Cerakoting services?

[BULL'S-EYE]

I have a P90 and also a Smith M59 that are solid guns, but the finishes on both have most definitely seen better days.
Anyone know of, or can recommend a Cerakoting service that does good work for a reasonable price?

 

[protoolman]

Yes, I think one of our members here runs such a business. Perhaps he will chime in...

 

[32shooter]

I have used this company to do a few projects for me and have been happy with their work. https://www.ccrrefinishing.com/index.html

 

[32shooter]

They did the slide on my CZ and refinished this Marlin 39A for me.

 

[BULL'S-EYE]

They did the slide on my CZ and refinished this Marlin 39A for me.View attachment 102917View attachment 102919

Both look great!

 

[RoninPA]

I did do Cerakoting as part of my gun repair business but due to various things going on I am winding it down (as well as some of my gun repairing) - But I WILL still do repairs on the Ruger Six series revolvers and the GP's and SP's if needed.

I will probably be putting up all my Cerakoting tools and supplies (including my abrasive blasting cabinet) in the next few months.

 

[BULL'S-EYE]

Anyone else? I like to shop around.

 

[rugerguy]

sorry to hear than Ron, at least YOU can still do a little bit here and there, we are NOT, and yes to the above 'ccrrefinishing' does NICE work from what we've seen and heard, and my last one here locally, Viktors Legacy, went out last year , Jim M.,was one of our gunsmiths from way back in the day Cleveland Custom Gun.....oh well time marches on

 

[tazbigdog]

I'd suggest going to Cerakote’s website and look for local applicators.

 

[BULL'S-EYE]

I'd suggest going to Cerakote’s website and look for local applicators.

First thing I done.
Just looking for some additional input here.

 

[themousethatroared]

I was going to hold my tongue on this. I had eight concealed carry magazines Cerakoted by an "authorized applicator": six LC9s 9 rounders, and two P85/89 Mec-Gar 17 rounders.

The one that has been going in and out of my LC9s every day has worn through where the magazine release contacts the magazine, between the feed lips and the retaining port.

I switched the two spares I carry from my IWB Kydex magazine carriers to my OWB leather pancake, and the coating had stuck to the Kydex.

Yesterday, I tried to slide the top round out of one of the spare magazines that had been moved from the kydex carriers to the leather, and that top round was rusted solid to the magazine body.

I'm pretty angry.


Cerakote's website says the warranty is handled by the "authorized applicator".
The industrial storefront the "authorized applicator" was in, is empty.
I'm waiting for a response from Cerakote.

The "authorized applicator" said the coating guarantee covered replacement of the magazines if they rusted. Coating eight magazines at $25 each totals $200. The magazines cost over $300. I'm out over five hundred dollars.

They sell these kids-who-want-to-turn-their-hobby-into-a-career a application seminar for three or four thousand dollars, send them out with a link from their website, and then duck a claim on their product by shifting the blame to the independent service provider, who goes out of business within a year.

I dislike Cerakote so much that I don't even want to do business with anyone for other items if I see that they are offering the coating.

Edit:
I just read the description: they grit blast everything before they Cerakote it. I will not be able to get a smooth finish if I have this crap stripped off and nickel plated. It would cost more than new magazines to have them sanded, and they would no longer be spec.

Second Edit:
Mahovsky says they will need to be grit blasted a second time to take off the Cerakote, which will cost $50 per magazine, and leave them even rougher than they already are. They highly recommend I send them new magazines. The ones I foolishly had Cerakoted are trash, a total loss.

 

[RoninPA]

the mousethat roared - If I may say something about your post.

What you are describing in your post, I see a person or company that did not/does not know how to correctly prep, apply and cure the Cerakote that they applied to your magazines. I have been Cerakoting firearms, magazines and other items for over 10 years. I also grew up in a family of professional auto body repairmen (grandfather, father, uncle, cousins) so I learned early on how to prep metal to be refinished.

I have Cerakoted firearms and magazines for competitive shooters and others and the Cerakote has withstood those rigors with no compliants from the users. Also, a magazine that had a correctly applied and cured Cerakoting WILL NOT stick to anything.

When applying Cerakote, the metal is "roughed up" and then completely degreased so the Cerakote will adhere correctly. Then, after correctly heat curing, the coating is nice and smooth and TOUGH. When I prep something to be coated, I abrasive blast using 120 grit aluminum oxide, then flush/soak in acetone for at least 30 minutes and hang to dry overnight. I do not touch prepped items with my bare hands, fresh gloves always as to not introduce any foreign substance to the surfaces to be coated. The blasting DOES NOT extremely rough up the surface. If the blasting equipment and pressure used is set the way that Cerakote shows in their manuals the Cerakote fills in everything to make the surface smooth. I have also removed Cerakote (by blasting) items that customers wanted to change the colors and did not need any coarser grit and the surface when done looked like any surface I had done originally. My opinion (take it for what it is worth to you) if a competent Cerakoter were to remove whatever was originally applied, the magazines surfaces should be able to be nickel plated and will be smooth after the plating.

I am sorry to say that personally, if I was treated like you were, I would not do business with the company you dealt with originally.

 

[themousethatroared]

the mousethat roared - If I may say something about your post.

What you are describing in your post, I see a person or company that did not/does not know how to correctly prep, apply and cure the Cerakote that they applied to your magazines. I have been Cerakoting firearms, magazines and other items for over 10 years. I also grew up in a family of professional auto body repairmen (grandfather, father, uncle, cousins) so I learned early on how to prep metal to be refinished.

I have Cerakoted firearms and magazines for competitive shooters and others and the Cerakote has withstood those rigors with no compliants from the users. Also, a magazine that had a correctly applied and cured Cerakoting WILL NOT stick to anything.

When applying Cerakote, the metal is "roughed up" and then completely degreased so the Cerakote will adhere correctly. Then, after correctly heat curing, the coating is nice and smooth and TOUGH. When I prep something to be coated, I abrasive blast using 120 grit aluminum oxide, then flush/soak in acetone for at least 30 minutes and hang to dry overnight. I do not touch prepped items with my bare hands, fresh gloves always as to not introduce any foreign substance to the surfaces to be coated. The blasting DOES NOT extremely rough up the surface. If the blasting equipment and pressure used is set the way that Cerakote shows in their manuals the Cerakote fills in everything to make the surface smooth. I have also removed Cerakote (by blasting) items that customers wanted to change the colors and did not need any coarser grit and the surface when done looked like any surface I had done originally. My opinion (take it for what it is worth to you) if a competent Cerakoter were to remove whatever was originally applied, the magazines surfaces should be able to be nickel plated and will be smooth after the plating.

I am sorry to say that personally, if I was treated like you were, I would not do business with the company you dealt with originally.

Well, this morning I have no response from Cerakote, and an email from the shop that "We moved down the street", "We didn't guarantee nuthin", "We have no record of you in our system so you paid cash and didn't get a receipt or have any proof that you did business with us", "The coating didn't fail, it wore through", and "I have no idea who Mahovsky is".

I scanned in the four cash receipts and emailed them to him, and Cerakote.

I don't think that magazine ever fed a round into a firearm. It was loaded and then carried. I may have run nine rounds through each to make sure they worked, before the three I carry were loaded and carried.
There was no wear, scratching, abrasion, etc on the feed lips. That was a total failure of the coating that was damp from perspiration, once a week, for six months over the summer of 2025, and two months at the end of the summer of 2024.

If Cerakote steps in and makes this right, I will accept the argument that this particular businessman is just as bad at applying the coating as he is with business ethics.
I am not willing to take the chance on the product and service again.

I'm in the process of gathering up enough new magazines that I will be able to have some to use while sending an equal quantity off to by nickel boron plated. It's a good day to be in the Ruger magazine selling business, because I'm stimulating the economy.

 

[RoninPA]

I can understand your "Once burned, twice shy" thoughts.

Cerakote done properly will not fail from perspiration or even being submerged in water for any length of time. It is a ceramic based coating (hench the name CERAkote). Cerakote is a division of NICS Industries which is one of the top, if not the top, coatings industry in the US. It (Cerakote) is the industry standard in firearm finishes, that is why I went with them when I got into the coating business.

I will not lie, Cerakote can wear through, especially is abused and rubbed up against hard surfaces. That said I have customers whose guns and magazines have been used very hard and in bad conditions (pistol and rifle competitions, HARD hunting conditions, and things like that where magazines are routinely dropped during reloads onto all sorts of surfaces) and the owners have had no major problems (like you had) with the coating. I have touched up some in the past and the customer typically admitted it was their fault.

I really don't like to hear what you related about the people who did your magazines and such, those are excuses from what I would call a non legitimate Cerakoting business. That gives all of us a bad name. If it were me, I'd do whatever I could to make it right and absorb the cost. Reputation in the coating business really counts.

Hope you get everything corrected.

 

[Fox Mike]

Yesterday, I tried to slide the top round out of one of the spare magazines that had been moved from the kydex carriers to the leather, and that top round was rusted solid to the magazine body.

View attachment 103552

I was unaware that brass rusted.

 

[themousethatroared]

I was unaware that brass rusted.

I was unaware that rust would stick to brass. The rust illustrated to me that I was mistaken. It was thick enough I could put my fingernail against it and try in vain to scrape it off. Ten minutes rubbing it with CLR and a brass brush to get it out of the rim, then ten minutes rubbing it with Autosol polish.

Now I'm more pissed because that round wouldn't have fit in the chamber even if the slide had managed to rake it out of the magazine.

 

[Fox Mike]

Brass does not rust. Rust is iron oxide, which only forms when iron reacts with oxygen and moisture. Because brass is primarily an alloy of copper and zinc with no iron, it is immune to rusting. [1, 2]
However, brass can still corrode, though this degradation looks and acts differently than iron rust:

• Tarnishing: When exposed to air and moisture, brass naturally oxidizes and forms a dark brown, gray, or dull-looking surface layer. This acts as a protective film against deeper decay
• Green Patina: In humid environments or when exposed to salts and ammonia, brass can develop a blue-green surface deposit. This copper-based corrosion (patina) is purely cosmetic and protects the metal beneath. [1, 2, 3, 4]
• 
  
• Dezincification: In harsh underwater or marine environments, certain grades of brass can degrade when zinc is selectively removed from the alloy, leaving it porous and weak

 

[BULL'S-EYE]

Anyone else have anything useful to add?

 

[GrumpyOldMan]

Let me just say this: Good work ain't cheap; cheap work ain't good.