CERAKOTE
CERAKOTE: What is it?
Cerakote is a composite epoxy coating made with polymer and ceramic. Like most coatings, it increases durability and resistance. Cerakote coatings has properties in it that makes it adhere to almost anything. It sticks to metal, plastic, polymer, and wood. Cerakote is very tight lipped about the full composition of its product (for good reason), but the fact is that NO OTHER COATING on the market has even come close to it is proof alone that it works. The coating is offered in over 100 colors, and can be applied with stencils, patterns, letters, engraving, and more to achieve virtually any pattern or design the customer wants. Some of our customers have spent money in the past for Blueing, Anodizing, and Parkerizing but none comes close to the added protection and color equivalency of Cerakote.
APPLICATION: How do we put in on?
For Cerakote, we have a procedure in how we apply it onto your firearm. Usually it’s disassembly, sandblasting, cleaning, painting, and baking. Sound simple right? Of course, but simple doesn’t mean easy. Cerakote itself is very meticulous, time-consuming process. A similar market product, powder coating, must be applied at a minimum of 2/1000” (2 mil). Cerakote, on the other hand, thrives around half that application (1 mil). Half of that. When correctly applied, cerakote won’t cover up deep engravings or change the accuracy of your gun. And while powder coating is just 1 mil thicker than cerakote, we’d never comfortably prescribe a powder coat to any firearm. As it turns out, that 1 mil totally matters. Guns are designed to function with almost atom-to-atom tightness. Yes, that 1 mil can wreck that perfect fitting, further destroying your accuracy and can sometimes lead to total disassembly of a firearm with new hardware being replaced. Nobody wants that.
Complete disassembly of the firearm is required, not just field stripping. You have get your gun down to its nitty gritty to really apply a good coat. And this is kind of tedious, which is why a lot of companies charge disassembly fees based on the complexity of the firearm.
Much like most paints, Cerakote is applied with a spray gun of sorts. And yes, it is toxic, so protective equipment must be worn. Protection isn’t optional, it’s mandatory for us.
Some Cerakote formulas require air-curing while others must be oven-baked. Most firearm Cerakotes are the oven-bake kind, which is why we use industry-leading full-sized ovens to bake and fully cure all our Cerakote builds.
The BENEFITS of Cerakote
Cerakote and their gang of mad scientists made this product with coating that is insanely thin but also crazy strong. The thin layer protects the moving parts from normal wear and tear like shooting and handling. It’s hydrophobic so water doesn’t like it too much, and sand is right up there as well. This means it repels water and sand… among almost every other element out there. It prevents rusting and pitting of firearms and can last for years!
