Coating tips? From those that know.

[Cerberus]

I am planning to start coating my rifle sometime this summer, and have a few questions about the best way to go about this. I plan on using either Duracoat or Cerakote. I want this thing to look professionally done when I'm finished. Do I completely disassemble the rifle to paint all the parts individually or should I just coat the rifle in groups?

[Col_Crocs]

If going for more than a rattle can job, it would be best to completely disassemble your weapon. Degreasing would be more thorough and all parts evenly coated. I have no experience with Cerakote but I looked it up and they require bead-blasting of parts which I'm personally not so keen on, especially on anodized parts. I dont know if it holds up just as well if you dont.
You might want to consider NOrrell's moly-resin as well. I know some folks here have successfully applied it directly on parked and anodized parts.

[BUCKrub91]

If your doing a pattern its probably best to leave the rifle assembled.. or else the pattern wont match up when you put it back together

[Cerberus]

Thanks for the replies. Maybe I'll just go the duracoat route, as it seems easiest with what I've got. I plan on only coating it solid FDE. And camo I add will be rattle canned.

[danish]

If you don't plan on doing all the steps like abrasive blasting don't even bother. You said you wanted it to look professional so do all the steps a professional would do. Steer clear of Duracoat and go with Cerakote. Cerakote may be a little more intensive in prep work and baking but you will have a much better product that will last longer. As for bead blasting anodized aluminum, your more so just hitting and roughing the surface and not removing anodizing. Practice a bit prior on something you have laying around and go from there.

[556noob]

If you are after the best finish, prep is essential. In order to prep thoroughly, it would be best to disassemble the rifle.

[hikeeba]

If you're just doing one solid color, you shouldn't have a problem getting good results with Duracoat, or Cerakote, or whatever coat/kote, as long as you adequately prep your parts and take your time with with the coating process. I've used Duracoat for two complete rifles and one complete lower. For the rifles, all of the parts were prepped and coated individually. For the the lower I did, I just removed the receiver extension, taped up all holes and openings, gave it a basic surface prep, and coated it.

I don't know what your expectations are for 'professional looking,' but I'm happy with the Duracoat results. The last rifle project found me not as excited to do the prep, equipment setup, and cleanup, but the end result was worth the hassle, I suppose. The next time around I may push the 'easy' button and go the rattle can route.

[odiesplace]

For duracot clean parts are a must, Make sure to have a filter in-line that traps any moisture from your air source. I find an air brush works the best for me. I prep parts with scotch brite pads, starting with red and moving to white on steel parts.On alum parts I very lightly scuff the finish with the white pads.
I find that warming the parts before spraying is a good idea if your work area is under 70 degrees.
I was told you can cure the paint by baking @ 350 for an hour and a half. I found this to produce a slightly glossy finish on the flat black and to totally change the color of some of the lighter paints.
We have gone to baking at 150 for 15mins to set paint and then air cure for about 2 weeks.
We have been doing duracoat for about 3 months now and these are just some of the things we have learned.
Hope this helps a little
Odie

[dustburn]

I have only done a KG Gun Kote project, but I would say you should absolutely disassemble and blast your items. Also, the best tip I could give you is to go slowly. Don't paint the entire rifle on the first try. Test it out on the non-essentials such as magazines and other easy to replace objects. This will help you learn as you go and by cutting your project down you will be less likely to "rush" and half-ass parts of the gun. Rushing makes it easy to get paint blotches, uneven coats, adulterants, etc.

Anyway, it is a lot of fun to do things like this, best of luck!

[Markasaurus]

I have used Gunkote and Alumahyde II on two AK 47's. Gunkote is plenty tough, tougher then alumahyde and fairly resistant to solvents after baking, even brake cleaner. The problem is that gunkote in flat black, isn't. It came out like a semi gloss even after baking. I emailed Brownell's and they were kind enough to ship me another can free. Same result.

After this I put alumahyde II OVER The gunkote. And baked it for 5 hours at 200 degrees. (It doesn't require baking, it is air-dry, but I didn't want to wait two weeks). The alumahyde came out a very nice flat black.

The issue with alumahyde - it is NOT very solvent resistant. I clean the coated parts with wd-40, and clp doesn't sem to harm the alumahyde much either. I clean the bore with whatever I think it needs and I just take care not to spatter it around much.

If you decide on a bake-on finish, it's wise to get yourself an oven thermometer first. Mine was $3.00 at cvs drugstore. It showed my oven was 100 degrees HOTTER then the dial setting.