Curious why you sandblasted the parts.

I don't know much about Cerakote but thought it is applied over the base finish {anodizing or parkerizing}.

And, are you concerned about the loss of the anodizing as a hard/protective coating?

Curious, why would you want a blue rifle?

To create a surface that is slightly grainy to give the Cerakote something to adhere to, you have to blast it with fine, 120 grit sand media. As far as why blue, i wanted to do one in a dark Navy Blue beacause i have a few black rifles, I wanted Navy Blue because i retired from the Navy, and I wanted something a little different.

I got back into town end of last week and worked on this AR. Here is the upper and lower. I kind of changed up my original stencil idea and for the first time my wife and I custom cut some stencils. She bought me a Cricut machine for my birthday and I ordered a roll of Avery high temp stencil vinyl. We are still experimenting on cutting settings, so I went simple with the design.





The AR came out pretty awesome in my opinion since I built it a pistol, I'll post it up in the pistol section. I already have a buddy, who's late father retired from the Navy, that wants me to do up his AR similar.

I can't say I'm a fan of the United Nations Blue, but the finish looks great.

Very nice job!!

PS: is the internal part of the action coated also?

quote:

Originally posted by 3/4Flap:
I can't say I'm a fan of the United Nations Blue, but the finish looks great.

Very nice job!!

PS: is the internal part of the action coated also?

Thanks, yes I did coat the insides too, but not the BCG.

OK.

So assuming the anodizing provides protection against abrasion, how does Cerakote hold up? Meaning, if the anodizing is sandblasted off, don't you lose the protection offered by the anodizing?

quote:

Originally posted by 3/4Flap:
OK.

So assuming the anodizing provides protection against abrasion, how does Cerakote hold up? Meaning, if the anodizing is sandblasted off, don't you lose the protection offered by the anodizing?

I have read that Cerakoting provides a pretty good surface for moving parts. I have two other Cerakoted ARs, but I don't have more than a few hundred rounds through them. That being said, there is zero evidence of any wear. I wouldn't shoot them dry though.