Tech Topics

New Ceramic Firearm Coat-ing: More Testing to Follow We first learned about Cerakote on Brownells’ website. When we received a sample, the first thing we thought about was the rack of old shotgun barrels in the corner of the shop. There’s nothing wrong with any of the barrels internally, and they’re still useful as replacement parts, but on the outside they’re all rusted to the pitting point.

And getting rid of the pits completely (before polishing) would remove so much metal the barrels wouldn’t be able to hold up to modern shotgun loads. That risk, therefore, eliminated the possibility of rebluing the barrels, and meant that any cosmetic fix would have to involve applying a "coating" of some type. Moreover, that coating would have to flow out and fill any small scratches or pits that remained after the surface rust was removed with fine emery cloth and oil.

Our initial impression is that this new Cerakote stuff could be the ideal coating for salvaging these barrels, but a final decision will require us to do our own testing. In the meantime, we can pass along the results of product testing done by Cerakote’s manufacturer, NIC Industries, and an independent lab.

Cerakote, referred to as a "polyceramic" by the manufacturer, was tested against two popular coatings from competing manufacturers, code-named "C1" and "C2." The tests included impact strength, hardness, adhesion, as well as salt-spray and chemical resistance. The latter test involved dipping coated panels into 15 different solvents and leaving them submerged for 24 hours. Among the solvents were brake cleaner, gun cleaner, acetone, ammonia, and a 5-percent solution of hydrochloric acid.

Afterwards, each panel was ranked on its resistance to each of the solvents. Cerakote ranked excellent in 14 of the solvents and good in the "acid test." For the corrosion-resistance test, the coated-steel panels were placed in a chamber and sprayed with a 5-percent saltwater solution. They were checked for signs of rust at time intervals starting at 45 hours and ending at 1,000 hours. The panels shown in the accompanying photo were removed from the salt spraying at 385 hours.

The panel wearing Cerakote looked the same after 1,000 hours, while the other two had failed completely and crumbled to rust. Resistance to wear came next and was conducted by an independent facility in accordance with ASTM Standard D4060. This testing placed a 1000-gram abrasive wheel rotated at constant speed against a coated panel to determine the number of cycles required to remove 1 mil of coating. Cerakote reportedly lasted 5,212 cycles, while C1 and C2 were removed with 597 and 418 cycles respectively.

We’re not convinced that a firearm finish has to withstand a thousand cycles of an abrasive wheel or a thousand hours in a saltwater bath, but we are reasonably sure that Cerakote will provide more wear and corrosion resistance than bluing—which, of course, is what we would expect from a ceramic coating. That only leaves a few more questions in our minds: How easy is the product to apply? What special equipment is necessary? What does the finish look like once it’s cured?

And how well will it hide "blemishes" in the base metal? Stay tuned. We’ll be conducting our own "real-world application tests" in the next few months, and we’ll give you a full report in an upcoming issue. Latest Project from the ACCG: The Special Hornet The latest creation by a team of members of the American Custom Gunmakers Guild is ACGG Firearm #24, known

as The Special Hornet, a perfect small game and recreational shooter. Each year a lucky $20 ticket holder wins one of these special projects created to show the public the artistry of custom guns made by members of the guild. Designed to incorporate a unique but traditional American action and cartridge, this project was created as a Winchester 1885 .22 Hornet. It was styled similar to an original Winchester Special Single-Shot. As made by Winchester, the Special Single- Shot was a deluxe target rifle.

Standard features included a fancy checkered pistol-grip stock with cheekpiece, Swiss buttplate, and target sights. While the original Model 1885s were not chambered for the .22 Hornet, they were chambered for the .22 WCF, which was the Hornet’s blackpowderera parent case. The Hornet is a perfect match for the smaller #3 (low-wall) action size and has the advantages of readily available, economical ammunition and negligible recoil.

This particular Model 1885 (#106382A) was built in 1913 as a Plain Sporting Rifle with takedown frame and barrel. The "A" serial-number suffix was applied to all coil-spring Winchester single-shots. Extensive metalwork by Roger Ferrell restored the 100-year-old action to factory-new condition. Action work included annealing, draw filing, polishing, and reshaping of major components, including bending the lower tang. Originally made as a .25 Above, right, and This photography was done by Turk’s Head Productions.

You can view the color versions by visiting the Guild’s website at RF, the action was also converted to centerfire. Ferrell made the barrel from an unturned Douglas Premium .224-caliber blank, turning and milling a finished one-half-octagonal 28-inch barrel. The barrel was fitted with a dedicated Unertl 8×1-1/4 varmint scope. The metal finishing is a combination of traditional color case hardening, slow-rust bluing, nitre bluing, and French graying.

After stocking and engraving, all the previously annealed parts were final polished and color case hardened. The colors were removed completely from the receiver and selectively from the lever and buttplate to highlight the engraving. The American Black Walnut stock

was crafted by Al Lind in a modified special single-shot style. The crotch-grain stock is checkered at 24 Iines per inch in a modified point pattern, with mullered borders and a ribbon in the forearm. Length of pull is 14-1/4" to a steel Swiss buttplate. Engraver Jerome Glimm Conrad, MT 59425) complimented the project with subdued and tasteful scroll work covering the receiver, finger lever, lower tang, and accent areas. The style is similar to work done in the late 1800s.

The engraving was completed using a chaser’s hammer and gravers only, just as it was done during that time period. The Germanic scroll was inspired by the work of Rudolph Kornbrath on a Winchester Hi-Wall. The ACGG logo is engraved on the buttplate. The team collaborated with A. B. S. Mastersmith Hank Knickmeyer to make the rifle unique and emphasize the .22 Hornet. Knickmeyer, by precisely forging different alloys, artistically crafted Damascus steel with a pattern of hornets within rectangular borders.

This steel was used to make the screwless stock and forend inserts. The Special Hornet is cased in a Marvin Huey oak and leather case with traditional turn screws, brush and oil bottle, and a Damascus knife by Knickmeyer of the same steel and wood as the rifle. Hornets are visible throughout the blade. The Special Hornet is a beautiful and well-balanced firearm of stockwork, metalwork, and engraving. It’s a fully functional shooter, and will make a fine addition to anyone’s collection.

The lucky winner (who does not have to be present) will be drawn on Sunday, January 25th at the 25th Firearms Engravers & Gunmakers Exhibition in Reno, Nevada. Anyone interested in purchasing a ticket can send $20 (per ticket) to: ACGG, Cody, WY 82414 or visit the Guild’s website www.acgg. org. All state and federal laws apply. New Product Test: Brownells’ Classic Rust Blue The process we call "slow-rust bluing" has been in use at least since early in the 19th century.

The finish is lustrous and highly durable, although the process is timeand labor-intensive. Today, we usually see slow-rust bluing only on the barrels of high-grade English shotguns or the finest custom-built weapons. As we discussed at length back in the September 01 issue, a rust-blue finish is a buildup of black iron oxide.

In a nutshell, slow-rust bluing is accomplished by swabbing a strong acidic mixture onto the cleaned and prepped steel parts, and letting those parts rust for a period of time until the parts are covered with a "fuzz" of ferric oxide (russet brown rust). The "fuzzy" parts are then immersed in boiling water or steam, the action of which converts the russet-brown colored ferric oxide into ferro-ferric oxide, also called "magnetic oxide," which is very black.

Once the oxide has been boiled and dried, the excess fuzz is carded off with fine steel wool or an ultra-fine wire wheel. This process is repeated until the parts take on a rich black color. Of all the different "blue" finishes for steel, rust blue is considered the most durable. We’ve used several different solutions for rust bluing over the years, including Pilkington’s Mark Lee Express Blue and Brown formulas, Laurel Mountain, Plum Brown, and home-brewed formulas.

All of these are capable of producing a rich rust-blue finish of generally good to excellent quality, with varying degrees of work required on the part of the gunsmith. Along-time supplier of all the above products, the folks at Brownells recently introduced their own product called Classic Rust Blue (item #082-000-010) and we asked our contributing editor David Chicoine to give it a try. David uses lots of rust-blue solution and almost always has a rust-blue project going on.

David noted that the price was attractive at $12.47 for 4 ounces, making it only a little more than one-third the cost of its closest competitor. David says that, of commercial brands of slow rust blue, Laurel Mountain seems to be the most aggressive oxidizer. Pilkington’s, he says, produces the most even first coat of rust, although Mark Lee’s formulas are also very good and easy to use. All will usually produce rust in the open air, without the need for the controlled environment of a damp box.

After using Brownells’ Classic Rust Blue for three months, David says it’s not quite as aggressive an oxidizer as Laurel Mountain, but is decidedly more so than the Pilkington’s or Mark Lee products.

He says he was impressed with the ability of the Brownells blue to produce a uniform, seamless oxide coating on the first coat. (The first is the most important step with rust bluing; If it’s splotchy or uneven, the finished product will have an uneven color no matter how many coats are applied later.) David says he gets a rich, durable finish in as little as four applications. (Typically, most products require six applications.) He says that the great performance combined with the low price earns Brownells’ Classic Rust Blue two thumbs up.