Gunsmithing Coatings, diffs, Duracoat - Ceracote

[badaboom]

What is the diff ?
Why is one any better than the other?
What color goes best with woodland camo?

Thanks in advance

 

[OregonShooter]

Cerakote is stronger = better, also the search button will give you the details as there are many threads on the subject here.

 

[Dogtown]

Cerakote is definitely stronger, more of an enamel than Duracoat, but it also tends to be thicker. If you're coating parts that are interfacing and moving, don't be so generous with cerakote. I cerakote the barrel and receiver/action, but not the bolt or other internals. Gunkote and Duracoat are more forgiving in that area.

 

[TacticalMirage]

If you spray it properly, you can do areas like bolts or internals just fine. Most people that do not spray often or new at it tend to lay it on way to thick. Cerakote is no doubt the stronger of the two,but realistically most people are not ever hard enough on their weapon to tell the difference.

 

[OregonShooter]

Or if you are too hard the difference is hard to tell also. For a hard use gun, Cerakote a light color and krylon on top.

 

[RRA_45]

Durakote is easier to do yourself IMHO but Cerakote is tougher.

 

[WadeP]

Despite it's name, duracoat is not very durable.
Cerakote is a pain to mix.
I've been using gunkote for over 12 years and have no reason to change.

 

[USGUNWORKS]

Cerakote is hard to beat on metal. Gunkote is good but it will gloss up with wear, almost like its getting polished. Duracoat is handy because its easy but its not the most consistent as far as colors.

 

[Straight Shooter]

Cerakote = High tech ground up ceramic suspended in epoxy. I have been there and watched it made. It all starts out as ceramic beads.
Durakote = Paint

 

[Trigger Monkey]

In the past I've used DuraCoat for some of the reasons mentioned above, it's easy to do at home and is reasonably durable once cured. That being said with the air cure CeraKote out I'm tempted to try that as well on my barreled action this summer.

 

[Danco411]

I have used them all. Started with Duracoat and it is good to learn on. It is not that durable, is too thick for use on tight tolerance parts and it's toxic as hell. It will burn your lungs out if you don't have good ventilation and mask. I don't use Duracoat at all anymore except for camo jobs that I want to last longer than Krylon. Gunkote is good stuff for sure but not as wear resistant and hard as Cerakote. I still occasionlly use Gunkote but it will wear faster than Cerakote. I really like Moly Resin but only in HK Black. It has the best heat properies and is great for AK's and other hard use guns. Norrell's other colors are not that great but the black is awesome. I mainly use Cerakote due to the toughness, very thin application and of course the great colors. NIC is a great company and ships fast and offers excellent support. It is harder to work with and you need to be very good on your prep but the results are worth it. It is way more expensive than Gunkote but you get what you pay for IMHO. If applied correctly you will never have a tolerance issue with Cerakote. Its recommened for less than 1mil application thickness. Anything more is a waste. Cerakote does make a great base for any Krylon camo since it is really impervious to any kind of solvent. Acetone will take off Krylon easily with no harm to the Cerakote.

 

[OregonShooter]

Danco summed it up in a nutshell, my exact experience with the exception of duracoat which I never tried.

 

[jrm850]

I don't know if this is useful information for this thread or not, but mixing cerakote in small batches becomes a heck of alot easier if you just buy some empty syringes to meter both parts. It's more accurate, you can mix it right in the cup, and you don't waste much. It's a forgiving coating to spray, and I like the full cure in two hours.
I think Durakote is excellent for stocks and very tough. I wish they would sell a thicker version so us low volume types could blow webbing without the expense of Polane. One note on Durakote is that it is way tougher than most primers, especially high fill primers. If you spray it over a soft primer, you lose a lot of the benefits.
Just my opinion.

 

[sagillman]

I use KG Gun Kote and it works great, prep is the most important part. blasting with 120g aluminum oxide, then I thoroughly clean parts with denatured alcohol. I also spray the blasted metal with the k-phos prior to laying down color and it makes a big difference on how durable the coating is.