Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Gunsmithing Blue or cerracoat

Got the metal on my marlin 36g down to 320 level
The stock and forearm are well on their way with tru oil being done.
I have used various blueing products over the years, most seem to wear away. Did use blue wonder several yrs ago on a Lyman bp pistol in the white which came out fairly well.
I can get a cerracoat job done for $100 on all the metal and the 7 visible screws
Gonna leave the hammer and loading gate original blue if I go this route.
Kinda leaning towards gloss black on the cerracoat if I go that route or one of the " new " cerracoat gun blue colors

Ain't got a cerracoated gun and this 36g is kinda my foul weather rifle and that is what I'm kinda leaning to getting done.

Basically right now I can give this a acetone bath, a heat cycle and another acetone bath.
Go up town and they blast it and paint it and cook it . And it will be done and probably alot more weather proof the a home blue.


Going the hot blue route is expensive as heck. 250 bucks....
I paid 165 otd for the rifle at a pawn shop back in Sept, got 50 in a receiver sight and 20 in a new front site
So basically I got around 250 into the rifle itself . Be right under 400 with a cerracoating and the materials i have used so far, even less with a home cold blue.


Any of ya all got pics or comments of cerracoated rifles or a durable home blue product experience/ pic.

Thanks....

The most durable coating I've ever seen is powder coat. There is zero chance of scratching it and it's warm to carry in cold weather. I have been way less than happy with 3 or 4 I've had ceracoated.
The lighting makes this looks mustard color, but it is not. I went with the heavy texture because this rifle was rusted and pitted. You can also get smooth, and any color you want. I've since shortened the barrel to 20". Two years ago elk hunting we had 21 inches of rain in three days and I had no issues with it.

Was it bad cerracoating jobs that were done? Prep work , dirty or round glass ball media for blasting or bad paint spraying and cooking?
The place I'm thinking of getting mine done has a good rep . They do alot of business outside of fort campbell. I have seen their work . I'm gonna go with this place. Have asked about their media, they said they use clean oxide stuff 160 grit and they don't use any round media cause it dimples metal and causes bad adhesion. Ain't got a cerracoated gun so I'm gonna throw the dice. That is a pretty cool looking finish on that 99.

If you like cerracoat and have found a reputable firm and have seen their work the I'd say go for it. While it's fine to ask for advice and opinions, in the end you should go with what makes you happy.

Fireball, tell us more about your Savage 99. It looks to be a 99 F with lever safety. What caliber is it? What kind of finish is on the wood? Who did your powdercoat job?

It is a 99F featherweight in .358 Winchester. I disassembled it, a local shop prepped it, taped it off, and coated it. The wood is just painted. I literally had water running thru the rifle elk hunting and the outside just sheds water. The inside need to be dried and oiled.

I have a rifle in a model 70 that was cerakoted in midnight blue. I bought it that way, if you want to stick to a more traditional blue I would go that route. I been pretty happy with it, went on a winter caribou hunt last weekend temps ranged from -21 to 14 and held up very well.

Ceracoat bas been mighty unimpressive to me. I would never waste the money on it again.

Why were you not impressed?

Less than two weeks of riding in a raft had rubbed the ceracoat off in large areas... job was done by someone with a great deal of experience.

Several rifles that had significant failures in minor dings...

I had a job done by a name Smith and it looked very bad... obviously an application issue...

To my way of thinking it is not worth doing for free, let alone being so pricey.

If it is going to be in the weather much bluing starts rusting right away and can be rubbed through in very short order. Check out the durability tests. For the real skeptics there are a bunch of tests published on youtube by private individuals that show the same as results as long as it's properly installed.



Cerakote done properly should be at least as tough as what ever is under it. Over tool steel they are almost impossible to scratch. I have put it on vise grips and you can destroy a piece of pipe with them and not wear it off the tips on the jaws. On a Stanley hammer head you can pound in a bunch of 16 penny nails and it doesn't touch the face of that hammer. I live on the Oregon coast and have a test barrel I let people beat on and scratch and you have to put a very sharp edge into it to get it to scratch. A hammer simply dents the steel even glancing blows won't expose the metal under it. This barrel lives in a ditch or buried in the wife's flower bed and has lived out there 24/7 since about 200 when we were certified in it's application. Where ever it is through the finish is rusted but as long as the base metal doesn't show it still looks new.

How does one explain failures by a highly regarded applicator with a lot of experience?

Maybe changed to glass based media to blast and left tiny dimpled surface?
Or used dirty media? Ratio,s of materials incorrect? Bad cook?
Another employee did it.
Who knows?

Ain't all the up and up cerracoating outfits supposed to go to seminar classroom and hands on training and be approved by cerracoat also?






"Rough" oxide media blasting is supposed to have better adhesion

I got my metal down to 220 grit right now.
Degrease, heat , degrease again is all I got left to do.
Then I'm gonna run it uptown to em.
I have seen alot of their work on people's guns around town
They wouldn't be able to do business around Clarksville/ fort campbell if they did stuff half assed
Word would get spread around fast among the active duty, retirees and everyone in this community.
My biggest question was type of media and making sure they use clean media
160 grit oxide stuff and clean. Spoke with them about me turning in metal in the white and degreased by myself just for my own peice of mind
They said that is Good , but you don't have too.
The work is guaranteed and If it fails they will redo it no charge I then asked them if they would blast it back to in the white if I didn't want it redone
They said ya and give me half of cost back.
I am gonna get it done.
Only 100 bucks.
If it turns to s h i t down the line then I will just home blue it.

See how it turns out.

It depends. In almost 10 years now I have seen a lot of the popular forum applicators Cerakote and gunsmithing work and these are the problems I have observed. There are dozens of ways to do it wrong and only one right way. If they are certified, you are assured at least they knew the right way at one time but still is no guarantee that over time that applicator might have started taking shortcuts to cut costs or has modified the process in an effort to get better results that in the long run has negative repercussions. If a certified applicator gets enough complaints for poor work or bad business practices he can lose his certified status and listing on the applicator locater. It's not much but it's the only protection you have that the applicator is doing it right. Uncertified applicators can do whatever they want and there is no consumer protection of any kind. Trained or not it boils down to the integrity of the applicator to follow the directions to the letter and not deviate in any way.

The test of time is the one that counts because they all look good right when they are first done. Some skip critical areas leaving metal exposed to rusting or wear. Be wary of applicators who are not charging enough. To do Cerakote right takes a lot time, expensive equipment that wears out over time and consumables including a fair amount of electricity. It calls specifically for 100-120 grit. This is a huge one so ask to actually see the media and compare it with what is really in the cabinet. If it is dusty it needs changed out. It the media is used or too fine Cerakote will not be near as durable as it's rated for. That mesh grit can be hard to get. I have to drive 4 hours each way and it's $2 a pound if I buy at least 200 pounds. Each gun wrecks about 5 pounds of media. 5 gallons of acetone is $75. It will only do at most 10 rifles. There are other approved degreasers but none as good.

Another occasional problem is a shop may do so many guns people assume they are doing it right when in fact they are doing it wrong. They may unknowingly intimidate the consumers from pointing out problems because the applicator is so highly regarded that they become unapproachable. If a job just goes bad he should be offering to fix it before you have to ask. Unfortunately, that almost never happens and Cerakote takes the blame for a poor performance.

Hiredgun. Good info!!!100 - 120 grit , im gonna ask again about their blasting media. so I'm kinda doing a good thing at least with my acetone baths before I bring it up. Im not gonna mention it .They have their certificate on display at least. The price I got is for a lever barelled action , 1/2 mag tube, forearm end cap, bottom receiver plate, and 9 receiver screws. All in the white. They have a price list for all different categories. Mine fell into lever hunting rifle price 1 color for 100, some of their prices went up to 300 for alot more stuff being done to more complex firearms.
Should I plug my barrel muzzle and breach end with wooden dowel prior to bring it up or check to make sure they do something like that?

I've had a few rifles with ceracoat and they scratched easier than if I had Krylon'd them. Ridiculous. To me it's a scam run by scammers. Never had any experience to show me otherwise. Maybe it can be done right, but I've never seen it.

Please explain what you mean by scam run by scammers. What is the scam and who is the scammer?

Sounds like alot shady outfits all across the country are doing some messed up stuff.

No kidding...I have several Cerakoted rifles....and they are all very scratch and ding resistant. Duracoat, on the other hand, no as much.

Dang Roy, you must have gone to school with my Dad, actually he may have been your teacher. He used black Krylon on his old shotguns, Joe.