Stainless vs Chrome-Moly when coating?

[AK4900PA]

I'm in the planning stages of putting together a rifle for my wife. I already have a long action BVSS stock from my rifle that is being replaced with an XLR chassis shortly. She wants the barrel and action coated with duracoat or something along those lines. Are there any advantages to buying a stainless action and barrel to have coated or should I just save the money and buy a blued action and barrel?

[Cycler]

The coating will just be on the exterior surfaces so the bore, action interior, bolt, etc, won't be protected by it. If you live anywhere that isn't desert dry all year round and/or aren't scrupulous about maintenance, get a stainless barreled action.

[airaddict]

why not consider nitriding it. then you can do chrome-moly (which is a bit cheaper) and not worry about rust anymore. just my .02 cents.

i plan to do that on my next build. stainless action and CM barrel nitrided which i have read gives it a black/bluish finish depending on the finish on the metal, as in polished or bead blasted.

brian

[AK4900PA]

I'm not familiar with nitriding. Is that more than just an exterior finish? I know the wife wants a satin black finish on all the metal parts. Haven't really gotten into researching the different brands though.

I like to think I take good care of my guns as far as cleaning and storage, but living in eastern pennsylvania, I suppose it wouldn't hurt to pay the extra couple bucks for the stainless action and barrel.

[airaddict]

search nitriding on here. u will find out all u need.

in a nutshell its a special molten salt bath thats changes the molecular composition of the surface metal which makes it super hard and very corrosion resistant. that also helps w barrel errosion from hot loads or barrel burner type calibers. they say plain CM or stainless polished finished give a almost blackish blue type color and matte finishes give a smoother blackish finish.

brian

[brtelec]

I have been really happy with Cerakote. It is a baked on finish that is incredibly hard and incredibly thin. They coat everything except the bore. I am offshore working right now or I would post a Savage rifle in Cerakote, but I have a picture of a Remington 700 in 300 WSM with me that I had done recently by Alternative Coatings in Phoenix Arizona. Here is a link with info about the finish. www.cerakote.net

http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc233/fzrmax/IMG_2576.jpg

[airaddict]

ive had cerakote done on an old mossberg 500 that would rust in front of ur eyes and it came out really nice. all the parts screwed back together w no problems at all. mine was done thru kyguncoat.com. they are on gunbroker in the gunsmithing section. ran me about $100 since i sent all the parts (barrel, mag, follower, and takedown screw) disassembled already.

brian

[AK4900PA]

I suppose I'll have to do a bit more research on exactly what kind of coating I want before ordering the action and barrel.

If I go with something like the Cerakote I would still want to use a stainless action, but if I were to go with the nitriding that wouldn't be necessary since it takes care of the inside and outside.

[airaddict]

thats correct.

did you get to read over the long nitriding post? i cant recall which part its under, maybe the barrels section but theres lots of good info on there.

they have said if u do nitride be sure to have any gunsmithing done first cuz that makes the metal so hard it will chew up bits like nothing.

brian