refinishing a Ruger 10/22 Reciever

[Guest adamoxtwo]

I just purchased a Ruger 10/22 so that I could tear it down and do a custom build. One of the terror's of the rifle is the terrible paint job in the receiver. I would like to know if there is a place in the Clarksville/Nashville area that could strip and refinish the receiver in Chrome. If not chrome a nice powder coating. It would be a bonus if that place also deals in suppressors but not a must. Thanks

[Guest Broomhead]

Not sure about any businesses that do it, but it isn't too hard of a DIY project. Get some Aircraft Stripper from Wal-Mart in the auto paint section. Strip it. Then, using ever finer grits of sand paper and finishing with a buffing wheel and some jewelers rouge, buff out the machining marks. The receiver is aluminum so I don't know if that makes a difference in chrome or powder coating. Good luck.

[2006Blackpearl931]

I am a machinist, and just did my reciever like Broomhead suggested. Bead blasted to give it an even finish inside and out, then sanded and polished the outside. I did the trigger gaurd and trigger too. Not too shabby... It wasn't hard at all. Just an option for you.

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e118/INTChamp/Ruger1022side.jpg

[Guest GunTroll]

Have you ruled out anodizing? Lots of colors to choose from going that route.

[Guest adamoxtwo]

Have you ruled out anodizing? Lots of colors to choose from going that route.

Do you know someone who could do the anodizing?

[Guest GunTroll]

as a matter of fact I do , but the turn around time is SLOOOOW at the moment. I'm just down the road from you stop in sometime.

[Guest adamoxtwo]

as a matter of fact I do , but the turn around time is SLOOOOW at the moment. I'm just down the road from you stop in sometime.

how slow is slow? receiver only. I would drop off in January

[Guest mosinon]

aluminum is hard to powder coat, not super tough, but more difficult than cold rolled steel or the like. It is conductive so the powder is attracted just fine but it cools at a different rate than steel so parts cool slower after they've been cured. Depending on the powder this can change the color. I think it was tough for us to get a gloss coat on the few aluminum parts we did.

Plus I'm not certain how well the powder coat would hold up on the moving parts. With proper prep powder coat is tough against the weather but it isn't as great against the dime scrape test. I'd forget about powder coat and paint unless you're only going to do it with non moving parts.

[Guest adamoxtwo]

Thanks guys I will look at Cerakote. Never dealt with that before so I need to do my homework. I would like to see an example of this if anyone knows where I can see something an example of this (other then driving to west Memphis, AR) I would appreciate it.

KCC you working out at Olive Group out there? or what ever the name is now?

[Guest mosinon]

Powder coating is easily achieved on aluminum with proper prep. A profile must be blasted on to the substrate. Aluminum Oxide is the absolute best at dong this. The next most important part of insuring a great and long lasting finish is proper cure. The part must reach PMT ( Part Metal temperature) Then the cure schedule can be started at the mfg's suggested schedule.

As far as firearms, the best bet is cerakote. Its a ceramic based paint thats applied, then cured. We do all hot parts such as headers, pipes, turbines, pistons etc in ceramic. Some require a thermal barrier as a base coat. Wheels, frames, tanks etc are powder coated.

Powder finish on aluminum is effected more so when part is curing. As you said, Aluminum heats and cools quicker. A rapidly heated aluminum piece can cause the powder to start the flow process, and cure before the the powder flows out all the way.. This will also cause a color change, and you will not get your full gloss level. Our oven is 7' Tall, and is PID controlled. We compensate for aluminum parts etc. Just about any part on a gun can be powder coated... is it reccomended.. No!

Cerakote is the way to go! Sorry to thread rob!

oh, let me be clear. You can powder coat aluminum all day long. You can even get really good at it if it is all you do. Plastic is a harder but you can powder coat that as well if you know what you are doing (and have the right plastic).

That said, most places are used to powder coating steel and the process is optimized for that material. A lot of people think: Metal is metal. Which is why they screw up the quotes when offering to coat aluminum.

Yeah, you can powder coat a gun all day long, and it will hold up well on certain parts and less well on others. I've never liked powder coat for parts that rub against another part but I've never really tried to powder coat those kind of parts so I could be wrong. I do like powder coat for corrosion resistance, adhesion and durability. I don't like it so much for close tolerances or hardness.

Than again my experience is limited, we only did car parts and appliance parts. I suppose there might be powder solutions for applications I am unfamiliar with but, from my limited experience, I'd say guns are somewhere I would tend to avoid powder.

My experience with powder comes from a high volume powder coat line so I'm not the best guy to talk about one offs and so forth. We were coating thousands of parts a day with a twelve gun nordson booth. I bet hand sprayed stuff can turn out really special.

[Guest adamoxtwo]

U can always ship! Lol j/k google cerakote or go to YouTube and type in cerakote. There are some great videos showing durability, application, etc. It's awesome stuff!

Let me look and you can give me a price. I'm not above shipping it. or even making a day trip and hang in Memphis and get some BBQ

[I_Like_Pie]

Before you ship...why not try it yourself? Got nothing to lose really. I have had good luck with simply using krylon flat black and clearcoat....lasted 20 years of regular use no worse for wear.

[Guest adamoxtwo]

Before you ship...why not try it yourself? Got nothing to lose really. I have had good luck with simply using krylon flat black and clearcoat....lasted 20 years of regular use no worse for wear.

I would rather pay to have something done right the first time. I want better quality then what I can provide. besides I'm more concerned with the prepping of the receiver.