I've made a big decision this week; I decided to cerakote one of my rifles. Here's me shooting the rifle in question, taken last year during a competition I was shooting in. As you can see it's black, and pretty boring looking. I'd added a few stickers to it for the competition but have since removed them. This shot is pretty cool because the photographer snapped it just as I was reloading. You can see the spent case (the little gold thing) near my right hand. That's just ejected from the chamber and I'm about to close the bolt and fire again. I was shooting at a range of 600m at the time. Anyway, black, boring looking rifle right?
The image above is the same rifle taken a few months ago minus all the stickers. I actually think it looks pretty good and I don't mind the black however I've decided to cerakote it (which is a sort of paint that gets baked on) to protect it though. The problem is that surface rust can attack the firearm and cause issues like screws and fasteners getting rusted on and of course damage to the barrel.
I've decided on a battle-worn paint scheme which means the rifle will end up looking very used, despite being freshly cerakoted. The painter, my mate, asked how battleworn I wanted. He actually said, "how f^cked up do you want it" and I said, "way f^cked!" I told him to make it look like it's been dragged through Afghanistan behind an M1 Abrams tank for a week or two. He is going to oblige.
It's a pretty intensive job to do as it's not just done with the paint alone; He will first sand-blast every part of the rifle, including all of the screws, and fine little bits to be painted, then apply the first colour coat (flat dark earth, FDE) and half bake it. Once half baked he will apply the second coat (metallic bronze) but only in particular areas. He will then tear that second coat up, scar it and wear it in various places working hard to make it authentic meaning that he will wear parts that would naturally do so if used in harsh battle conditions. He will then fully bake it and the two coats will kind of melt into each other and set until they are hard as f^ck. He is going to add a third coat but that's done in a secret way that he does not want me to divulge. That will make the rifle look like it's actually scratched down to the metal in certain places, although it's just paint effects. I'm having the safety lever painted red and all the screws which attach the barrel shroud and various bits cerakoted in silver. It should look pretty cool.
The below images were taken tonight whilst I was taking the rifle apart. It's a shit job really as there are so many bits but I got it done. You can also see some of the tools required.
It took me about 30 minutes to get the rifle to this point. Some of the torx head screws were kind of fused on with a little rust so it was not the easiest thing in the world. Get it wrong and strip out the torx screw and it's a nightmare. The gun would have to go to a gunsmith to get them drilled out as I don't have the right equipment for that job. I got lucky though and they all came out with some coaxing and swearing. :) My gunsmith is a good mate but he charges like a wounded bull so I'm pleased I don't have to help put his bloody kids through college!
So here you can see pretty-much the stripped back rifle. You'll note the muzzle brake is still on at this stage although two minutes after this image was taken that was off too. This is pretty much what a barreled action looks like. The action is the bit on the left of the long black thing you see, and the rest of it is the actual barrel. There was a couple of other little bits that need some further disassembly but essentially this is ready to go to my mate for cerakoting.
So, I plan to do a post on the finished product as long as it looks good. If it looks like crap I'll simply get the job done again. It's not a costly thing to do really. A job like mine would cost around $800AU generally and I am fortunate enough to get mates rates so it's costing me $400. I think that's good value considering how kick-ass it's going to look and that it will protect the rifle from rust. I'm hoping to have the gun back within a couple of weeks and then once it's back together I'll photograph it again. Getting all the parts back where they are supposed to be might be a challenge but we'll see how it goes.
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