Paint for a SS barrel?

bowhunter57

bowhunter57

Well-known member
Is there a particular type of paint that should be used for a Stainless Steel barrel?
I have a 16" SS Varmint barrel on my RRA A4 and am considering painting it with a matte finish black.

Your opinions and experience is appreciated.
Thank you, Bowhunter57
 
As far as durability,I'd question most of the spray cover materials. Most will flake off after a short while.Especially on a hunting rifle being drug through bushes and whatnot. I have refinished FAl builds with several of the mentioned spray-ons and they all fell victim to bake out or flaking. They will look new and good for a while but most oil based paints will get soft as the oil in the paint heats.Much like the thinning effect of engine oil. I tryed engine block paint once and it held out pretty good.For a while.Once you heat the bbl a little,oils will excrede from the steel itself,also effecting the coating.Oil rubbing your gun will kill the Kote too. A better method is parkerising and then gunkote. The alumahide is tough but very thick. Can change the look of a gun from nice to cheesy real quick.
The pricing you will get on nice gunkote systems are scarey,but some are down to earth. Several online gunsmiths will do it fast and friendly.
Having done many park/gunkote jobs,I can honestly say that it only takes a few minutes to prep and bead blast a rifle.The parts,a couple minutes more. Then a hour or 2 to parkerize it.

Since it's an AR bbl,I would go with a spray on and only go to the HGs. That way,when it starts chipping and peeling,you can remove it easily and redo. You will smell any of the above mentioned coatings cooking out as you fire or target practice with your rifle. Good luck.......

jerryboy
 
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Bead blasting will darken your barrel a little, not black but definitely matte and it dissipates heat as well as fluting without any loss of barrel stiffness. I've never seen any data but I'd think that paint would retain at least some heat.
 
I've used the DuraCoat on all of my rifles, plus some others, and on my 1911. To this date, no flaking has occured. I do not bake the DuraCoat, I allow it to cure chemically. This could be the reason for the lack of problems. As for any gun oil bothering the DC finish, not going to happen. I can't remove it with xylene or acetone, so no gun oil will hurt it. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif MI VHNTR
 
The reasopn you want to bake it is to open the pores of the metals. I always Pre heat the metal 1st after cleaning REAL good. It gets the pores of the metal open. I then bake it at 350 for 1 1/2 hours. Ask Hoosierdaddy he has seen how I beat them up. Hell I hit them with a piece a metal just to show you it won't come off. It all in the prep work. Like any then it will wear off. All guns show wear weather its holster wear or just using it it will wear off.

As for Stainleess I am thinking of doing my Krieger barrel I just want to be sure whatI am painting since I have never done Stainless and also since it not a cheap barrel. But the more I think about it I think I will just glass bead blast it so it a dull finish.
 
Jeezzz....keep t easy. Clean it, wipe it down with alcohol and spray it with the DuPont Krylon flat color of your choice from Ace Hardware. It works great, lasts a long time and is simple as s#$%.
 
Thank you for the replies, gentlemen! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gif

I'm definatley going to put a paint job on this barrel. I just feel like it sticks out like a rat turd in a sugar bowl. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif I'm all about full camo. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif

Good hunting, Bowhunter57
 
Have you considered teflon coating. a place here in Shreveport did a friends A-bolt . it is now flat black and has been on for two seasons and cant see any wear on it. jsut a thought. if interested message me and i will find out what the cost is
 


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