GunKote vs. DuraCoat

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honkeoki

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I'm tired of all my at-home cold-bluing projects looking like they were pulled out of a housefire. :banghead: So I'm determined to try one of these "total refinishing solutions" on my beater Security Six.

Here's my situation: I don't have a workshop. I don't own a paint gun but I'm willing to get one if I really need to. I don't have any special equipment other than a standard toolbox and the wife's oven. I can't sandblast anything.

Taking all this into account -- which is a better choice for me -- GunKote or DuraCoat? Durability is my first priority, but it sure would be nice to be able to shoot the refinished gun at the range without all the other guys making fun of me.

Thanks for your input.
 
As to the guys making fun of you, shoot better than they do. Then you can laugh at their fancy guns that obviously can't shoot -- or are they just not as good at pistol shooting as you are.
I can never stand the arrogant SOBs with $2K guns making fun of the ordinary guy with his well used gun just enjoying himself shooting. Guess you can tell which side of the fence I am on.
I don't know anything about the various coatings but had to get my $0.02 opinion in.
 
If it were me needing a coating on a pistola....

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=106228&highlight=gunkote

Have you contacted Ruger for a re-bluing?


As for having the 'espensif' fancy guns at the range.... I have a few stainless and purdy lookin blue ones that people ooh and awe over. And thankfully I shoot them pretty well. But any shooter bringing a copy of xxx brand to the range is a friend of mine. No one should ever put a shooter down because of what he/she brings to the range. (unless it's an unsafe firearm) Those that do, are not friends of mine. I have a friend with an accurized Nork. Just the same it's a Nork. But it outshoots two of his custom Colts! Looks like crap, but outshoots guns of twice the value. I do try to keep my guns american made, so even though there are some fine european arms out there, I am biased. But never could I put down a fellow shooter at the range just because of his choice of firearm.

By the way, to help that Security Six outshoot the competition, I'll bet there are some aftermarket internals available for it.

-Steve
 
i dont think the ruger is a beater i love the old rugers,i used the blue kit from the store it had 3 bottles 1 blue remover 1 cleaner 1 blue.i followed the instructoins and it worked fine.the one i used didnt need any heat.
 
I'll try to post a pic of my reblued Ruger tonight... it seriously looks like a meteorite.

I exaggerated about the other guys at the range "laughing" at my guns... usually they snort. That's okay -- I like inexpensive guns (not cheap guns...)

Thanks for the feedback -- keep it coming.
 
DuraCoat

I have not used gunkote, but I am an avid user of DuraCoat. You do not need to be a professional, but it will take a small amount of equipment.

If you are only planning to do 1 or 2 guns, buying a paint gun and air compressor, etc. seems a bit expensive. You can purchase a good air brush (spray gun) from a hobby store and use compressed air in a can for DuraCoat. Don't cheap out on the air brush, get at least the "middle of the road" price wise. The checpies don't feed well enough.

IF you are going to do more than a few, then I recommend an HVLP gun and a small compressor. For an HVLP gun, you do not have to get above 25psi, so a small compressor is fine. Find a used one in the paper or trader or garage sale in your area. I found a hobby compressor in a junk store for $8.00! I also have bought standard spray guns at garage sales.

Follow the directions, its easy as 1,2,3. You DO NOT have to sand blast, although if there is a body shop near you , you could probably get them to o it cheap...it does help the final result.
 
Nice thread guys, very helpful, as I have been trying to research DuraCoat vs GunKote.

Regarding the other part of the discussion, I did encounter some high-price-tag gun snobs at the outdoor range near me a while back. And I've talked to a couple at gun stores. About two seconds after a guy opens his mouth, you know whether he's in the joy-of-shooting camp or in the gotta-one-up-everybody camp.
 
Even easier is Wheeler Mfg. Cerma-coat. It comes in a spray can! Order it from Midway and it will be shipped to your door. It needs oven cureing but Wally World sells a toaster oven for around $20 and they have electrical contact spray cleaner that works great for a degreaser with no residue. I painted over cleaned bluing over a year ago and it's holding up well to almost daily carry.
 
+1 for the Cerma coat. I have tried to duracoat my 1911 several times but the finish wears off too fast (applied to degressed, rough white metal). The Cerma coat lasts quite a bit longer and does not scratch as easily.
 
An air brush will look better than stuff coming out of a rattle can. You'll also be able to control the thickness of the finish a little better.

I have not used Duracoat, but I do use Gun Kote.
I've handled a couple of Duracoated guns and my own opinion is the Gun Kote looks better. Duracoat looks kinda plastic-like to me.

I don't know which is more durable, but Gun Kote is durable enough for me. I haven't worn through any of it on my guns and mags yet, but I don't run them real hard either (I've only refinished range guns and hunting guns, not my carry guns).

If you don't have access to a sandblaster or someone who can sandblast it for you, then you should probably use Duracoat. I've heard people who refinish guns say that it adheres a little better to smooth surfaces.
 
I like Dura-Coat. Doesn't need heat curing. I use an Craftsman automotive touch-up spraygun, but I have recently seen a "clone" for sale at Harbor Freight cheap (I forget the price). I spray at 30 psi, so you don't need a large air compressor. I do use a moisture filter to keep out water. I blast with alum oxide. This gives a great tooth for the Dura-Coat. If I didn't want to go to all the trouble, I would try Guncoat from Midway. A lot of people claim the spray cans work great.
 
I recently purchased a gun w/ the slide Gun Koted ... the outside looks fine but it's wearing badly on the inside so I'd like to try to remove the gun kote from the inside only ... any suggestions would be appreciated ...

Thanks ...

Chester
 
If it's not visible, you are probably better off leaving it as is; but if want to remove it, I suggest complete dis-assembly of the slide, then mask off what you want to keep and abrasive blast the rest off. You need to be careful blasting around the tape so as not to feather the finish underneath.

Again, you are probably better off leaving it as is.
Regards,
Greg
 
carefully abrasive blast w/fine (90-120 grit you will have to find a machine shop or such to do this and wash well with slightly soapy hot water and rinse good) it after masking/plugging and for sure cleaning all.
heat up to about 130 d F for spraying with an airbrush. after spraying let stand for an hour to handle and run wire through the parts to hang from oven rack. at 325 let hang for an hour then let cool and reassemble and rub with good oil.
it does great, no sweat stains or any other rust. done several pistols myself and did well.
the blasting is important and cleaning.
 
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