DuraCoat/Durafil? Any Experience?

[alamo5000]

I am wondering if anyone here has ever used those products?

I know I asked about cerakote before but this stuff seems a lot easier (possibly) but my experience level is near zero.

I have a couple of possible options as far as guns go that I could work on as a project to get me started...IE some minor marring/scratches on otherwise really good old guns that I could try it out on.

Apparently you don't need to bake on DuraCoat so it seems a bit more simple. I've even seen that they have the stuff in an aerosol can. The DuraFil I am interested in too.

Specifically I am wondering about the Durafil and DuraCoat products and getting a basic overview of the stuff.

I am pretty sure that the prep work would still be biggest part of it, but any insight or a brief step by step would be kind of helpful.

I know I could probably pay somebody to do it, but I want to learn how to do some simple refinishing on my own without a ton of equipment. If I need to spend a couple hundred bucks to get set up that would be fine (IE getting a spray gun or airbrush) but hopefully not some big investment just yet.

[VIPER 237]

I personally haven’t had the best experience with duracoat when it comes to scratch/wear resistance. Honestly Aerovoe seems to be about on par with it. However it lays easily and cost is better than cerakote.

I have no experience with durafill.

[SINNER]

Sucks. Krylon is just as durable.

[Former11B]

Duracoat spray on (got one of the rattle cans) didn’t stay sprayable very long. Bought a can to paint a Glock slide and a friend’s rifle. By the time we finished his rifle it was gumming and I wasn’t able to spray my slide

[Slippers]

Like viper said, duracoat isn't very durable. It's just a slightly thicker paint. A few coats of Aervoe is very similar.

[alamo5000]

Thanks for your input everyone. Being able to get real feedback from others experience saves a lot of hassles.

[UWone77]

Duracoat sucks. I've never seen it wear well on any firearm. Cerakote or nothing.

[PJD642]

I just traded a Kimber 1911 that the original owner had duracoated himself. I was picking the duracoat off with a fingernail. Definitely cerkote (or NP3+, depending on your preferences).

[mustangfreek]

Well I’ve dabbled in a few of these coatings on my stuff and others projects, Cerakote, duracoat and kg gunkote..along with paint

Prep is very important as is what your using to spray, really small jobs a decent airbrush works and bigger parts, rails, frames etc I’ve learned that a good small hvlp is the way to go..

I’ve mostly used the gunkote and it is up there with cerakote, wears very well and a lot more wear resistant then duracoat and paint. It’s right up there with cerakote..

No mixing so it’s easier but cerakote has a lot more colors to choose from.. all of these I’m talking about the bake on version..as the air dry stuff I never bothered.

[gatordev]

I think it's interesting and amusing how different people put different priorities on the appearance of their gear. This isn't meant to pass judgement either way. I use Krylon because it meets my needs and then immediately shows wear because I'm using my gear.

But this is the same argument that I have with my wife. "My running shoes are dirty and they need to be cleaned..." "Seriously?" Meanwhile my flight boots have chunks of leather missing and about 30-hundred coats of polish on them. And this even extends to patches (what the interwebs likes to refer to as "morale pacthes," which is ghey). No one likes to have new patches on their uniform because it shows they're "new*." So getting your patches worn is key. But...as I always say about the gun world, we have so many options, so who is to say what anyone "likes" is better.

*Exception: if you have new patches and then also are wearing a "2,000 hour" patch, or anything that indicates you've been and/or have done "there"/"that."

[alamo5000]

Will cerakote or a similar kind of (better) product fill in small blemishes in the gun finish?

It won't work miracles I am sure, but if I have a project gun that has some shallow marring, that is the kind of thing I want to learn how to fix (on my own).

I am thinking that learning how to refinish a gun could be a very useful skill. Nothing too insane, just home based projects for my own use.

I imagine doing anodizing or nitriding or whatever would be pretty complicated.

[alamo5000]

I think it's interesting and amusing how different people put different priorities on the appearance of their gear. This isn't meant to pass judgement either way. I use Krylon because it meets my needs and then immediately shows wear because I'm using my gear.

I am guilty. I baby my guns but it's not from a lack of use, at least as much as I can afford. I just like to take care of my stuff. I used to be phobic about cleaning but not so much anymore.

For me it's got a couple of different angles...it is a way to expand out my hobby. I also could say start buying second hand guns that are still very functional and sort of start pimping them out.

It's something that I have been thinking about for a while now. I could get into buying more stuff for much cheaper (relative to new) and then learning to make those look cool or pimp them out with better triggers or sites or whatever. Also if I get the urge I could refinish guns I have already once they start looking dingy.

[Slippers]

You can do anodizing at home, but that means having a lot of really nasty chemicals laying around.

Things like cerakote will cover up minor scratches but otherwise don't hide bigger imperfections. It's not a filler. Whatever was visible before will be visible after.

[FortTom]

You can do anodizing at home, but that means having a lot of really nasty chemicals laying around.

Things like cerakote will cover up minor scratches but otherwise don't hide bigger imperfections. It's not a filler. Whatever was visible before will be visible after.

Absolutely correct.

Plus, if you scratch the hell out of it, big deal. It's a gun. I'm not saying abuse your gear, but don't be afraid to scratch it. Gives it character too. I admit that several of mine have never been shot anywhere except for the range, primarily because of no use of private land and look brand spankin' new with the possible exception of a brake or flash hider. But I do eventually manage to ding, scratch or brake something.

Just as an aside, if I see two guy's standing side by side; one has frayed threads around his vest, minor tears in his BDU's and a wear on the knuckles on his gloves and scuffed boots, and a rifle that looks like it's been worked over with a cheese grater, and the next dude looks like he just came out of a GI Joe package, which one do you think I would be less inclined to try to start a gun fight with?

Good luck,
FT

[alamo5000]

You can do anodizing at home, but that means having a lot of really nasty chemicals laying around.

Things like cerakote will cover up minor scratches but otherwise don't hide bigger imperfections. It's not a filler. Whatever was visible before will be visible after.

I don't mind some chemicals. We deal with them a lot anyway (to some degree) although they might not be those exact chemicals. Generally though I am talking about doing small scale projects.

In an ideal world before I did any of it I would like to go visit someone who does the stuff, whether it's cerakote or anodizing or whatever it may be and learn from them first.

For me I look at it from two angles... there is the actual equipment needed to do whatever job it is... and then the stuff you use up in the process. I just don't want to spend more than a few hundred bucks getting set up. I would say the max I would want to spend for long term tools and stuff would be like $500 or so.

As far as big scratches and stuff, I would have to be careful to not bite off jobs that are too big for my abilities, but I would still think that I would mainly be doing a lot of prep work on the metal surfaces (as needed). I might even consider starting with scrap pieces of metal before graduating to actual firearms.