Going to get refinished with a question

[Kevin]

So I have these three .22's two single sixes and a bearcat. All were bargains... One single six was $190 bucks and the others were less than 300 each. Anyway, they all came with cosmetic problems. So I'm finally going to take them to get refinished. Sorry for the lousy picture, but it is a grey cloudy day here in Dallas.

The 5 1/2 single six had rust on the barrel. I thought well, since I had bought it because of the price and thinking to get it reblued, I went ahead and polished off the barrel warning. Ok, so the two single six's will get reblued with a hot reblue finish.

Question:
The bearcat. It's an old model. The finish was really terrible. I tried to give it a sort of antiqued finish with the lead-away cloth, the one to remove bluing. (I didn't use sandpaper on this one at all.) My question is, I am thinking of getting it Cerakoted. What else could I do to make it look nicer?

All the guns are pretty accurate. The 6 1/2 Single Six is most accurate with magnum rounds. But surprisingly, the Bearcat is pretty darn accurate. The chambers are really tight, and it's a joy to shoot.

So would the Cerakote be the way to go with the Bearcat? Or something better? I found a gunsmith close by who specializes in gun refinishing. Karl (737tdi) actually told me about the guy. He had a OM Blackhawk refinished there and it looks wonderful. I'll post some after pictures when I get them back. Not sure how long it will take, I'm dropping them off on Monday.

 

[Kevin]

Another question...recently there was a post about photobucket and the ability to go to the photobucket account where the picure was located and view the rest of the pictures in the user's account. I use Picasa. Could someone see if they can look at other pictures in my Picasa account by clicking on this picture? I tried and couldn't...

 

[Kevin]

Fine...if no one has a comment, I'll get it Cerakoted Pink for my daughter. :lol:

and wrap the Sack Peterson Stag grips up in camo duck tape.

 

[Ale-8(1)]

Use the camo duct tape.

 

[Kevin]

Well if that's the best advice I can get...maybe port the barrel. I have a drill press out in the garage. 10 minutes and I can drill some holes...

 

[Ale-8(1)]

The problem with the 'Cat is that in order to do a nice blue on the barrel it's necessary to remove it from the gun and most 'smiths won't try it for fear of messing up the aluminum frame. One of the after-market coatings is likely your best bet, but I'm not familiar enough with any of them to make a specific recommendation.

 

[Jimbo357mag]

I would rather have them re-blued than painted. The ones I have seen on the forum from Ruger are impressive to say the least.

I'm working on you photo address. ...I could not crack it even though I got this from the 'properties' when you right click on the photo.

https://Ih3.googleusercontent.com/-n2eLmN8FU6Q/VjT6Ha7oi9I/AAAAAAAArow/n6TIh6idImY/s912-Ic42/P1250414.JPG

Unless I made a mistake when I copied it, I would say you are safe because that didn't open anything.

 

[Kevin]

Thanks Ale, yes. I've heard on the older Bearcats if you try and remove the barrel it could possibly crack the alloy frame. The guy I talked to seemed to think the Cerakote would look good. I want something as close as possible to the original color.

And yes Jim, I do agree, the two single sixes will get reblued. I'm using a local gunsmith instead of sending them back to Ruger just because of shipping costs. The 6 1/2 Single Six has a pre warning barrel. It's got some slight pitting but not very bad.

They should look pretty nice when done, I'll post some after pictures when I get them back. Thanks for the input.

 

[Ale-8(1)]

Nice thing about the Cerakote is that I think it would work on both the steel and aluminum parts and end up with a nice uniform color all over. Works for me. Please post pics of the results.

 

[RoninPA]

Cerakote is the only coating I use in my business when refinishing a gun that needs it. I like the way it goes on and once cured it's tough as nails. You can Cerakote the whole gun if you would like or just parts of it. With the proper prep work the Cerakote job should look very nice. You can pick from several different colors to try to match the original. Midnight Blue is a good close color to OEM bluing. Be advised though, you can get the Cerakote done that will have a good semi gloss finish, but you just won't get a real shiny gloss finish due to the make up of the Cerakote.

I have not yet had a customer that didn't like the way the refinishing came out on their guns and I've been doing this for 7-8 years now.

Here's one that I refinished in Cerakote:

 

[Kevin]

Ale: Thanks for carrying the sense of humor. You're one of the good guys here. Thanks.

Jim: You too man. And thanks for checking the images. My albums are all public on Picasa, EXCEPT the gun pictures...Just too much information. Thanks again.

RoninPA: You do nice work. If you were closer, I'd have you do this Bearcat. I like that picture of the security six. Thanks for the moral support.

I will definitely post some pictures when I get them back. Not sure what it will cost. I might be able to afford only two of them right now. He told me around 125 to 150 for Cerakoting the Bearcat. Not sure what it will cost to reblue the Single Six. Those I want reblued for a high gloss finish...or glossier than Cerakote at least.

 

[contender]

I wasn't on the computer much yesterday,,, so I'm just now seeing this.
Kevin,, you have gotten some good info about the Bearcat. The alloy frame will make a re-blueing job very difficult and could screw up things. I have a few that it'd be nice to have dressed up,, but I leave them 'as is" and enjoy the character they have. They are OM's of course. They don't make them like that anymore.
Ron does an excellent job of Cerakoting, and if you go that route, follow his advice.
Go ahead & re-blue the Single-Sixes,,, it won't matter about them.

 

[RODNUT]

I have a 1911 that i bought a few years ago that had almost all the blue worn off, was considering sending it back to kimber for a reblue when i heard about teflon coating. There is a shop here in Utah that specializes in coating guns with teflon in many different colors. I chose to go that route in black teflon. i was amazed how well it turned out. Looks better than a new gun, has a great feel and needs no oil as all parts are coated. The cost was reasonable, about $140 and i am glad I went that route. Might check in your area to see if that is an option, or the shop here is Black Ice Coatings, Spanish Fork, Utah. the coating can be applied to almost anything metal.

 

[737tdi]

Howdy Kevin: I didn't see your post either until now. I like others would go a different route with the Bearcat. Clarence will do a beautiful job. For any of y'all that missed my post years back here are some pics. of the OM SBH he cleaned up and reblued. As with Kevin I bought this knowing the finish needed work and paid accordingly.














I know you will like the finished product when he is done. Judy was even amazed at the depth and color of the bluing. Don't forget to post pics. when done.


Karl

 

[medicdave]

There's a midnight blue cerekote that is awful close to looking like blueing that might work for ya. Planning on doing the wife's chopped single six cm parts in it eventually.

 

[Kevin]

UPDATE:

I just dropped all three off yesterday. I am going to get the bearcat painted. He suggested duracoat over creakote. You can't see it but in the pictures the bearcat has a pretty bad finish. My daughter will be able to go shooting in about two years and I'm just thinking she might like a nice clean looking gun. A bearcat will fit an 8 year old's hand pretty well.

The single sixes will get blued, and be pretty much factory fresh looking. He seemed to think he can polish out the pitting and shine up the hammers.

What a great guy too. Accredited by the American Gunsmith Institute and been in business for 30 years. Currently working in his garage. I'll have them back around Christmas or maybe the beginning of January...Not very long for a quality job.

I'll post some pictures when I get them back.

 

[CraigC]

I don't know anything about removing the barrel from an aluminum frame Bearcat but if it were possible, you could also just bead blast the aluminum parts and do matte hard chrome on the steel parts. Like I did on this custom .44Spl. The aluminum grip frame was just bead blasted and left bare.

 

[Kevin]

CraigC: you've posted pictures of that gun before. What a beautiful job too. I love love love stainless (or hard chrome in this case) guns with yellow grips.

But from everyone I've talked to about it, removing the barrel on an alloy frame bearcat would lead to nothing but trouble. I think the black duracoat will greatly improve the looks of my little gun...

 

[CraigC]

Thanks! I really don't know one way or another but it sounds like a coating is your best option.