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| Article by
Jamie Mangrum |
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Adobe PDF
Downloadable Version of Article |
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| My friend Randall and I recently came up with the idea
that we
were going to venture to try our hand at DuraCoating a
few firearms and we would document our effort in an
article. DuraCoat is a two-part chemical based firearm
coating manufactured by Lauer Custom Weaponry. One great
thing about the DuraCoat product is the myriad of colors
that are available. There are at least 60
stock colors and even what Lauer refers to
as
Electric Colors. There are currently seven of the Electric
Colors with names like Lime, Sunburst, and O'Sherbert.
Can you imagine your SKS or AK in Lime? Your imagination is your
only limitation.
DuraCoat is a pretty easy finish to apply. All you need to do
is clean and degrease your firearm. Then you mix and apply
the DuraCoat finish with an airbrush or High Volume Low
Pressure (HVLP) spray gun. Randall has a large
air compressor and air gun equipment so we were ready to
go. If you do not have equipment already and don't want
to spend a lot of money to get started then Lauer offers
a starter kit (pictured below) for only $49.95 that
Includes:
- Airbrush with air hose and couplings
- 9 oz. airbrush propellant with valve
- color bottle with adapter
- color bottle with cap
- 4 oz DuraCoat stock color of your choice
- 1 oz DuraCoat Hardener
- 2 oz DuraCoat Reducer
- 16 oz Aerosol TruStrip
- DuraCoat Instructional DVD.
We wrote Lauer prior to writing this article and
asked if we could post the contents of the DuraCoat
Instructional DVD and they said yes. So later in the
article we offer all of the video for you to watch - all
59 minutes! |
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We selected our
firearms for the project. I chose a sporterized
Mosin Nagant m44 that has been spotlighted in
several other articles on the Surplusrifle.com:
Lil' Black Beauty
Lil' Black Beauty Dresses Up
Her overall finish was the one thing that was
still lacking. Since she is called Lil' Black Beauty I
thought it only fitting that we use the color called Matte
Black. I completely
disassembled her and bagged
the smaller parts we were going to finish.
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Bit off a little more than
we can chew. We had selected too many firearms
to coat. |
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Next we chose a Norinco SKS to finish.
I had seen a Stainless Steel SKS in the forum and
thought that would be a good theme to go with...so you
guessed it! I selected the Stainless Steel DuraCoat. We
also selected a couple of SIG pistols that had very worn
finishes, but because of time constraints we did not
have time to coat them. Randall had a great idea of
building a frame that would allow us to hang parts so
they were suspended in air while we sprayed them with
DuraCoat. To build our stand we used a 2x4 cut in three
pieces, wood screws and some wire. As you can see in figures 2 and 3 it worked pretty
dang well. |
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Randall building up the frame. |
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The Mosin barrel hanging in the frame. |
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DuraCoat EZ Finishing Kit
Includes: Airbrush with air hose and couplings, 9 oz.
airbrush propellant with valve, color bottle with adapter, color
bottle with cap, 4 oz DuraCoat stock color of your choice, 1 oz
DuraCoat Hardener, 2 oz DuraCoat Reducer, 16 oz Aerosol TruStrip,
DuraCoat Instructional DVD. |
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How much DuraCoat is needed to
finish one rifle? |
| A 4 oz. container of DuraCoat will coat 1-2 long
guns or 2-4 handguns. |
| Source:
DuraCoat FAQ |
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Lauer says in their
DuraCoat FAQ that DuraCoat loves to be
applied over the top of parkerizing.
We wanted to try an experiment so we decided
to parkerize the Mosin Nagant. First we blasted
the Mosin Nagant down with aluminum oxide in a
blasting chamber to the white (bare metal) and
then we parkerized her. Randall
said that once I saw the Mosin Nagant parkerized I would not
want to continue and apply the DuraCoat
finish. I thought about it and it was tempting
but I decided we had come too far so we decided
to proceed ahead. |
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Parts cleaned and degreased
with wire for hanging off the frame while
coating. |
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Degrease |
| As in all finishes,
proper surface prep is important. To ensure proper
adhesion of the finish, all parts must be clean. We
recommend degreasing with and ACN, NST, or our favorite,
TruStrip as they leave no residue and dry fast. A clean
surface is critical to your success so be sure to be
thorough. Take your firearm apart as much as you feel
comfortable. Remember: As long as your firearm is clean
and free of oil, DuraCoat will adhere no matter how
little you disassemble. |
| Source: Supplied
Instructions |
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Randall drying off the Mosin Nagant after
parkerizing. |
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A close up of the parkerized Mosin. |
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What Colors Did We Choose? |
 We
decided to use the Matte Black to refinish the
sporterized Mosin. |
 We
decided to use Stainless Steel and the
Tapco T6 Adjustable Stock on a Norinco SKS. |
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With permission of Lauer Custom Weoponry we bring to you
an online version of the DuraCoat Firearm Finishes Instructional
Video! |
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DuraCoat DVD Videos |
| Title |
Duration |
File Size |
File Type |
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Preparation |
| Shake |
00:28 |
361 KB |
Windows Media File |
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Mixing |
00:36 |
439 KB |
Windows Media File |
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Technique |
| Spraying |
02:24 |
1.74 MB |
Windows Media File |
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Technique |
01:55 |
1.38 MB |
Windows Media File |
| DuraFill |
01:51 |
1.32 MB |
Windows Media File |
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Clear |
02:12 |
1.57 MB |
Windows Media File |
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Camouflage |
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Camo Step 1 |
06:41 |
4.84 MB |
Windows Media File |
| Camo Step 2 |
02:16 |
1.65 MB |
Windows Media File |
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Camo Step 3 |
00:38 |
480 KB |
Windows Media File |
| MirageFlage |
13:38 |
9.88 MB |
Windows Media File |
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Desert Storm |
11:34 |
8.26 MB |
Windows Media File |
Clean-up |
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HVLP |
03:14 |
2.34 MB |
Windows Media File |
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HVLP Advanced |
03:03 |
2.18 MB |
Windows Media File |
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Equipment |
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LCW Ovens |
03:50 |
2.78 MB |
Windows Media File |
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Hobby Brushes |
00:41 |
499 KB |
Windows Media File |
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Gravity
Flow |
02:32 |
1.82 MB |
Windows Media File |
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Advanced HVLP Features |
02:19 |
1.56 MB |
Windows Media File |
| Total |
59:52 |
43.58 MB |
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We thoroughly cleaned and degreased all of the parts prior to
applying any finish. We used a degreaser Randall had that you
mix with water and then heat. We placed all of the parts in the hot
solution and left them in for almost an hour. Then just for good
measure we used the DuraCoat TruStrip to ensure we had properly
cleaned and degreased the surface of all of the parts before
applying the DuraCoat finish. |
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Do I need a special degreaser? |
| Yes. Some degreasers, especially those used in the
automotive industry, can leave a residue. This residue
will form a barrier between the surface and DuraCoat
causing a coating failure. We manufacture TruStrip
degreaser solely for the firearms industry. TruStrip is
capable of cleaning the contaminates commonly found on
and in firearms and will not leave a residue. |
| Source:
DuraCoat FAQ |
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The instructions state the
importance of shaking the DuraCoat before use because
the binding agent will settle on the bottom of the
container. Randall shook the bottles for at least four
minutes prior to mixing. Next we mixed the
DuraCoat Hardener with the DuraCoat. It should be mixed
at a ratio of Twelve to One. That is twelve parts
DuraCoat to one part DuraCoat Hardener. For small
batches we found it is the easiest to use a standard ten
ml syringe without a needle. You can easily suck up ten
ml and squeeze it into the mixer bottle followed by
another two ml and then one ml of Hardener. |
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Optimum DuraCoat Hardener Ratio: |
| 1:12 (1 part Hardener to 12 parts
DuraCoat). The best way to combine Hardener with
DuraCoat using measuring spoons is: 4 Tablespoons
DuraCoat to 1 Teaspoon Hardener or a fraction of: 2
Tablespoons DuraCoat to 1/2 Teaspoon Hardener. |
| Source: Supplied
Instructions |
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Randall sucking up 10 ml of matte black
DuraCoat. |
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Filling the mixing container with DuraCoat. |
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Placing the 1 part Hardener in the mixing
container. |
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Randall spraying DuraCoat on our
Mosin Sporter. |
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As I said prior, for our project we used an airbrush and air compressor.
Randall, per the instructions tested the spray on a test
surface before proceeding to our test weapons. We found
the DuraCoat gave great coverage of the surface. One
note I need to make is it took considerably more
DuraCoat to cover the parkerized surface of the Mosin
than the non-parkerized SKS. The parkerized surface just
sops up the DuraCoat like a hungry monster. This is a
good thing because it means that the DuraCoat is binding
with the parkerized surface. |
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Applying DuraCoat |
| DuraCoat can be
applied by airbrush, conventional automotive spray gun,
HVLP systems or airless paint sprayer. Fill your sprayer
and you are ready to begin.
Test your spray gun by coating a test
piece of metal or plastic.
If your sprayer does not spray
DuraCoat evenly, add DuraCoat reducer (up to 20% by
volume), increase air pressure, or both.
- Spray with smooth, even passes,
building DuraCoat to the desired thickness.
- Stop intermittently to allow the
solvents to flash-off.
- Spray from .25 mil minimum
thickness to 1.5 mil maximum DuraCoat thickness.
- Spray distance from sprayer to
firearm surface: 4" to 8", depending on desired
effect.
The optimum thickness is 1 mil. A
thinner coating will be required on tight tolerance
areas and a thicker coating can be applied to high wear
areas. |
| Source: Supplied
Instructions |
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Randall airbrushing on the second coat of
DuraCoat onto the Mosin receiver. |
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You can see how our stand worked well for
small parts. |
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We even disassembled the Mosin trigger and
applied DuraCoat. |
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We ran two wires across the top of our
stand and it helped us even paint the heads of screws. Per the
recommendation in the instructions we did not spray finish on
the threads of the screws. |
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Spraying the SKS was a little tricky because we had to
tape off some of the internal parts like the gas port
and so on. Also the SKS has a lot more curved surfaces
and nooks and crannies than the Mosin. |
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We picked up the stand and rotated it 180 degrees to get
at the other side of the SKS receiver. A safety note that I
would like to make is you really need to work in a very
well ventilated area. If possible you should wear a
respirator. The fumes produced while finishing several
rifles can be quite strong. We had the garage and a side
door open with a fan blowing out the front garage door
for air circulation. |
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Randall spraying Stainless Steel DuraCoat
onto the magazine of the SKS. |
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We opted to not disassemble the trigger and
also did not spray DuraCoat into the mechanical parts. We only
coated the trigger, safety lever and exposed portion of trigger
frame. |
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Randall spraying the receiver cover. This
is what I would consider a high wear part and so we applied many
coats of finish. |
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After applying several coats of DuraCoat finish to both the SKS and the
Mosin sporter we allowed both firearms and associated parts to dry over
night. I went back the next day to Randall's to pick them up and bring them
to my house. We wanted the finish to really harden so I placed both in my
home made
Easy Bake Garbage Can for a couple hours. The suggested baking
temperature is 110 degrees F. I was able to maintain this temperature with
lower wattage light bulbs than I use when seeping out cosmoline from a
wooden stock. |
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Drying Time |
| After the
final coat has been applied, air dry overnight. At this
point he finish is cured enough for light use. The
finish will fully cure in a couple of weeks. Maximum
resistance to abrasion, impact, and chemicals is
attained in three to four weeks. You can speed up the
drying process by baking for one hour at 100 degrees F.
This is the same as air drying overnight. |
| Source: Supplied
Instructions |
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Lil' Black Beauty is now completely
finished. |
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My SKS looks out of this world or as my wife said it
looks Pimptastic! So, I now dub her my PimpKS! |
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It is now a couple weeks after we refinished both rifles
and the weather has been poor on weekends so I have not
been able to go to the range. This is a good thing
anyways because it is good to be cautious and allow the
the DuraCoat finished firearms to cure before taking
them to the range and subjecting them to extreme heat
followed by the attack of the cleaning solvents.
The DuraCoat finish on both firearms looks great and
appears to be very durable. I really like Lil Black
Beauty. She is gorgeous!
Soon when the weather improves I am taking both both
my girls out for a maiden shooting session so they can
sport their new coats! |
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Adobe PDF
Downloadable Version of Article |
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| Article by
Jamie Mangrum |
