Finishing AR-15 80% Lowers

jtkendall · Jul 29, 2018

So I bought before I thought and ended up with two Matrix Arms AR-15 80% lowers that are unfinished. The black ones were back ordered, there was a sale, and a coupon for free shipping.

After they shipped, my brain finally decided to look up the price of cerakoting and they are fair prices based on the process and time involved. That being said I'm curious, are there more DIY focused finishes that work well? I own the tools necessary to finish the milling of the lowers and just think it would be cool to be able to say I also applied the finish.

I looked up cerakoting and found some YouTube videos of people doing it themselves. I also found some websites listing everything from standard spray paint, bbq paint, engine enamel, leaving it as is, and DIY anodizing. Besides the anodizing (because I'm not playing around with acid or lye) or leaving it as is, are any of the other suggestions actually good ones? Any other methods that produce good results?

Has anyone done cerakoting at home? I saw one video where it was applied with an air brush, which looked easy enough to attempt, and the result actually looked good.

GunBum · Jul 30, 2018

There are several different types of "baking lacquers" that are easy to apply. Duracoat, Alumahyde, whatever...

Lots of information on the interwebs along with YouTube tutorials.

dontpanic · Jul 30, 2018

I've had great luck with Aluma hyde.

https://www.brownells.com/gunsmith-...re-aerosol-paints/aluma-hyde-ii-prod1117.aspx

jtkendall · Jul 30, 2018

GunBum said:
There are several different types of "baking lacquers" that are easy to apply. Duracoat, Alumahyde, whatever...

Lots of information on the interwebs along with YouTube tutorials.

dontpanic said:
I've had great luck with Aluma hyde.

https://www.brownells.com/gunsmith-...re-aerosol-paints/aluma-hyde-ii-prod1117.aspx

DuraCoat looks pretty easy to do and can be done with an air brush which is a pro. Alumahyde looks like a good quick option but it's limited in colors. I'll probably give DuraCoat a try because of the color options.

K-43 · Aug 7, 2018

I've used both Brownell's baking spray and DuraCoat. Prep is pretty much the same. You have more control with an airbrush than with a spray can, can use thinner coats and avoid running much better.
Just be aware that Duracoat smells to high heaven of killer chemicals when you spray it. It just isn't a good idea to do it in the house. Once it flashes off, the bad smell is gone and you can bring it inside. I only do it outside or in the garage with the door open during the Summer months. Then hang it by wires in the garage for a few days to cure.
Products that require baking do make a stink and will get you banned from the kitchen. I have used a toaster oven outside.

JoeRinMD · Aug 7, 2018

K-43 said:
I've used both Brownell's baking spray and DuraCoat. Prep is pretty much the same. You have more control with an airbrush than with a spray can, can use thinner coats and avoid running much better.
Just be aware that Duracoat smells to high heaven of killer chemicals when you spray it. It just isn't a good idea to do it in the house. Once it flashes off, the bad smell is gone and you can bring it inside. I only do it outside or in the garage with the door open during the Summer months. Then hang it by wires in the garage for a few days to cure.
Products that require baking do make a stink and will get you banned from the kitchen. I have used a toaster oven outside.

Duracoat is actually a two-part, air-cured Linear Polyurethane paint. I've used it before on a bolt gun using a Preval sprayer and the finish turned out exceptionally well.

JoeR

clandestine · Aug 7, 2018

Painting or ceracoating a lower can cause problems with the FCG, magazine catch, takedown pins, bolt catch, and magazine well. I honestly wish ceracoating and duracoating would just go away.

Send them off to get anodized properly.

ToolAA · Aug 7, 2018

clandestine said:
Painting or ceracoating a lower can cause problems with the FCG, magazine catch, takedown pins, bolt catch, and magazine well. I honestly wish ceracoating and duracoating would just go away.

Send them off to get anodized properly.

I’ve been thinking about doing a cerakote on one of my rifles. Ive got a real good professional air brush setup that I haven’t used in 25yrs and I saved the vent hood from our old kitchen stove with plans to create a little mini spray booth.

I haven’t given much thought yet on my exact painting plan but now I’m curious.

My 80% was already anodized but when I machined the fcg pocket I just left it unfinished. This rifle has never been cleaned since Build class with a lot of suppressed rounds through it. I keep the bcg well lubricated so its a dirty bitch in there with a heavy oil film, but no firing issues.

If I mask off those critical areas, in addition to any threads, do you see any other technical issues if you just keep the paint on the exterior parts of the receivers?

MindTheGAP · Aug 7, 2018

clandestine said:
Painting or ceracoating a lower can cause problems with the FCG, magazine catch, takedown pins, bolt catch, and magazine well. I honestly wish ceracoating and duracoating would just go away.

Send them off to get anodized properly.

What do most FFL's need to intake a finished 80% in terms of markings? I realize it's 'any identifying mark / serial' but can you just stamp it with whatever and send it in, or does it require registering the actual, specific serial you add as well?

clandestine · Aug 7, 2018

ToolAA said:
I’ve been thinking about doing a cerakote on one of my rifles. Ive got a real good professional air brush setup that I haven’t used in 25yrs and I saved the vent hood from our old kitchen stove with plans to create a little mini spray booth.

I haven’t given much thought yet on my exact painting plan but now I’m curious.

My 80% was already anodized but when I machined the fcg pocket I just left it unfinished. This rifle has never been cleaned since Build class with a lot of suppressed rounds through it. I keep the bcg well lubricated so its a dirty bitch in there with a heavy oil film, but no firing issues.

If I mask off those critical areas, in addition to any threads, do you see any other technical issues if you just keep the paint on the exterior parts of the receivers?

If you mask off and plug things then you will be okay.

One of the largest issues what coating and AR15 is the barrel. If you spray the gas block journal on the barrel with anything the gas block will not fit on unless it is a clamp-on model that you can spread, or you oversize the gas block.

You can always coat with the gas block installed but that thing will never slide off once ceracoating is applied.

clandestine · Aug 7, 2018

MindTheGAP said:
What do most FFL's need to intake a finished 80% in terms of markings? I realize it's 'any identifying mark / serial' but can you just stamp it with whatever and send it in, or does it require registering the actual, specific serial you add as well?

You're going to get different answers from different FFL's, but the general consensus is the following will suffice:

John Doe
AR15
Caliber: 5.56mm
Serial: FUATFWP00

ToolAA · Aug 7, 2018

clandestine said:
If you mask off and plug things then you will be okay.

One of the largest issues what coating and AR15 is the barrel. If you spray the gas block journal on the barrel with anything the gas block will not fit on unless it is a clamp-on model that you can spread, or you oversize the gas block.

You can always coat with the gas block installed but that thing will never slide off once ceracoating is applied.

Good to know. I wasn’t planning on coating the barrel anyway. It’s underneath the hand-guard so I figured just leaving it black made sense.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

teratos · Aug 7, 2018

clandestine said:
You're going to get different answers from different FFL's, but the general consensus is the following will suffice:

John Doe
AR15
Caliber: 5.56mm
Serial: FUATFWP00

Is model necessary? Even ATF will let you leave the model blank when making a SBR.

clandestine · Aug 7, 2018

teratos said:
Is model necessary? Even ATF will let you leave the model blank when making a SBR.

I guess anything is possible

Most people I deal with are making an SBR are doing it from an already marked Receiver.

Most people using 80% are not doing them as SBRs, they're just putting the newer braces on them and avoiding the stamp all together.

teratos · Aug 7, 2018

clandestine said:
I guess anything is possible

Most people I deal with are making an SBR are doing it from an already marked Receiver.

Most people using 80% are not doing them as SBRs, they're just putting the newer braces on them and avoiding the stamp all together.

Yeah. I am going to turn a few of my 80%'s into SBR's because they have the sweet dogfightink electro-etching on them. I can't resist.

My Toy · Aug 15, 2018

clandestine said:
Painting or ceracoating a lower can cause problems with the FCG, magazine catch, takedown pins, bolt catch, and magazine well. I honestly wish ceracoating and duracoating would just go away.

Send them off to get anodized properly.

Can you recommend some local companies doing hard coat anodizing?

Boxcab · Aug 15, 2018

clandestine said:
Painting or ceracoating a lower can cause problems with the FCG, magazine catch, takedown pins, bolt catch, and magazine well. I honestly wish ceracoating and duracoating would just go away.

Send them off to get anodized properly.

What would be the best way to handle pre-anodized 80%? You can't re-anodize without stripping the old, which would surely alter some dimensions. Iriditing (chromate conversion) exposed AL will help reduce corrosion, but does not make any improvements against wear.

Yes, I may know the whereabouts of some pre-anodized 80%.

.

clandestine · Aug 15, 2018

My Toy said:
Can you recommend some local companies doing hard coat anodizing?

There are none to my knowledge. Most anodizing is expensive because it's customers and s all batch work.

The only affordable option is new frontier armory. They charge $15.00 to anodized BUT you have to mark the lower with make, model, serial before sending it.

Boxcab said:
What would be the best way to handle pre-anodized 80%? You can't re-anodize without stripping the old, which would surely alter some dimensions. Iriditing (chromate conversion) exposed AL will help reduce corrosion, but does not make any improvements against wear.

Yes, I may know the whereabouts of some pre-anodized 80%.

.

If you send a partially or fully anodized lower to new frontier, they will properly strip it.

Bolts Rock · Aug 15, 2018

MindTheGAP said:
What do most FFL's need to intake a finished 80% in terms of markings? I realize it's 'any identifying mark / serial' but can you just stamp it with whatever and send it in, or does it require registering the actual, specific serial you add as well?

My Toy said:
Can you recommend some local companies doing hard coat anodizing?

clandestine said:
There are none to my knowledge. Most anodizing is expensive because it's customers and s all batch work.

I had a batch of 8 done to MIL-A-8625 Type III Class II (black hard coat anodize just like factory AR receivers) by the same company that does the anodizing for Remington, DPMS, Bushmaster and Beretta. Cost for a batch of 1-12 lowers was $195 for the batch. The company is ATF (don't wet yourselves, that stands for Advanced Technical Finishes not BATFE) in Huntsville, AL. Being local it was a drop off and pick up in person deal but they will do out of state work via Fedex or UPS just like any other gunsmithing business, they hold the proper FFLs to do so.

Because they do work for major manufacturers they do require a unique identifier be stamped or engraved on your receivers. It is best to call and ask exactly what they require and of course how the process of shipping to and from works. Yes, shipped in work will be logged in their bound book, that's the law. They do good work.

My Toy · Aug 15, 2018

If you are going to have a completed 80% lower anodized do you need to ream the safety/selector and trigger/hammer pin holes slightly oversize to account for the thickness of the hard coat anodizing? The 80% lower drill bit set I used contains a 5/32" trigger/hammer pin drill bit and a 3/8" safety/selector hole drill bit. On a 7075 lower the bare aluminum holes these bits make are very snug; I'd hate to have to ream an anodized hole out (to the bare aluminum) to get std. pins to fit. Any advice?

Finishing AR-15 80% Lowers

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