a fobus. Got a Taurus 1911 in 9mm, duracoated it the same way...but I used the fobus. Trigger guard looks terrible. Other than that it's great, it's a Taurus after all. Range toys dot have to look good, the gun is a blast to shoot.

 

[FredAlert]

While I understand what you are saying my experience is with every gun that I've ever had with these coatings on three renditions of sig scorpions, two LWRC rifles and several kimbers. If what you're saying is true every gun maker on earth that is using these coatings are applying them wrong.

I had a brown factory cerekoted LWRC ar15 and the area where the dust cover flips open and makes contact on the lower receiver scratched off after maybe 5-10 uses of the gun.

I still maintain that these coatings aren't worth their weight or cost.

So what I wonder is ..... if you were to sandblast the gun and make it rough and then cerakote it would it be better ....

If the coating was applied properly, the gun was blasted to begin with. As a matter of fact, I'm betting most of your issues with the aftermarket coatings are due to applicator error. It is a process putting any of that stuff on, and the biggest part of it is metal preparation. Everything should be degreased and blasted, and at least with cerakote should be heated and allowed to cool PRIOR to the application of cerakote. As far as blasting goes, you don't want to do it enough to create pitting the coating has to fill as it is not designed for that. If the process is done properly, cerakote should be standing up to a lot of wear. The only other things I could think of with that is if the applicator is not using enough hardening substance in the mix, or if they are using the wrong grade of cerakote for their firearms refinishing, or if they are not curing at the right temps for the right amount of time...or some combination of all that! Hope this helps![/QUOTE]