best "at home" cro-moly barrel finishing ??

[placek59]

I am ordering a cro-moly "in the white" barrel and was wondering what the easiest/best at home finish is for these barrels? I haven't had good luck with the cold blue in the past and was hoping someone could point me to something better. I also don't have an oven large enough to do any type of bake on applications. What do you guys think???

[stomp442]

Is this for a Savage? If it is just leave it off the action for baking then install on the action when you are done. For bake on I really like the Teflon Moly Gun Kote from Brownells and they have lots of colors to choose from. As far as non baking Krylon paint is probably going to be your best bet.

[placek59]

Ya- it's for a savage. 28" long and I know I can't bake it in my kitchen oven, even if it will fit, I know enough to know I will get in trouble. I have some Krylon desert tan (or something close) that I thought of painting it, but didn't know if there was something better. I also think I want more of a flat black anyway...

[seanhagerty]

I have used krylon and durabake as well as the mixshakenspray duracoat. I think they all have their place. The dura bake has a few gouges on the bolt body I painted, but the barrel has no problems on the finish. I did an AR with krylon rattle cans. I like that I can just go at it so easily.

They all have their place, just research each method and figure out what works for yoru application.

That being said, the key to the best coating no matter what you do is prep. Degrease, degrease, degrease. Did I say prep? Spend a lot more time prepping than you do painting.

[brtelec]

I am a big fan of Duracoat for a no bake at home finish. It is tough I will give it that. It is easy to use and even for a ham fist like myself it comes out nice and even and looks great. I could not agree more with Seanhagerty, de-greasing is the key to a nice finish. The extra time you spend prepping your metal prior to shooting, will pay off big time.

[nuclabuyer]

I would parkerize it then duracoat it.

[308law]

I also like Duracoat, I've had good success with it and there are a ton of really cool colors and patterns.

[WYcoyote]

I did a small job with Alumahyde II from Brownells and had good luck with it.

[jsthntn247]

You can build an oven for 50 bucks and use any coating you want. Norrell's Molly or Gunkote seem the easiest to work with and most durable to me.
http://i801.photobucket.com/albums/yy293/jsthntn247/talloven.jpg

Cheap Blaster
http://i801.photobucket.com/albums/yy293/jsthntn247/blasteingwithgun.jpg

[larrys1911]

Ive used Duracoat, Brownells Moly Coat, Brownells Alumahyde, and some other shake and bake I dont remember...

NOTHING that I have used comes close to the Norrells Molyresin for ease of use, protection, and aesthetics (not looking like paint)

Follow his directions and youll LOVE the results. If possible sandblast the whole thing to completely uniform the surface before you start.

Cant say enough good about the molyresin. And to top it off Norrell is a cool guy to deal with.

http://www.johnnorrellarms.com/molyresin_about.asp

Larry

[mwb6700]

The art's belgian blue from brownells works as advertised. boiling hot DISTILLED water in a fourteen dollar plastic goat feed trough from tractor supply does the trick. Brake cleaner (TCE) like brakleen for degreasing, latex/rubber gloves, and the fine grade of scotch brite pad (white) means no worry with oils in gun steel, fingerprints or steel wool. to hold it, concrete tie wire (soft black iron wire) and rubber stoppers for the bore with stainless screws in the stoppers. those pretty white "t-shirt material" cotton rags for application. lowes, home depot etc. / auto parts house / tractor supply. prep, prep, prep. degrease everything. you will know when to change out water when the steel quits air drying quickly. i keep a gallon of water boiling on a coleman stove while doing the carding and application.

[blfuller]

I have used the Moly Resin from Norrells as well and it's great. If you can bead blast the barrel it would be for best adhesion then use a phosphoric acid solution to put a zinc phosphate on the metal. You can pick up the phosphoric acid at your local hardware store. Here's a link to one type...Klean-Strip (http://www.wmbarr.com/product.aspx?catid=32&prodid=81)

If you can't bead blast, rough up the outside of the barrel with some sand paper to give the surface some tooth and follow-up with the phosphoric acid.

[devildogandboy]

someone on this forum I think posted pics of a cold blue job they did and I was impressed with the results. I believe they bought it from Brownells. it looked really great!

[devildogandboy]

someone on this forum I think posted pics of a cold blue job they did and I was impressed with the results. I believe they bought it from Brownells. it looked really great!

here's the link to the post I had seen but the photos have been removed.
http://www.savageshooters.com/showthread.php?16340-I-just-finished-bluing-my-first-barrel-with-Birchwood-Casey-Super-Blue&highlight=blue+cold

[Luckus]

What about powder coating, will that work on stainless steel? Just a shot in the dark. Luckus

[03mossy]

I just finished up by current build using Wheelers Cerama coat last night. Gotta say I'm pretty impressed by the way it turned out. Time will tell how it holds up.

[LRJammer]

I built a curing oven out of HVAC ducts, fiberglass insulation and some 1x4s and do my own Cerakote at home. A $40 automotive touch up gun from Grizzly to do the spray. Cerakote is the best I have used. I'm sure one of the exotic finishes from Robar may be better, at 10x the price.

[blfuller]

What about powder coating, will that work on stainless steel? Just a shot in the dark. Luckus

Powder coat will work on all types of metals. Just don't get it on the barrel threads or any other tight tolerance areas. This tends to go on thick and depending on the type, may or may not be solvent resistant.