Guncoat - Good, bad or ugly?

Weapontech

Weapontech

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We're in this great debate at work as to whether Guncoat is a viable alternative finishing product when compared to traditional (i.e. hot/cold blueing, parkerizing, teflon, Powdercoat Oxide, etc) gun finishes. In some opinions, it's just a fancy version of Tremclad spray paint, others swear by it.

a. Is it durable, and what would it be compared to in terms of more traditional finishes?
b. Does it offer any corrosion resistance?

Any other info would be greatly appreciated.
 
I have no experience with parkerizing or teflon but it's light years ahead of cold and hot bluing as far as durability and corrosion resistance.
It's a baked on paint. Once baked on, salt water won't affect it, sweat, blood and your typical cleaners,etc won't either.
I finished parts of this old receiver with flat black gun coat and threw it in a bucket of salt water and left it there for 2 weeks. We even rubbed the finish with a car key (you can see the mark on the barrel portion) before we threw it in the water.

barrel016a.jpg


It is better then powder coat IMHO because it doesn't screw up any tolerances.

Here is a chart that shows how long it will last when subjected to different liquids..

http://www.kgcoatings.com/specs.html

I've been using it for over 2 years and am extremely happy with it.
ETA..even if you rub it enough to discolour it, as long as it's been applied correctly, you will still have corrosion protection.
Now if you rub it enough to remove metal, you won't. Same as scratching it enough to remove metal.
 
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Striker said:
ETA..even if you rub it enough to discolour it, as long as it's been applied correctly, you will still have corrosion protection.
Now if you rub it enough to remove metal, you won't. Same as scratching it enough to remove metal.
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Excellent info, thank you. Does it matter if it is applied over an older finish, or is it best applied over bare metal?
 
While I am sure it is a good coating, submerging it in salt water is not the same as a salt fog. What does it feel like? Hard, plastic, or rubber?
 
"...Guncoat..." Is another name for Duracoat. Duracoat is a a two part chemical coating. Tremclad isn't a firearms finish. Ok for steel patio furntiture, but not firearms.
Weapontech, you a CF weapons tech? Just curious.
 
sunray said:
"...Guncoat..." Is another name for Duracoat. Duracoat is a a two part chemical coating. Tremclad isn't a firearms finish. Ok for steel patio furntiture, but not firearms.
Weapontech, you a CF weapons tech? Just curious.
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Wrong, they are two separate products from different manufacturers.

KG Gunkote is a bake on finish whereas Lauer Duracoat is able to air cure, yet may be baked to speed up the process. Gunkote is the more durable of the two.
I believe that either of these are best applied over parkerizing for the ultimate finish. They may be applied to bare metal but the parts should be blasted with aluminum oxide first to roughen up the surface.

Striker what do you use to bake your parts, kitchen oven?
 
Funny - I used it to refinish the receiver of my Beretta A300 (aluminum) and after barely half a season, I have scratches around the loading port. I guess it's a different story for steel?

For the record, I followed the package instructions: blast with aluminum oxide and bake - I used my kitchen oven.
 
Plastic frame?
It is useful. Years ago I obtained a used M-16A1 upper, worn silvery. Blasted it, finished it with shake and bake. Has worn well, still looks good. Either a bake on or catalysed finish like Duracoat are about the only convenient ways of refinishing non-ferrous parts.
 
Weapontech said:
Excellent info, thank you. Does it matter if it is applied over an older finish, or is it best applied over bare metal?
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K&G recommends blasting the surface with 120 grit aluminum oxide..which is what I do.
Leg said:
Striker what do you use to bake your parts, kitchen oven?
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Yes. Here is the oven we modified to bake barrels in.

stove.jpg


We use a toaster oven for small parts.

Weapontech said:
All excellent info; So, are there any reasons why a person wouldn't use Guncoat?
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I can only think of one reason. The gun blue although producing a very nice finish doesn't give you the deep shine that hot blue does. Simply because you have to blast the metal before applying the paint.
As for rust and corrosion protection, durability you can't beat it.
However..if you want to do camo jobs on a rifle, stock,scope,etc then you should try armacoat, unless you don't really care about the colour matching completely.
 
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Leg said:
I believe that either of these are best applied over parkerizing for the ultimate finish. They may be applied to bare metal but the parts should be blasted with aluminum oxide first to roughen up the surface.
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Why would this be? As much as I love parkerizing, it is a relatively easy wear coating which crushes.

Applying Gunkote on top would make the Gunkote more susceptible to flaking?
 
Winz said:
Why would this be? As much as I love parkerizing, it is a relatively easy wear coating which crushes.

Applying Gunkote on top would make the Gunkote more susceptible to flaking?
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Actually, the parkerizing is a base (like paint primer) that the GunKote can adhere to better.

If anything it adds another layer of protection.

Parkerizing beats blueing, and applying GunKote over parkerizing is really covering your bases.

Unless you want to NP3 your gun, or Roguard it...you can't really do much better.
 
MapleSugar said:
Actually, the parkerizing is a base (like paint primer) that the GunKote can adhere to better.

If anything it adds another layer of protection.

Parkerizing beats blueing, and applying GunKote over parkerizing is really covering your bases.

Unless you want to NP3 your gun, or Roguard it...you can't really do much better.
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I do see what you mean. I simply figured that the general 'preferred' method by the manufacturer is to just sandblast it and that gunkote would be hard enough on its own.
 
Winz said:
I do see what you mean. I simply figured that the general 'preferred' method by the manufacturer is to just sandblast it and that gunkote would be hard enough on its own.
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We coated an old shotgun barrel then dropped it (on purpose ;) ) on my asphalt driveway. It marked the finish but didn't scratch or chip it off. You have to remove metal to take it off or rub it with something abrasive.
 
I recently had a Browning Citori done with CeraKote, which is a Ceramic finish, I had the wood and metal done, it did mess with tolerances a bit I would recomend not doing any precision fitting/moving parts with it.
The finsh turnd out great and rubbing it with a key, just leaves brass filings on the metal and can be wiped off. I really like it.
I am told Cerakote is used by the US Military.
http://www.nicindustries.com/firearm_gallery.php
 
Winz said:
I do see what you mean. I simply figured that the general 'preferred' method by the manufacturer is to just sandblast it and that gunkote would be hard enough on its own.
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IIRC, the manufacturers of GunKote highly recommend spraying their product over metal that is already parkerized and that has been thoroughly cleaned and degreased.

They like parkerizing especially for its added corrosion protection of the metal and because it is rough enough for the GunKote to adhere to easily.

Hope that helps.:)
 
knocked a barrel off a temporary resting place in the shop. It hit my OCC barstool that sits at the reloading bench in the shop. Saw a flash of silver on the matte finish and began to swear! looking closely, it was the finish from the stool on the gun koted rifle barrel. it came off, no damage to the barrel. It landed on a nice soft cardboard box. Not sure why if you would want to use another finish on a gun. I have sandblasted all guns, used the pre-treatment and never a spot of rust to a gunkoted part.:)
 
MapleSugar said:
IIRC, the manufacturers of GunKote highly recommend spraying their product over metal that is already parkerized and that has been thoroughly cleaned and degreased.

They like parkerizing especially for its added corrosion protection of the metal and because it is rough enough for the GunKote to adhere to easily.

Hope that helps.:)
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Thanks, that is good to know that one can simply degrease, spray and bake.
 
MapleSugar said:
IIRC, the manufacturers of GunKote highly recommend spraying their product over metal that is already parkerized and that has been thoroughly cleaned and degreased.

They like parkerizing especially for its added corrosion protection of the metal and because it is rough enough for the GunKote to adhere to easily.

Hope that helps.:)
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That is their preferred method, but Gun Kote can even go over stainless steel very well. Striker used a matte black Gun Kote on my stainless RRA NMA4 barrel and it is not coming off. I even tried scraping a key against a covered portion to test and it held.
I'm usually a Duracoat fan, but I have to say that Gun Kote is good stuff.
 
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