Home Forums Hunting & Shooting AR and Tactical Rifles which coating is best for in.The white receivers

I an fixing to get a couple of in the white receivers in ar10 which coating is the best for these and which what is the best to put them on spray them or what .Duracoat is right down the road from me did by know if it was as good as cericoat? I may get a couple of them just depends if prove goes up or not !

"in the white" = not anodized

You asked what's best, hard anodizing is the best, as most AR receivers have. That hard surface layer is important for all of the wear surfaces.

Duracoat, Ceracoat, and other spray coatings are a distant second or third place in comparison.

That is why I do not buy "in the white" AR receivers.

Get them anodized.

Would this be an issue with 80% receivers?
You have to drill the pin holes, correct?

Yes.
As far as I'm concerned, the pin holes are the most important surfaces to have anodized. What little wear happens on an AR receiver happens there.

Yes, absolutely.

Anti-rotation pins can solve that particular issue, but any other machined surfaces with exposed aluminum are soft and subject to wear. The contact points of the hammer and trigger for example, the safety lever hole, and depending on the lower if you had to machine the mag release or anything else that moves.

I had all mine clear coat anodized a while back by a friend at a shop. Will blast the outsides a bit and cerracoat some color or another eventually.

I'd never buy another white one either... but at the time it was a "deal" to good to pass up. Would have been too if had not got stiffed for about 15 more lowers the plucker owes me and I'll never see...

I have been using the new Cerakote Elite on customers uppers and lowers
And have been highly impressed with the finish.

Hard anodizing would be my first choice. Cerakote is a close second and stands up real well. The Elite Cerakote goes on a lot thinner and is good for real tight tolerance assemblies like Ed Brown 1911's and revolver triggers and sears.

Cerakote is made up from ceramic beads ground up ultra fine and combined with a good heat cured epoxy to produce a hard finish that is resistant to abrasion, impacts, corrosion and chemicals. To remove it must be abrasive media blasted.

DuraCoat is just paint. It wears real easy and can be washed off with many different chemicals. If you are only doing the lower it would be well worth the price of a small flat rate box to get it to a certified Cerakote applicator. https://www.cerakoteguncoatings.com/resource/locator/

I have done lots of AR's inside and out including the entire bolt and they hold up very well. Bolt action rifles we do the entire actions inside and out and as long as there are no bad burrs inside the action the bolt will stand up to years of use before you can tell they have been used. Even the bolt face and locking lugs and action abutments. It really smooth's them up and prevents galling of those surfaces. On double action revolvers it makes them feel like a real nice trigger job. They usually look factory fresh 10+ years later unless you use it in extremely dirty and muddy areas and are prone to dropping or dragging your gun around. Then the edges will get worn down just as they would with the hard anodize. Kydex holsters in a dusty environment is about the worst thing you can use on any firearm finish.