How well does it hold up. Is it pretty much a permanent finish that stays put and holds up well or more of a delicate finish that will scratch easy and wear off some. Thanks

Hello,

It really depends on how hard you use the gun. The finish will wear on the edges pretty fast. I have a cerakoted pistol and you can see wear pretty fast from use in a kydex holster. I also have a cerokoted AR10 that is showing zero wear since it only gets used at the range. If I take that same gun to the field, it would get get scratched pretty easily. An anodized gun will hold up much better and show less wear.

It's a great finish.
Very flexible as well.
Of course as always the prep makes it happen.

My experience has been less than stellar. ON AR's if that matters. Certainly a big step below anodizing.

quote:

Originally posted by hrcjon:
My experience has been less than stellar. ON AR's if that matters. Certainly a big step below anodizing.

Thanks, kind of why I am asking.

quote:

Originally posted by old rugged cross:

quote:

Originally posted by hrcjon:
My experience has been less than stellar. ON AR's if that matters. Certainly a big step below anodizing.

Thanks, kind of why I am asking.

Of course anodizing is a more refined finish but it can not accomplish the plethora of options as to color and design.
Nevertheless it is a very solid firearm finish and to call it "less than stellar" is disingenuous.

I'm fine with CeraKote; good with anodizing, too.

Here's my oldest AR15. Wilson Combat's dark green Armor-Tuf coating on the receivers, which I believe is their version of CeraKote. The finish looks good after years of range time, training courses, and competitions. The primary original parts are receivers and trigger.
- 2nd barrel, shot out #1
- 3rd buttstock, finally have one I like
- 2nd or 3rd scope, after upgrades
- 2nd handguard, dumped the quad rail when barrel #1 went tits up
- 2nd grip
- sports a JP Silent Spring now
- original bolt carrier, but 2nd bolt

Do some digging on any finish you may choose. Find one that isn't over top of anodize, then look closely.

Whatever the finish, the issue with AL is surface hardness. After that, the durability of a finish applied over it, has more to do with surface prep and the quality of the product itself.

^^^^ You can absolutely Cerakote over anodizing.
You still must rough it up with blasting but you do not have to remove it.
However, any other finish and that includes already cured Cerakote must be completely removed.
Additionally, layered or camo'd finish is partially cured or flashed then stencils applied along with additional Cerakote then fully curing at the full temp/time.
It does seem pointless if you like the original anodizing as it is already a good finish quality but you have to be satisfied with the color/design.

If proper prep and application are done, it can stand up really well. The guy that does mine puts several layers of matte clear over the color and it helps prevent wear. Plus it allows for more patterns that are hard to do with ano.

This is my recently completed 8.6BLK.

You can always send it to Brad at CCR. He did a stainless M14 barrel for me and it looked like it was parkerized (which was what I wanted).

Tony.