Been using Graphite Black Cerakote for years on guns and I'm tired of the inconsistency of it! One day it's Matte like it should be then other days I get gloss black. I've painted hundreds of guns with this product "no joking" and you never know what you'll get with it! I have called them 4-5 times over the years and i always get the same response, well give us the lot number and we'll see if we've had any other problems with it..... low and behold, nope it's just you with the problem. Told them how i've had to repaint a lot of guns just to get the sheen right, I asked if they would help with the price if i bought the new Elite series to try? Nope, they wouldn't even cut the price on a tester for me to try....
Does anybody know of a different product that has a Matte finish that works well?
Thanks
Jim

Wear resistance with Cerakote has been totally unimpressive to me. I would not consider another try.

Powder coat is bullet proof.

Cerakote is great. But it has to be applied properly

It’s just paint regardless of spin by salesmen. For a truly tough and consistent matte black Nitride is tough to beat.

I haven't done all that many but I've had very good results with Norrells, molyresin.com .

Most of my own personal rifles I have them bead blasted and parkerized.

I really like Birdsongs Black T

The Series 80 Top OD Green grips has Black T finish. The picture isn't the best. Its grainy but I think the finish is very good.

Thanks for the input. Going to buy a few different ones and start testing.
Thanks
Jim

I'm not a fan of any bake-on finish, but I'll suffer it if I have to do so. Definitely hate it on pistols. I do have a Hi-Power with Black-T, and it's okay. Hard chrome does it for me. Or just bead-blasted or brushed stainless.

Links for future reference please,

Who's doing this?

I also have some BlackT stuff, I like it,

But it also will wear and scratch off....

I used Truetec when I worked in a gunshop. Not sure if they take individual orders as we always sent batches and had an account. Also used H&M metal coating for a while.

To demonstrate the scratch and wear resistance of nitride I used to take a $3500 rifle off the rack and scrape my pocketknife up and down the barrel. It will dull your knife but won’t scratch the finish. No spray on that I’ve ever seen can match that.

Nitride is not sprayed on?

So who might be doing this for the general public?

Nitride is a chemical salt bath process.

Google turned up a bunch of hits on Nitride coating firearms.

PS. You’re going to want to pull the barrel. I’ve seen 2 cracked Remington recoil pugs and one Vanguard as well as one MkV with a cracked receiver ring when they were done with the barrel installed.

Same here. Was a certified applicator and inconsistencies that you describe held true for me also. Only way I could do it was to mix a nice sized batch and line up the parts to be painted in same color. Then it started getting expensive having a few spray guns dedicated for the common colors being requested. A PITA to keep the parts super clean also!

Just adding some more info on nitriding-

I'm an engineer for a food manufacturing company. Most everything we use is 304 or 316 SS. For parts where stainless is not an option, we'll use various carbon alloys and have them nitrided. Years later, after weekly caustic washes, they still are not rusted.

Black Chrome, and Satin Hard Chrome, you will not wear it off in your life time. Bolt body's treated are perfect from 30 years ago, multiple barrels on the action.

I would also trust Cheesy's recomendation, as his application would test any and all coatings.

I don't have any issues at all. Explain your full process...

Bingo... In my experience with Eddie, there's never been an issue...

Can you run matte clear over the color coat and get a matte or satin finish?

Are you consistently measuring your two part mix, or just eyeballing? More hardener equals more gloss. I spray graphite black without issue. I'll bet s dollar to a donut that it's your mix ratio that's causing the difference in Sheen.