Any horror stories on DuraCoat?

[omegapd]

Hey All,

Just sent off a well abused S&W 19 snubby to get refinished. From the ads, DuraCoat seems to offer a good amount of protection for a decent price.

What do you guys think? I took some before pics. I'll post them when the after pics come in in a few weeks. Hopefully everything will go smoothly...

Other than the price, no problems with UPS at all. Didn't even ask any questions or ask to see the gun. That was the first time I ever shipped a gun through the mail and it went well. Cost $48.50 for overnight to WI.

EW

 

[mako8551]

Refinished an SKS myself but I parkerised it first as recomended to give the DuraCoat something to hold on to. Looks good and stands up to cleaning, however: Under the gas tube the gas has blown of the duracoat. I stoped messing w/ it and just sharpie it to match after i clean the gun. Over all not bad, but it does not compare to a true factory finnish.

 

[jhansman]

Had a .45 ACP Springfield XD I sold (regrettably) that I had Duracoated in Combat Gray. It looked great! Didn't keep it long enough to find out if the finish would stand up to heavy use, but my, that was a handsome pistol. Many swear by this finish.

 

[Bill DeShivs]

It's paint. As long as you realize the limitations of paint it will be OK.

 

[teeroux]

Never used duracoat but ive used brownells thicker teflon-moly coat on an old pistol with excellent results it stands up very welll. They both wrk about the same way but i think the duracoat is a harder finish.

The only thing is the price to ship your gun is about the price of a can of duracoat.

If you could get your gun parked or beadblasted you could have done it yourself.

 

[omegapd]

If I was just planning on doing a slide or something on a semi-auto, I would have attempted the job myself. Figured a revolver would be more work than what I had planned.

Thanks for the replies so far.

EW

 

[TexasPaladin]

I LOVE Duracoat!

Duracoat is a wonderful product, as long as you understand that it isn't going to give you the same look as a professional hot blueing. The trade off is that I can duracoat a gun in an afternoon, in my own garage, for a couple of bucks. Most of the guns that I buy are purchased for less than it would cost to have them professionally blued.

Duracoat is extremely durable, assuming you follow the directions exactly as given by the company. I've done several guns now, and love the stuff. I've not seen any wear from holster, storage, or shooting. I've not done a revolver yet, 'cuz I'm not a revolver guy. I've done semi auto pistols, and sks, and an old shotgun.

Now, if I drop the gun on the concrete, it'll mar the finish..... but it would mar the finish on a professionally blued (ie expensive) gun also.

Difference is, I can fix the duracoated gun myself in a couple of hours for cheap

Here's pics of my latest duracoat project. Its a Star BM 9mm made in 1976. You can see in the before picture, it had dull grips and about half the blueing was worn off. She still had a good heart though.... that's the kind of guns that appeal to me. I made the grips myself from Amboyna wood. She shoots like a dream, and eats absolutely ANY ammo I put through her without a hiccup.

Total investment in this gun, including the gun, burl wood for the grips, and duracoat, is under $250.

Paladin

 

[jmwyles]

Star

What color did you do the Star in? There are several black colors. I did a .22 rifle in standard blue and it looked great.

 

[TexasPaladin]

The Star is duracoated in HK black.

I've wanted to try the gloss black, but just haven't gotten around to it. I had the HK black left over from an SKS project I did last spring. I did an old single barrel shotgun in blue, and liked it as well.

The first gun I did was an old MAB (french) semi auto 32 cal that I friend of mine found abandoned in a rent house of his. All rusted up - slide wouldn't budge and the mag wouldn't come out. Almost no blueing left on the gun by the time I got everything working correctly.

Did it in "Parker" color, with the grips hk black. The parker color was a little too "green" for my taste... looked like a GI Joe gun . The results were enough to get me hooked on duracoat, though.

Paladin

 

[1006smith]

I used diamondkote (probably the sme thing) on a Springfield 1911 I carry daily. The springfield had a rust problem under the grip that was hard to control. The diamondkote took care of that. It did rub off of the barrel hood, which was a bright chrome/nickel before they got it, and the leading corner of the dust cover from frequent holstering after a year or so. Here is the website:
http://www.mrarms.com/index.html
For $145.00 I wasn't going to chance ruining my gun and they have a lifetime warranty. Yes, I plan on using them again on another gun.

Chuck