It was recently pointed out to me that Cerakote on the bolt head or lug area of a rifle does more harm than good. Something about changing head space. I contended if your bolt head is not covered you are not getting a complete job or the full benefits of Cerakote protection. It has the highest amount of corrosion protection of any coating.

Deer season opened yesterday here in Oregon. It was a wet one. My sons Weatherby Accumark spent the entire day in the rain. Being we are within shooting distance to the ocean I think the rain here on the coast might be more corrosive. May be not. I noticed his rifle sitting on the bench this morning so I thought I would take a peek. On the outside it looked okay.


Shot at 2011-10-02

Pulling the bolt back revealed this.

Shot at 2011-10-02

Here is what Cerakote looks like on the lugs of a 700 after 250 rounds. No change in accuracy was noted by the owner of this rifle who is required to document every shot out of it or any other of his duty rifles.





The change in head space appears to be a non-issue. To me it's more than just pretty. I would rather have Cerakote's full benefits obtained by a complete coating.

No reason to leave the bolt closed.

It seems to me that you are trying to make a mountain of a molehill, or just a subtle attempt at a personal attack on my work. Since you are referring to me, I feel obliged to respond. I stated the reasons why "I" do things, and you continue to try and tell us all how to do it correctly. Not just here on this forum, but I see you argue with other very experienced coaters over on the "Hide" also.

Looks like to me that the rifle sure wasn't wiped down with anything worth it's weight in gold as far as protection goes. I agree that being by the ocean with the salt content in the air is worse than not being by the coast. I have coated quite a few rifles that live in the likes Florida, Oregon, Washington, SE Alaska etc... and haven't had any complaints.

How do you get Cerakote behind the Rem 700 extractors for the "complete" coat job that you boast so passionately about? What about firing pin springs? That plunger doesn't appear to be coated. I seen other pictures of yours that show three bolts coated, but not the cocking pieces....
http://www.snipershide.com/forum/ub...in=247888&Number=2807383#Post2807383



Probably just the customer not wanting the cocking pieces coated. Hmmmm, I've seen cocking pieces rusted before. I coat them all the time. So much for the "To me it's more than just pretty. I would rather have Cerakote's full benefits obtained by a complete coating."

What about the receiver lug abutments inside the receiver of a Rem 700? Those must all be rusted to crap on rifles.

You crapped on my thread by trying to be the Gandhi of cerakote work, or maybe it's your way of trying to drum up more business, don't really know and don't really care.

I truly wish you the best in your endeavors, but you sure aren't good at getting off on the right foot.

My last post on this subject, maybe I should quit posting pictures of my work. I better call Karl and tell him to start coating bolt faces and behind the lugs also.

Off my soap box now, and I apologize for those that have to read this, and to all the rusty gun parts in rifle heaven.

Looks to me like it should have been oiled up before heading out and when done for the day.

If that is your son's rifle, why didn't you coat it for him in the first place?

Hmmm...
Dat is a good ? .

Or you could just spray WD-40 on the bolt and inside the action like most knowledgeable hunters would have done at the end of a wet day. Zero rust the next day when you cleaned and lubed it.

This is simple. He does the coating. He is out in the shop right now detail stripping it after another full day in the rain. After I pointed this out to him he said he would do it after hunting season.

Damn, rifles been around for years without Cerakoted lugs..and most that have been half assed taken care of are not rusty. Wonder what they did?

I agree with you Take_a_knee. That is how we used to do it long before we ever heard of Cerakote.

So your son does cerakoting as a business, but runs around with a blued rifle? This story just keeps getting better.

I have a feeling that Hiredgun is just trying to drum up business for his coating service.

I put my rifles through a good deal of abuse due to living in an area with 100+ inches of rain a year and in a saltwater environment. Hell, the saltwater comes up to 3ft from my deck on high tide. I've never had 1 day of hunting result in rust like that with a properly oiled rifle. More like 3-5 days of hunting, with no wipe down/oiling during the hunt. YMMV.

Rust happens when you neglect your rifle.

He deleted that post quick..was like an advertisement.

Been a member since 04. I only come here when I feel the need to be kicked around. Objective complete. I just disagreed with one guy and posted a couple pictures to support my statements in my own thread as he suggested. That is not soliciting. Am I not entitled to an opinion? While I'm at it I still like Leupold and Weatherby's too.

Almost forgot. I like WD40 too.

Coat it and change the rings and bases while your at it.

Eddie, this is Archie..... We shot the blue thunder this past weekend......by far the best cerakote job I have ever seen.... And it was my sons rifle.... And I payed for it !!!!!!! Eddie... RB recommended you and he wasn't wrong......just keep up the good work.......don't sweat the small stuff...... Your work is second to none.......

That's one reason my rifles are stainless.

Thanks Archie, I had a lot of fun doing that bright stock, it turned out looking...well, Auburn like.

Eddie's work is the best in the coating business period. Cant wait to have him build me an entire gun!

And you know this how? Have you used every coater out there that uses Cerakote to confirm it?

I've not used "all" of them, but I've used 6 different folks/shops to cerakote rifles and one shop to teflon coat a single rifle. Eddie and Karl Feldkamp have been the only 2 to return perfect work. When I have another that needs coating it will go to Eddie.

The OP made a reference to coating the bolt face... I recently recieved a rifle I had teflon coated (not by Eddie) which had the bolt face and lugs coated. It is a .223AI with a blind mag and I wanted to check feeding so I made some dummy rounds and did some testing. Feeds great...however...the pluger/ejector stopped kicking the dummies out. It seems the coating may have been enough to cause it to stick. This coating was also proposed as a slick coating...not something that should cause a part to stick. It did this off and on for about 30 rounds of feed testing. I removed the bolt and patiently worked it with the flat end of a nail head until it loosened up enough that it stopped sticking. It hasn't happened again since, but I haven't spent much time with the rifle since either....

Cerakote = thumbs up
Eddie's work = thumbs up
Coating the bolt face/lugs = thumbs down

Not defending anyone, but I see no reason to not coat a bolt face or lugs. Lugs might be a different story, simply because it is going to wear off eventually anyway. I own cerakoted rifles, and don't hold its durability is as high as regard as some. It can most certainly wear off in high friction areas.

To Eddie and all, The soul purpose of this post was taking this conversation further and educating anyone with an interest in the subject. It was not to call you or anyone else out as right or wrong. Quality was never in question. You clearly do a good job. Nothing wrong with any combination of parts coating. It's custom work and you get it any way you want it. Enough of the personal bashing and lets try to learn something from the users of this stuff. I'm not looking to promote anything other than a quest for knowledge. Copy that? Now lets move on.

I have seen the subject of to coat or not coat the lugs many times before. I fully understand the arguments why one would or would not. I brought out these exact points of view when were trained at Cerakote. They assured us overwelmingly the resonse from the majority of certified coaters and their own in house engineering tests that it is an advantage to coat the lugs and face. They said it added lubricity and helped prevent galling as well as extend the corrosion protection.

The last few posts have finally started going in the right direction. Personal testimonials from having it done both ways. We all could say something about not having those parts coated as not many rifles come that way. What I wanted mainly to hear from is the guys that have done it that way or own a rig done this way. If we can't do that then I would just rather see the thread die.

If you have a rifle with coated lugs I/we want to hear about it.
It need not be Cerakote. Anycoat including Microslick.

Personal first hand testimony = Thumbs up
Being disrespectfull = Thumbs down

If you're going to coat something, then coat it, or don't bother.

Now we are talking. Tell us more about it. About how many rounds? Did it close up your headspace? Was it sticky or require any break in. Would you do it again? Stuff like that.

Thank you for your input.

It's Black-T by Birdsong. Only several hundred rounds on that bolt so membe she's still a virgin. I've many guns done by them cause I trust them 100%. Black-T is thinner than that other stuff and headspace is a non-issue.

What is the differance between Cerakote and MicroSlick?
AMRA

Micro Slick is manufactured by NIC (makers of cerakote). It's a dry film lubricant that is thinner than cerakote. It isn't as corrosion resistant as cerakote, but according to the folks at NIC, it provides about 1/2 the corrosion protection that cerakote does (which is still more than most other coatings).

I have used it on bolt bodies and the bolt carrier groups on AR's. It's a slick coating and gray in color. Just about a perfect match to Cerakote Sniper Grey.

I sure like the color of the Micro Slick - its a bad picture but the bolt on this LVSF was done in Micro Slick and is holding up great and is well pretty slick - thanks by the way Eddie:)

The first rifle that I had cerakoted, the lugs were coated and I surely wasn't impressed. The next three I insisted they NOT be coated. OMMV.