Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Gunsmithing Hydro Dip versus Cerakote versus others

I have just purchased a Benelli SBE II from a fried. It is black and is basically brand new, having only been shot about 10 times. I would like to change the color from matte black to some sort of camo or tan/brown scheme.

I hear some folks having good luck with Hydro dips but others says that Cerakote is the way to go. Then again, I have recently seen some reviews bashing Cerakote as simply being mere paint, and that NP3 plating is the way to go.

I am mostly just trying to change the color and I don't expect to hunt around a lot of salt water. What are the Pros and Cons of each application and what would you recommend?

Thanks,

Dan

Do it the easy way and just spray it. Get some Alumihide from brownells and get camoed.

I just sent an M1A stock off to 'Northwest Hydrodipping' in WA State. It's for the Son, colors & all, I was content with the tan synthetic.

His pick is 'Navy Digital'. Just for kicks I bought him a matching T-Shirt for Christmas.

I had a stock hydrodipped a few years ago, didn't turn out great. I gave it to a guy just starting up, vague instructions. It came back very shiny, yeah I may dull it some at a later date.

You should be able to pick a finish, gloss, matte, whatever, then have a protective coat put on. Of course I won't have this M1A stock back for a month or so, know more then.

The other day at the surplus store they had M1A/M-14 stocks for $25, so I bought a spare.

Thanks Sourdough

I have not had great luck with Hydro dipped gear. This may be because it is all factory and doesn't get the hard exterior coating the custom jobbers do.

When I hunted salt water frequently I had my shot gun parkerized and then camoed it up with Rustoleum spray.
This worked well for a shotgun that was not a show piece. The paint would last 2-3 seasons with minor touch ups and then could be completely stripped and redone after that.

This was the old school Rustolium that had fish oil in it and you could wipe it down with light oil and it wouldn't remove the paint. The newer ones are more of a poly formula so don't know if they could have oil wiped over them or not. But have the same stuff on a fiberglass stock and solvent and oil have not been a problem if I wipe it off promptly.

Some of the guides in Alaska just used the Rustolium directly over the blueing and it seemed to work OK. I think Phil Shumaker has .458 like this that looks like it has been riding on the wing strut of a De Haviland Beaver for multiple seasons and it still shoots.