DiRTY DOG
Well-known member
25 years ago I started reloading with an RCBS Rockchucker press. It has loaded many thousands of rounds, has survived road trips and moves, and has served well. However, at some point the finish has worn a little, part of it was deglossed from chemicals, and a chip in the enamel right at the mouth of the ram hole always bugged me.
So I refinished it. CA safe Jasco paint stripper did ok at getting the factory enamel off, but it took a few weeks soaking in a bag and multiple applications with wire brush scrubbing between applications.
A 3 day soak in vinegar took off the last stubborn little bits that can be seen below, and disolved the rust that has formed between stripping sessions. The surface was prepped with a wire wheel and 600 grit sandpaper. Then degreased with a few soakings and scrubbings in acetone.
I used Duracoat Heavy Metal "Grey Sabbath". I've used regular Duracoat on several other projects that turned out great, but I was not impressed with this heavy metal version. It comes with a bottle of pigmented Duracoat with little metalic flakes that is super thin and almost translucent, much more difficult to apply without runs than standard Duracoat. That required 5 coats for total coverage. Then it must be clearcoated with at least 4 coats of regular Duracoat clear coat, which went on much thicker. So 9 coats total in one evening took a long time to complete this project. I sprayed it with a Preval sprayer which workd great save for the super runny Heavy Metal stuff.
Flash drying between coats of clear matte.
I reassembled it after 3 days and I'm happy with the new coating (it's supposed to be dark metalic grey but it has a little bit of brown in it) and glad to get rid of the old worn RCBS green color. It runs super smooth after a polishing of the ram and fresh grease all around. I knocked out a small batch of 20 Practical after reassembly. This project was not worth the time it took, but I kinda like doing stuff like this and it was fun. However, I would not recommend the use of Duracoat's "Heavy Metal" Collection due to how thin and drippy it is. It does go on super thin after the carrier flashes off if that's important to you.
So I refinished it. CA safe Jasco paint stripper did ok at getting the factory enamel off, but it took a few weeks soaking in a bag and multiple applications with wire brush scrubbing between applications.
A 3 day soak in vinegar took off the last stubborn little bits that can be seen below, and disolved the rust that has formed between stripping sessions. The surface was prepped with a wire wheel and 600 grit sandpaper. Then degreased with a few soakings and scrubbings in acetone.
I used Duracoat Heavy Metal "Grey Sabbath". I've used regular Duracoat on several other projects that turned out great, but I was not impressed with this heavy metal version. It comes with a bottle of pigmented Duracoat with little metalic flakes that is super thin and almost translucent, much more difficult to apply without runs than standard Duracoat. That required 5 coats for total coverage. Then it must be clearcoated with at least 4 coats of regular Duracoat clear coat, which went on much thicker. So 9 coats total in one evening took a long time to complete this project. I sprayed it with a Preval sprayer which workd great save for the super runny Heavy Metal stuff.
Flash drying between coats of clear matte.
I reassembled it after 3 days and I'm happy with the new coating (it's supposed to be dark metalic grey but it has a little bit of brown in it) and glad to get rid of the old worn RCBS green color. It runs super smooth after a polishing of the ram and fresh grease all around. I knocked out a small batch of 20 Practical after reassembly. This project was not worth the time it took, but I kinda like doing stuff like this and it was fun. However, I would not recommend the use of Duracoat's "Heavy Metal" Collection due to how thin and drippy it is. It does go on super thin after the carrier flashes off if that's important to you.
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