DuraCoating...

[Olympus]

All these talks about the finish on the Taurus 1911s have me thinking. What about duracoating the gun? I don't know anything about duracoat, but I thought it might be a good durable options for my Taurus 1911. I bought it as a shooter, so I'd like to give it a cool custom look, but I also don't want to spend a lot of money on refinishing it or rebluing it. Would duracoat be a good option?

Whatever I do, I'd like to make the gun two-tone. Is two-tone an option with duracoating? Is the duracoat something I can do on my own or do I need to send the gun to someplace to have it done? Also, some ideas about two-tone color options would be grea too. Oh and some pictures of guns that have been duracoated would be awesome too!

 

[CWL]

Think of Duracoat as paint. You can combine and mix it in any way you want. The only thing limiting possible designs/patterns is your creativity. Holds and lasts bests if applied over a parkerized surface.

Check out their site and some sample patterns.
http://www.duracoat-firearm-finishes.com/

 

[Olympus]

Well I wasn't wanting to do any kind of pattern or anything. I just wanted to do the frame one color and the slide another color. How durable is it? If it's like paint, does it chip or flake off?

 

[Ben Shepherd]

If the surface prep and application are done right and allowed to cure, it won't flake or chip.

I've had Joe over at www.fbmginc.com do several guns for me, and am VERY happy with the results.

In fact he just two toned a makarov for me that turned out well.

 

[Hk Dan]

I've done 30 or so guns. It does wear, but it's fairly tough paint.

You'll need to disassemble anything that you don't want paint on, then carefully prep the surface. It will go directly over parkerizing, stainless, or blued surfaces. They must be utterly clean and oil free. Once you're sure you have it perfect, do it again. Then do it AGAIN, and put it in the oven at 150 degrees for about 30 minutes.

The better your surface prep, the better the adhesion will be. It has to be airbrushed on, but the coating is very thin, chemically resistant, and just about immune to heat.

If you're going to paint a gun, it's the schizzel.

Dan

 

[Ben Shepherd]

If you can stand to coat it and let it sit for a month before you use it, it will wear MUCH longer than if you put it to use right away.

Either way it's a very tough coating, but if you let it sit a few weeks before using it the stuff wears pretty much like iron.

Hk Dan-

If it's done right, I'd say it's much tougher than any paint. Not even in the same league.