Duracoat v. Cerakote

[gunrunner32]

Well I've been applying Duracoat for a few years now and my biggest complaint about it is the cure time. I usually give myself at a minimum 2 weeks before I even touch it or start to think about assembling it. As for durability, My XD 45 has been numerous camo patterns and two-tone combinations over the last few years and the slide has remained black now for about a year and a half. I've got about 4-5k down the pipe and about 2500 with the slide in it's current state. The only problem I've had with the finish was when I decided to be smart and lock it down in the vise to remove the rear sight without any kind of buffer. Needless to say it got a little banged up, but as many of you who have tried when it comes to taking off the sight on an XD the rule "get a bigger hammer" truely applies.

I just did my first slide with oven cured Cerakote. I did as per manufacturers instructions for baking metal. The guy I got the Sig from decided to try and duracoat it without doing any of the prep work. So I decided to give Cerakote a try. First off I haven't been able to run it through it's paces for durability tests, however I've got a gunsmith rubber mat that I do some of my work on instead of maring up my wood work bench. With that rubber mat down I was able to pull the slide out of the oven (after cool down) and put back in the double roll pin punch without doing a single thing to the slide. I was able to put back on the front and rear sights with some minor brass marks near the front sight due to me being a butterfinger. So far I've went from a junked up slide to a near perfect slide now and I think that it matches the frame better than the original slide. Since I have two slides for my P226 I'll give you a little comparison at the bottom of the thread.

Duracoat

Pros:

Number of colors (201)

Ease of application

Proven durability

Cost (4 oz after shipping: $30)

Cons:

Cure time (3-4 weeks)

Cerakote

Pros:

Cure time (2 hours)

Durability

Ease of application

Cons:

Lack of color choices (32)

Cost (4 oz with shipping: $44)

More to follow with this subject when I do a little more and run the peices through a "test". Biggest thing that I've seen with aftermarket spray finishes is the prep work, quality prep work makes for a durable and long lasting finish. Here are the Sig pics I promised.

Cerakote:

Factory:

Edited January 10, 2011 by gunrunner32
Colors

[broknbonz]

nice comparison, Cerakote looks great, can it be applied to SS & what do you charge in labor to apply the cerakote if I supply the stripped pistol slide ?

[Rightwinger]

I've seen the slide to this gun and I tell you what folks, it's a clean smooth finish. It actually lets the underlying metals characteristics come through its so tight a finish. I'm having him do my XD as soon as I can grab funds and have a good back up pistol in place to use.

[gunrunner32]

I've seen the slide to this gun and I tell you what folks, it's a clean smooth finish. It actually lets the underlying metals characteristics come through its so tight a finish.

I guess this would be another pro/con depending on how you look at things. Both finishes are very thin, however thick enough to get the job done over time. With that the Duracoat is an epoxy based paint which I've been told kind of gives a firearm a certain plastic look to it. I tried to achieve this for S&G on my AR, short of it having the blaze orange tip it looks like a plastic airsoft gun. The cerakote allows for the metal characteristics to come out, downside any imperfections in the metal will also come out. Rightwinger saw that on the back part of the slide...and BTW it bothered me enough to the point I went home and stripped it back down and re-did it so those minor blemishes he saw are gone now. I wasn't sure what they were but they were gone after an thorough sand blasting.

Duracoat

Pro:

Clean smooth finish

Con:

Can look like a toy

Cerakote

Pro:

Smooth clean finish

Con:

Blemishes can possibly be noticable through the finish

[TGO David]

Might I suggest investing in some MGW sight tools for the various guns you'll be working on? When I was refinishing guns with Cerakote and Moly Resin, I had an assortment of MGW sight tools for the most common ones: Glock, Sig, HK, M&P, 1911, XD... etc.

They're about $100-120 a pop but well worth it considering how easy it makes the job. I still held on to a few for the models that I still own.

[gunrunner32]

Might I suggest investing in some MGW sight tools for the various guns you'll be working on? When I was refinishing guns with Cerakote and Moly Resin, I had an assortment of MGW sight tools for the most common ones: Glock, Sig, HK, M&P, 1911, XD... etc.

They're about $100-120 a pop but well worth it considering how easy it makes the job. I still held on to a few for the models that I still own.

As for this issue I've been running into with my own peices, I think I'm going to have to break down and get a sight pusher. I've seen the MGW tools, but at $100+ a weapon system that would greatly cut into my already minimal fun funds. No one told me a kid would be such an expensive pet. I've been looking at the Kaiser Uni-200L, seems pretty user friendly and after a bunch of reviews and videos on it's operation it seems like it would get the job done. Once I get it I'll have to give a run down on it to maybe help out others in the same boat as myself or those that just want a good universal sight tool.

[TGO David]

I'd forgotten about the Kaiser. It'll be interesting to hear your opinions on it.

[gunrunner32]

Just ordered the Kaiser Uni-200L, I'll give a good review once I receive it.