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Pro's and Con's of powder coating

5K views 20 replies 13 participants last post by  Don Fischer 
#1 · (Edited)
Hi Everyone,
I'm a new gun owner and have only been into firearms for about a year. Recently I heard about powder coating your firearm and was curious about it an had some questions that I was hoping you all could help with.
  • What is powder coating?
  • What is the purpose of powder coating?
  • What are the Pro's and Con's of powder coating your firearm?
  • Could it cause technical issues with the functionality of my pistol?
Thanks guys! I hope everyone has a great day!

- kell
 
#2 ·
Powder Coating is a type of coating that is applied as a free-flowing, dry powder. The main difference between a conventional liquid paint and a powder coating is that the powder coating does not require a solvent to keep the binder and filler parts in a liquid suspension form. The coating is typically applied electrostatically and is then cured under heat to allow it to flow and form a "skin".

I would not recommend anyone powder coat a gun. I had an old beat up H&R shotgun several years ago that I let my brother powder coat for me, it looked great. The only problem is that the powder coat will add that very thin coat of "paint" and it would not allow the shotgun action to be closed.

Something like cerakote or duracote which is actually made for coating guns would be a better way to refinish a gun if you intend on coating one.
 
#6 ·
I bought a Henry .22 several years ago that was in rough shape so I stripped the receiver and had it powder coated. There was no problem with the thickness of the finish and it has lasted very well. In fact, it looks just as good as the day I had it powder coated.
 
#8 ·
There's no issue powder coating a gun AS LONG AS IT'S DONE CORRECTLY. I can't stress CORRECTLY enough. You don't want to put powder coat anywhere that's going to cause a tolerance issue.
There are tapes and foam plugs made for powder coat applications to keep the powder from getting where you don't want it.

PROS-durable finish, no worries of rust, never have to oil the surface.
CONS-the firearm may not function properly if the job wasn't done correctly.

My savage 110 in 416 Taylor that I powder coated. The receiver, bolt parts, scope mounts and rings are all powder coated.
Gun Firearm Shooting Trigger Machine gun
 
#21 ·
There's no issue powder coating a gun AS LONG AS IT'S DONE CORRECTLY. I can't stress CORRECTLY enough. You don't want to put powder coat anywhere that's going to cause a tolerance issue.
There are tapes and foam plugs made for powder coat applications to keep the powder from getting where you don't want it.

PROS-durable finish, no worries of rust, never have to oil the surface.
CONS-the firearm may not function properly if the job wasn't done correctly.

My savage 110 in 416 Taylor that I powder coated. The receiver, bolt parts, scope mounts and rings are all powder coated.
View attachment 125796
For a gun lacking Bluing, that looks awful good! I'd never herd of powder coating gun's; bullet's, yep, wheels on the car, yep!
 
#9 ·
Almost everything you buy today is powder coated (Not guns). When the environmentalist got the solvents in paint removed, powder costing became popular.

The dry powder that is electrostatically applied is a plastic (at least in the powder coating I have had done). The oven bake melts the plastic and it flows like paint. It give a plastic like smooth surface once oven cured.

It is a thick coating that most definitely will interfere with the tight tolerances of gun parts running against each other. A nick in it might allow the steel under it to rust and work its way under the coating with the result of the metal rusting under the coating and the coating eventually peeling off. I have not had that happen to my powder coated projects even though some get rough treatment (off-road motorcycle frames).

The short of it is you can powder coat exterior surfaces but not any surfaces that have to operate against each other. There are better coatings available specifically for guns.

LDBennett
 
#11 ·
I was building a custom crotch rocket, had swingarm, frame and triple tree powder coated. Did not calculate the "coat" and the parts wouldn't fit back together. Expensive and time consuming lesson to get it to work, but the bike was awesome when it was completed
 
#16 ·
I've been powdercoating for years, and have done several firearms. A proper application adds 3 mils thickness, so parts that have tight tolerances can't really be done using it, and an improper application can add much more, the skill of the applicator is a major consideration. A nick in it is just like a scratch in bluing, it won't lift the rest of the coating and it's difficult to GET a scratch in it as well. The parts should be blasted with 80 grit media prior to coating, once it's coated and cured you play heck getting it off, aircraft paint stripper is the only thing I've ever found that will touch it, and even that is a total pain in the you know what to strip it off.
 
#19 ·
Yes, and no.

My frame-slide fit was not as tight as I wanted. I did not mask off the places where they fit together. I had to lightly file a very small spot on each side of the frame just to make it perfectly flat. I had a little bit of a xtra thickness from novice spraying skills. But now it fits real nice and the action is smooth. A small dose of Silver Bullet Gun Oil helps
 
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