Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Custom Rifles & Wildcats Birdsong vs Cerakote

Howdy guys-

Working on a project gun. Im wondering what folks experience is with Birdsong Black T versus Cerakote??? Im in the coin flip stage, and could use some experience with this.

Thanks!

Bob

I can tell you that the Black T coatings are the thinnest on the market and can withstand all the water you throw at it. I talked to Mr Birdsong on the phone for about 30 minutes and he explained the whole process to me. They did over 7,000 hours worth of testing their product in salt water with zero rust. He told me if I happened to fall into a mud hole with rifle in hand that I could just stick it in a creek to clean it and he guaranteed me it would not rust, ever. He's a helluva nice guy and a true southern gentleman so I took him for his word, I like doing business that way too. I will be subjecting my rifle to the elements for a true test this fall and we'll see how good it is. I have another rifle that I want coated but I will try another coating for comparison, CAS does the coatings and I will be sending it to him to have it put on.

I have had multiple examples of both and the Black T is great for corrosion protection, but the Cerakote is hands down better for being tough and resistant to scratches, etc.. I have been in Walter Birdsong's shop, and he is a great guy to deal with. I delivered 4 rifles to him to be coated and a buddy picked them up 6 weeks later. He is three hours from me and I would use him again, but I really like Cerakote.

I have not had cerakote, but the black t we went with is really good stuff. I am thinking of green on the next one.

I have the Cerekote on my custom Model 70, 375 Ackley. It's been on the rifle for almost three years now, and shows no sign of wear.

I can also highly recommend Robar's Rogard treatment with NP3 internals. This said, I am due to get my pre-64 back from Fit4duty [or whatever they are called now] with the Cerakote treatment. I went with Cerakote for a couple of reasons. First, Rogard is not a Campfire approved product and second, it comes in any color you want as long as it is black.

A third, but ancillary reason, is that I wanted to try the bore treatment and this isn't part of the Robar package.

Although they advertise and price the black Rogard coating with internals coated in NP3, Robar will coat the entire barreled action, including the bolt and other internals in NP3, as they did on my 7-08AI. NP3 is much tougher. The NP3 is a soft bluish gray. Rogard is simply for those who require a black coating.