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I've been kicking around the idea of buying a Remington 700 and having the barrel and action cerakoted, rather than buy the stainless version. I've found a place here in state that does it, but have been wondering if there are any members on here who either do cerakoting, or know a shop that does, and can vouch for their work. Thanks in advance for any answers.

Eddie Fasnaugh. He occasionally posts on here. He’s from Michigan.

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Love it on my Encore SML conversion

the gentleman that did mine does Encores and shotguns but not sure about a bolt action CF.

Cerakote is nothing like as good as the claims. I will never do another. I have seen the finish fail in less than a week of relatively light use. And it was applied by a very experienced smith.

Shooter71 does it quite well. PM him.

Get stainless, Cerakoting is a poor substitute for stainless. I’ve got several rifles that are cerakoted and they look good, but stainless is the way to go for a real working rifle.

You can Cerakote stainless.

You can rattle can it too, for a lot less!

Sheer profundity

I only have Cerakote on one rifle, but it hasn't rubbed off or discoloured. Perhaps some of the shops incorrectly prepare the metal before they apply the Cerakote.

I was not done right...more than Likely they used glass beads instead of Ali oxide for a blast profile...this is a must...I have done several for guys that use there guns hard and it wears like iron...

It’s paint. Maybe pretty good paint but paint nonetheless. It will scratch and rub and mar. If you want bombproof you want melonite even though it doesn’t come in bubblegum pink or smurf blue.

I'll agree, but Remington is not offering the stainless model that I want.

I doubt that. I have seen it done by smiths that come highly recommended and I doubt they missed the obvious stuff.

I have some reason to believe different colors may well perform better than others. But there are a lot of Cerakote colors so figuring out which is better may be tough.

I have three Cerakoted rifles, and the results from them make me puzzled about the today common claims that it's worthless. Here are a couple of photos of a rifle built in 2007, that was Cerakoted by the company that put it together, Serengeti (now Kilimanjaro). I have used this rifle for more hunting than all except one of the other rifles I own, a NULA .30-06, in four countries in North America and Africa. The photos show the only places the Cerakote has "worn" through, around the muzzle and a big scratch on the trigger guard that not only went through the finish but gouged out a little steel. That occurred in a fall on rocky trail on a steep mountain, which also bent the objective end of the scope.





The other two rifles have been use somewhat less, so show even less wear (or damage), so I am pretty satisfied with Cerakote. The one thing I was told during the period when the 3 rifles were coated is that the amount of silica in Cerakote has an effect on its hardness, since the silica is what melts during the baking process and binds the stuff together: The more silica content, the harder the Cerakote.

But have also had good friends have bad luck with Cerakote, enough to make me wonder what is going on.

My NULA's titanium nitride finish, by the way has held up a little better than the Cerakote on this rifle, but only a little--and it's been hunted even more.

Will also comment that my experience with the stainless steels normally used in rifle barrels is they will rust some if subjected to enough salt, whether salt air or leather saddle scabbards that have soaked up years of horse-sweat.

98% of the rifles I coat are stainless. Stainless used in rifle actions and barrels rust too, it's not rustless. In fact, some of the most rusted rifles i have coated come from the coastal regions and were stainless. Kimbers and the Tikkas tend to orange up easier than the others, from what i have seen.

Cerakote is not a paint, it is a two part coating that is heat cured in case of the "H" series. Prep is everything and getting a full cure is just as important. As pointed out already, you drop it down a mountain in the rocks it's going to scratch, sharp edges will wear and wherever metal to metal has moving contact. The corrosion protection and chemical resistance of cerakote is the best IMHO.

Some people get the notion it is never going to scratch or wear, just not true and never has been, but it will also do it slower while protecting totally from corrosion and effects of chemicals.

I have a couple of custom actions of my own in DLC and melonite. Guess what, they wear no better than cerakote, but are a better choice for a real tight tolerance bolt. If i ever refinish them, it will be cerakote, but the bolt body will be left alone.

It only stacks up about a .001" thick when applied correctly.

To the OP, if you live in a humid environment with quite a bit of rain or hunt in inclement weather often, cerakote will absolutely be a benefit. If not and you keep up on your rifles with oil and a close eye, a stainless rifle uncoated should serve you well.

These are my opinions from coating countless rifles and etc. YMMV

Eddie,

Thanks for the info!

One of my other Cerakoted rifles went on a 3-week hunt in Tanzania a few years ago.The rainy season started about halfway through, with a 1-2 hour downpour each day. Then the sun would come out, the thermometer would rise to around 100, and everything except the big waterholes dried out quickly. Within a couple hours the Land Cruiser would be raising a dust cloud again.

Like the rifle in the photos above, that rifle has a walnut stock, with dark Cerakoting resembling matte blue. The PH I hunted with during that last week was a real know-it-all, and when he saw red dust on the barrel, he insisted it was rust. I said no, it was dust, since the barrel was rust-proof. He insisted I HAD to wipe the steel with oil to get rid of the rust. Instead I took a bottle of water and poured it on the barrel, whereupon the "rust" ran off with the water....

I Cerakote my atlatls but not my rifles.

Laughing here!