Cerakote colour options

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Cerakote colour options

Post by GQshayne » 01 Jul 2019, 8:43 pm

Evening viewers. :mrgreen:

My new-to-me project rifle, an M55 Tikka, is going to get refurbished. Stock will be given a birthday, and metalwork will be polished, and then Cerakoted. I already have two rifles Cerakoted, so am familiar with the process.

Problem I am having this time, is that I would like to do a combination of colours. The Cerakote website has a very large photo gallery, but a big percentage is covered by pistols, and tactical or full synthetic rifles. So they Cerakote everything. Not so common are bolt action rifles with timber stocks, so looking at colour options is not so easy. Also, colours on the web site look different when you have them in your hands in natural light, in my experience anyway.

I am intending to get the barrel & action, bolt, magazine, and rings and mounts done. I don't want to get too funky, but a contrast somewhere would be good. Scope is a Meopta, which has a typical satin black finish.

Any thoughts/suggestions? Seen a photo of something that you reckon looks good?

Any thoughts or ideas welcome.

Cheers,
Shayne
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Re: Cerakote colour options

Post by bladeracer » 01 Jul 2019, 9:09 pm

GQshayne wrote:Evening viewers. :mrgreen:

My new-to-me project rifle, an M55 Tikka, is going to get refurbished. Stock will be given a birthday, and metalwork will be polished, and then Cerakoted. I already have two rifles Cerakoted, so am familiar with the process.

Problem I am having this time, is that I would like to do a combination of colours. The Cerakote website has a very large photo gallery, but a big percentage is covered by pistols, and tactical or full synthetic rifles. So they Cerakote everything. Not so common are bolt action rifles with timber stocks, so looking at colour options is not so easy. Also, colours on the web site look different when you have them in your hands in natural light, in my experience anyway.

I am intending to get the barrel & action, bolt, magazine, and rings and mounts done. I don't want to get too funky, but a contrast somewhere would be good. Scope is a Meopta, which has a typical satin black finish.

Any thoughts/suggestions? Seen a photo of something that you reckon looks good?

Any thoughts or ideas welcome.

Cheers,
Shayne


Since you're going to paint it anyway, maybe just get some spray cans have play around until you find a scheme you like.
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Re: Cerakote colour options

Post by TassieTiger » 02 Jul 2019, 9:23 am

I've seen a web / black / blue design with almost like a airbrushed white highlighting parts of the web / cracks through the design...looked great but I have no pics. The owner also had his stock plasti dipped - came out very nice with the same web / fracture design.
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Re: Cerakote colour options

Post by GQshayne » 02 Jul 2019, 5:58 pm

I thought I might experiment with some cheap paint. It will come off easy enough when I polish it anyway.

Tassie I reckon I have seen what you describe, but on rifles where the stock is done too. Not sure how that would go on just a barrel etc.

This rifle has a screw on oversize plastic bolt knob. So perhaps leaving that as it is, the rest of the bolt handle could be a contrast. Only a small area. There is a colour called Burnt Bronze I reckon looks good. Maybe even bolt handle, rings and bases one colour, and barrel and action another???? :unknown: :roll:
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Re: Cerakote colour options

Post by GQshayne » 02 Jul 2019, 9:02 pm

Bronze goes well with the dark colours. Not sure that a large area like the barrel works with the timber stock though. Too much I think.

https://www.cerakote.com/gallery/detail/30924/Cerakote-h146-graphite-black-and-h148-burt-bronze/

https://www.cerakote.com/gallery/detail/26716/Cerakote-h148-burnt-bronze-and-h146-graphite-black/
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Re: Cerakote colour options

Post by on_one_wheel » 02 Jul 2019, 9:07 pm

Not much point polishing it, they're going to grit blast it to get the correct surface for Creakote to bond to.
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Re: Cerakote colour options

Post by GQshayne » 02 Jul 2019, 10:19 pm

on_one_wheel wrote:Not much point polishing it, they're going to grit blast it to get the correct surface for Creakote to bond to.


The blast media used is very fine. If you do not do surface preparation, then any imperfections will be there after coating. The coating is very thin, it is not effective as a filler. If you look at enough stuff that has been coated, it is easy to see where surface prep has not been done. On a new firearm that has no marks on it, then I agree, but a 30 year old rifle with rust marks needs preparation in my experience. I have done three rifles now, and have had good results by removing any marks. In one case, I actually found corrosion underneath bluing. Very strange, but if I had not rubbed it back I would not have seen it, and then had no chance to polish it out.
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Re: Cerakote colour options

Post by on_one_wheel » 02 Jul 2019, 10:30 pm

GQshayne wrote:
on_one_wheel wrote:Not much point polishing it, they're going to grit blast it to get the correct surface for Creakote to bond to.


The blast media used is very fine. If you do not do surface preparation, then any imperfections will be there after coating. The coating is very thin, it is not effective as a filler. If you look at enough stuff that has been coated, it is easy to see where surface prep has not been done. On a new firearm that has no marks on it, then I agree, but a 30 year old rifle with rust marks needs preparation in my experience. I have done three rifles now, and have had good results by removing any marks. In one case, I actually found corrosion underneath bluing. Very strange, but if I had not rubbed it back I would not have seen it, and then had no chance to polish it out.


That makes sense :thumbsup:
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Re: Cerakote colour options

Post by TassieTiger » 03 Jul 2019, 1:23 am

Surprised someone hasn’t anodised yet, resulting in colour pallet increases...probably not hard enough wearing...
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ATA 686 U/O 12g & Baikal S/S 12g.
Adler a110 reddot
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Re: Cerakote colour options

Post by GQshayne » 03 Jul 2019, 10:45 am

on_one_wheel wrote:
GQshayne wrote:
on_one_wheel wrote:Not much point polishing it, they're going to grit blast it to get the correct surface for Creakote to bond to.


The blast media used is very fine. If you do not do surface preparation, then any imperfections will be there after coating. The coating is very thin, it is not effective as a filler. If you look at enough stuff that has been coated, it is easy to see where surface prep has not been done. On a new firearm that has no marks on it, then I agree, but a 30 year old rifle with rust marks needs preparation in my experience. I have done three rifles now, and have had good results by removing any marks. In one case, I actually found corrosion underneath bluing. Very strange, but if I had not rubbed it back I would not have seen it, and then had no chance to polish it out.


That makes sense :thumbsup:


I have had a few rifles handed to me to look at after Cerakoting, and you can tell if they had some hard use. If you have any rust pitting about the size of a pin prick then it will show up after coating. It is very thin. Fortunately for me, I have had a number of car parts, such as turbo housings and exhaust manifolds, which were done before I did a rifle, so I new what to expect before I started. The prep I do depends on what you start with. My last one (that had the corrosion under the bluing) was mostly done with steel wool, and then wet and dry on any spots that needed it. Then finish off with wet 0000 steel wool. But I have done two that had a fair bit of pitting, and I started on those with a file believe it or not. In the end though, they end up looking new when finished. I had a rifle reblued once, but it wore off quickly and cost a lot! LOL
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Re: Cerakote colour options

Post by GQshayne » 03 Jul 2019, 10:49 am

TassieTiger wrote:Surprised someone hasn’t anodised yet, resulting in colour pallet increases...probably not hard enough wearing...


Not sure either. A quick Google suggest that steel is not very receptive to it. Might not be a good option. Apart from rebluing, Cerakote is a good choice. My last reblue did not last very long, wearing off quickly, and it was done by a reputable gunsmith too. Perhaps I was unlucky, but note sure I would do one again.
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