which one is a more durable finish? I am looking for a finish that will hold up to some use. What are some other suggestions? Thank you Joe.

Talk to Doug at Fit 4 Duty, he is an advertiser here. He uses the cerakote system, which seems to be very durable and popular here. I spoke with him on Monday, very nice and helpful, will be sending him my current project.

DuraCoat over the parkerizing. DuraCoat actually suggests that on their website.

From what I have read on the DuraCoat, it has some elacticity to it if that makes sense. It helps it to be less subceptabe to chiping. I also makes it very hard to remove, even by blasting.

GB

I’m a fan of Ceracoat, but Duracoat is a good finish as well. Duracoat IMO is a much better finish than Parkerizing. Parkerizing resists rust fairly well, certainly better than bluing, but not a whole lot better. Parkerizing is best when you allow it to soak up oil by oiling down the finish on a regular basis.

Parkerizing etches into the surface of the metal and becomes an outer layer of the metal.

Duracoat, like paint, actually covers the metal and becomes a shield. Paint is actually a much better finish than bluing or Parkerizing because it forms an actual physical barrier between the metal and the elements. The problem in the past has always been that paints are easily rubbed or scratched off. In Europe, militaries went to baked on enamel finishes for their military rifles because it offered much better protection and wear than Parkerizing.

Finishes like Duracoat and Ceracoat take the polymer “paint” based finishes to the next level. Both set up very hard and offer excellent wear resistance a and perhaps the best protection against elements. What’s more, they look pretty durned good.

I’m in the process of building an FN-FAL and it will be receiving a Ceracoat finish. The next serious hunting rifle I build will receive the same finish.