duracoat or cerakote ?

[growr]

Yesterday I picked up my recovered Astra A-70 from Billings PD Evidence and saw that the thief tried to wire brush the flat black finish off the slide and frame.

My thoughts are to have it either cerakoted or duracoated....which is the better of the two finishes?

Has anyone used both and developed a preference?

Duracoat has a new product that makes it look VERY easy to apply....

Randy

 

[Igiveup]

I have had three revolvers Cerakoted, and one at the shop now. I had a beater Victory done in "granite" and it looks great. It is a shooter, mismatched numbers, so no collector value ruined. One is a J&G 2 inch I had to put a barrel on, older barrel compared to frame, and had it done in "black". Looks great, especially with elk horn grips, and a third was a victory that someone had filed the grip to half way round, ruining the value, so it is also done in "black". All are shooters with no collectible value. In my area there is no one that does blueing, hence the Cerakote. A very durable finish, resists holster wear.

 

[Mike0251]

I've posted this before, somewhere lol. A 39-2 that was in terrible shape, rescued like a stray dog. Someone used JB weld to attach a flashlight mount to the underside of the frame. It was a mess and in general had seen better times.
Tore it down, removed all the JB, glass beaded all major parts, and shot it using Duracote out of an airbrush (large tip). It came out very nice.
Be aware that although you can handle it in rather short time the Duracoat instructions say to give it 4 weeks to cure. This was their Air Dry product. No baking. I used Super Blue on the small parts. May also note this was the most challenging disassembly I've done to date for a firearm.

 

[MSD2343]

A nicely executed rescue indeed on that Model 39-2.

 

[358156hp]

If this is your first refinish, I recommend Duracoat, it's easier to use. Cerakote has a pretty involved list of procedures. In either case you'll want to have the old finish blasted off: [ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cuqo8f_7foU&t=10s"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cuqo8f_7foU&t=10s[/ame]

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnYDJwua3Q8"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnYDJwua3Q8[/ame]

 

[chief38]

Personally I like a traditional blued finish. If I ever inherited a rough pistol and for whatever reason did not value getting it reblued, then I might Cerakote or Duracote it. Since any gun I have inherited in rough shape was dear to me and the metal itself was in good shape, I chose to have it reblued. I've done this with two long guns and could not be happier. I have forgotten about the price and only see the finished results.

Sorry I don't know which of the two products are better - but I'm sure others will.