Seems like I have made a real "rookie mistake" in my desire to get a couple of barrel actions cerakoted. I'm interested in knowing from more knowledgeable people here on the Hide if there are other things I should evaluate and consider:
The background:
Living in CT, gunsmithing services are a tad harder to come by than in e.g., Kansas City, MO. So, I was absolutely stoked to come across a place that offered me a great price on cerakoting two R700 SA barreled actions in less than 1 week. A disclaimer is that this company does no gunsmithing work other than cerakote finishing.
One BA was done OD green and the other black.
First mistake:
I neglected to tell the company to leave cerakote off the lug and bolt face assembly. For the matte OD green finish especially, this small layer of finish created an very tight finish. But on both rifles, a considerable amount of bolt cycling was needed on an empty case, along with some scrubbing with a bristle brush and Butch's bore shine on the bolt face and lugs, to get the bolt to close into battery. I realize that this will wear in with time, but I could have saved myself lots of aggravation.
Second mistake:
I didn't realize until after the fact that cerakote cures for quite some time at a very elevated temperature. It seems that this temperature, and time at temperature, is significant enough to affect the material properties of the R700 non-riveted extractor such that it causes the extractor to loose the spring tension necessary to grip the case and pull it out from the chamber. The rifle done in OD green will not extract cases, period and the one done in black finish no has intermitent extraction problems. Two new extractors are on their way from Brownells, but it is aggravating to realize I could have probably prevented this by just removing the extractor from the bolt from the get go.
Obviously, if the new extractors from Brownells don't solve the issue, I have a more significant problem. I don't think I need to hold the finishing company responsible for this because they just did what I asked them to do. I was an idiot by not being smarter about my gear and taking proper precautions. I'm wondering if there is anything else I should do or evaluate?
The background:
Living in CT, gunsmithing services are a tad harder to come by than in e.g., Kansas City, MO. So, I was absolutely stoked to come across a place that offered me a great price on cerakoting two R700 SA barreled actions in less than 1 week. A disclaimer is that this company does no gunsmithing work other than cerakote finishing.
One BA was done OD green and the other black.
First mistake:
I neglected to tell the company to leave cerakote off the lug and bolt face assembly. For the matte OD green finish especially, this small layer of finish created an very tight finish. But on both rifles, a considerable amount of bolt cycling was needed on an empty case, along with some scrubbing with a bristle brush and Butch's bore shine on the bolt face and lugs, to get the bolt to close into battery. I realize that this will wear in with time, but I could have saved myself lots of aggravation.
Second mistake:
I didn't realize until after the fact that cerakote cures for quite some time at a very elevated temperature. It seems that this temperature, and time at temperature, is significant enough to affect the material properties of the R700 non-riveted extractor such that it causes the extractor to loose the spring tension necessary to grip the case and pull it out from the chamber. The rifle done in OD green will not extract cases, period and the one done in black finish no has intermitent extraction problems. Two new extractors are on their way from Brownells, but it is aggravating to realize I could have probably prevented this by just removing the extractor from the bolt from the get go.
Obviously, if the new extractors from Brownells don't solve the issue, I have a more significant problem. I don't think I need to hold the finishing company responsible for this because they just did what I asked them to do. I was an idiot by not being smarter about my gear and taking proper precautions. I'm wondering if there is anything else I should do or evaluate?
