who here likes cerakoted firearms? I recently started doing some knives with this painted finish, and couldn't help but start in on my guns. good practice for the blades. just finished this VP9 last night. I wanted a dirty look, but everyone is doing a battle worn finish these days. so, I kept it in the same vein, but went for a smoky look. I call it Second Hand Smoke. it was a lot of fun.

dozer

I know the purists resist refinishing, but damn they do look good.

I think this is going to be like tattoos for me. I got one and now I have two half sleeves. and I am not done. I may be cerakoting everything over the summer. the mrs. wants her AR done in orange and blue battle worn. she got her master's from Auburn, so i think i can work something out. it will be wild, no doubt.

dozer

Don't care for them.

I prefer factory finishes on my guns but I really dig most coated guns like yours.

it does seem to be a love/hate kinda thing. I didn't care for them, initially, now I am really fond of all the possibilities.

dozer

I dislike it in general, mainly because most shops do a terrible job and its rough/textured which might work fine on a rifle but I like a slick finish on a handgun. I had a buddy do this for me on a LNIB FiveseveN IOM I picked up last year.

I have 2 guns with Cerekoted slides now. There is a guy in my small town 5 mins from me who does it. He told me it wouldn't wear any better than bluing, but he was under-selling. My P226 slide done in black looks great after 6 months (including carry), no wear. When it was blued it showed wear almost immediately.

I had him do my P225 slide in a matte stainless type look (it started as a Simunition trainer in the white), I carry it a lot more and it has some wear, but the wear looks good as the shiny underlying metal looks natural with the matte stainless slide color.

I think I'd search for something more durable for a gun I wanted to look pristine...but for a functional working gun, it is just fine.

Had a pistol ceracoated and hated the texture. Had it done on Moly resin and it was awesome. Would not do ceracote again.

I appreciate the creativity but I don't see myself ever wanting one for myself. I have a small handful of plain color factory Cerakoted guns and to be frank I haven't been all that impressed by the quality of the finishing work. I've seen some of the 'camo' work done on long guns that actually looks pretty nifty, but as with handguns I don't think that I'd be caught dead shooting one of those.

that is strange so many of you guys had complaints about the texture. if you look at the slide on my HK, it is as smooth as it ever was from the factory. I wonder if it is just a matter of how the paint was applied? I can give something texture or make it slick as glass just by using different techniques and paint mixtures. I have notices that polymer does end up with a more matte appearance, all things being equal. but it has been no trouble for me to make my work as smooth as any other finish. my pop actually thought I had just buffed the finish on my EDC Steyr. he couldn't tell it was paint until he gave it a thorough once over.

dozer

Good job, I've done a few. The texture of the finish has a lot to do with how much part B you add and your spray gun settings and the distance from the spraygun to the surface.

I think perhaps some are a little too aggressive with the texturizing of the metal .
Mine had an orange peel look prior to heating.
Out of the oven & it laid smooth .
I've yet to do a pistol.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: GrumpyBiker,

Not sure id ever do it to a gun i own, but it looks very nice on the VP9

Had a P6 slide Cerakoted, looks just like the factory finish on the frame.

I really like the look of some cerakoted pistols including the ones in this thread. When it comes to buying guns, I prefer other finishes since I had no idea about the durability of cerakote. For a standard blue/black finish, I don't mind some holster wear, but on a nice looking paint-on type finish, it would probably drive me nuts if it got scratched up. I don't really own any guns nowadays that I don't shoot fairly regularly.

I have a theory that is why the battle worn finished started getting popular. if they wear a bit over time, you will probably never know. slight thread drift- Grumpy, how do you like the Noreen lower you pictured? been thinking of using one for my next build. they look nice.

dozer

Had my last duty gun 229 cerakoted and I'm happy with the look ,as well as the durability.

The last two LR rifles I built were on SS Defiance actions so had to finish them with something. Had them both cerakoted and again...totally happy with the finish.

With the very close tolerances on the Defiance actions one must be careful to not coat the bolt too heavily as well as no finish on bolt raceways, etc. About the only caveat.

My only bitch would be trying to pick a damned color. Too many choices and tough to REALLY get an idea from the small sample plates.

I luckily have a good guy close by. Plus he is as anal as I am on detail/QC , also reasonably priced with quick turnaround.

NOT a fan of gaudy colors though or the "distressed" finishes.

Dozer, I sent you an e-mail.

quote:

Originally posted by 12131:
Don't care for them.

I second the motion when it comes to pretend dress up “battleworn” finishes.

For a used gun with corrosion issues, it can be worthwhile.