Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Would powder coating work for rifles?

A friend just got his frame back from the powder coater's and it looks great. Finish seem pretty tough and you can get any color. Considering he got a Harley frame done for less than $200 I would guess getting an action and barrel powder coated would be pretty cheap. Checking it out I have to say it is a heck of a lot tougher than painting it with a spray can.

Spend the small extra and get a good professional bluing job done.....IMO, you'll be much better off long term.....maybe even short term

You can get a ceracoat kit and DIY. I would trust that more than powder coating. Powdercoat goes on pretty thick, at least it did on my hotrod frame.

I like good bluing but it seems good powder coating might be a solid finish for corrosion resistance, if it works for motorcycle frames should be tough enough for rifles. Stick could sure update the way some of his rifles look.

Does look a bit thick.

I’ve seen firsthand several attempts, none have been even approaching decent. It’s just too thick and uncontrollable in its application. Turns out looking like it’s coated in candy or rubberized.

So no good.

Anything other than real bluing is just a paint job .

I'd say parkerizing is quite different than bluing or a paint job. As is nickel plating.

Oh boy.....

Both Parkerizing and bluing are technically referred to as chemical conversion coatings. Nickel plating (and others) is just that, plating, a totally different process.

I had my clerke 10-22 barrel powder coated at least 25 years ago.Gave them just the barrel. The thickness of the paint made it difficult to push barrel into receiver but with some careful removal of some paint by sanding it did go in. Over these many years there is some paint that has come off around the crown but the rest of the barrel looks good.

Now days I cerakote.

I’ve had more than a small amount of experience with many finishes/platings/coatings in industrial/manufacturing applications over the years. At my previous job, we got a lot of our product parts powder coated. It was not what I would consider a mechanically durable finish. When it was necessary to use it for color conformity where subject to wear, we had to put a clear epoxy over it. For firearms, I would expect the thickness would be problematic as well. I think there are many better choices.

I have had three barreled actions powdered coated.There are powder coaters with different levels of skill.The thickness of the coat depends on the skill of the applier.Mine are done in a matte black.They look good ,powder coating does not chip like other coatings and is weather proof on the outside.

When I rebarreled a rifle two years ago my gunsmith only works with stainless. So I dropped the barrel out to a bloke who is a spray painter and cerakotes a few barrels on the side. I specified midnight blue but when I went to pick it up he had powder coated it in a dark grey. It looked friggin' awful. It was way too 'thick' and looked like a bull bar on the front of the truck. The barrel markings were completly covered over it was that thick. I just looked at him with a "What the f---?" expression and he said he'd fix it. He sand blasted it back and cerakoted it and it came up really good.

I'm still puzzled to this day why he just didn't cerakote it first like I asked him to.

As well as usually being fairly soft and not very durable in my experience, not every powder coat is suited for elevated temperatures either.

It does make a pretty good coating for lead bullets though.

All powder coating is not the same.

There are many different formulations of powder coat.

Some are high gloss, some are matte, some are heat resistant, some are wear resistant, softer, harder, thicker, thinner, flexible, brittle, etc.

All those variations will affect the characteristics of the final finish as well as how the metal surface is prepped.

I wouldn't expect a usable outcome dropping off a rifle to the guy down the road that coats Harleys and roll bars with no experience working with firearms..