BarrelRefinishing

[Strikenmike]

I have never been happy with the look of the metal on my HR's.  Just got a new 223 bull barrel today and it looks pretty sad.  Give me some ideas on how to get a better looking finish on these guns.  Are there any spray on/bake on finishes that you like?  Can they be polished?  What would it cost to have them professionally re-blued
?

Thanks for any ideas you may have.

[Dinny]

There are alot of different finishes that can be applied. I personally like DuraCoat, some folks prefer Cerakoate, and many other like spray paint. Do a quick search here and you will likely find several older posts where the same question was raised. I'm gonna beat quickdtoo for the first time by saying also look througth the FAQs and Handi Basics 101 for other ideas for barrel coating/painting.

Thanks, Dinny

[fredster22]

Go to the NEF&H&R Classified - Go to the 14th-15th ad down _ There is a picture of a 223 barrel(Dicks) that has been Duracoated.

[gcrank1]

For a hunting gun you may want to keep in mind that a high polish blue, even though dark colored, is very reflective of light. The matte finish 'hides' much better.

[quickdtoo]

I'm gonna beat quickdtoo for the first time by saying also look througth the FAQs and Handi Basics 101 for other ideas for barrel coating/painting.

Dinny, I'm glad to say I've been beat too many times to count, probably by most everyone at one time or another!! 

Tim

[Dinny]

I'm gonna beat quickdtoo for the first time by saying also look througth the FAQs and Handi Basics 101 for other ideas for barrel coating/painting.

Dinny, I'm glad to say I've been beat too many times to count, probably by most everyone at one time or another!! 

Tim

I'm slow, so it was quite an accomplishment for me. I'm usually a day late and a dollar short....

Thanks, Dinny

[trotterlg]

The problem with any coating on a Handi Rifle (other than it being a crime that you will be punnished for in your after life) is that there are places on the barrel that you cannot paint, or if you do paint them they will get chipped off in use.  If you don't like the looks of the blue you sure won't like the looks of chipping at the breach and along the sides where it closes on the frame.  You must also decide where to stop painting, the underlug cannot be painted as well as parts of the bottom of the barrel inside the frame.  Larry

[Dinny]

The problem with any coating on a Handi Rifle (other than it being a crime that you will be punnished for in your after life) is that there are places on the barrel that you cannot paint, or if you do paint them they will get chipped off in use.  If you don't like the looks of the blue you sure won't like the looks of chipping at the breach and along the sides where it closes on the frame.  You must also decide where to stop painting, the underlug cannot be painted as well as parts of the bottom of the barrel inside the frame.  Larry

I'm confused......Don't you parkerize your barrels

Thanks, Dinny

[trotterlg]

Yes I do parkerize them, but this is not a coating like paint, it is part of the metal like blue is, so it can't chip or flake off like a coating.  Aluminum anodizing is another finish that is not a coating, it is also part of the metal.  There is a really big difference in different finishes.  Larry

[Dinny]

Yes I do parkerize them, but this is not a coating like paint, it is part of the metal like blue is, so it can't chip or flake off like a coating.  Aluminum anodizing is another finish that is not a coating, it is also part of the metal.  There is a really big difference in different finishes.  Larry

 
I understand now, that's probably why my DuraCoating hasn't chipped or flaked yet. The metal was all parkerized first.

Thanks, Dinny

[trotterlg]

You are right about the duracoat and parkerizing under it.  The parkerizing forms a rough chrystline finish on the metal and the Duracoat sticks to it like crazy.  I think they even recomment that metal be parkerized first before coating it with Duracoat if you wnat the best finish you can get.  Larry

[Dances with Geoducks]

Every one of mine are duracoated. If my H&R wasnt a collector piece, It would have gotten a nice tiger stripe make over.

http://www.houtsenterprises.net/dur_bengal.html

It is a royal pain the first time you do it. You have to sand blast all the metal so it will stick. Then you have to spray it, wait an hour and bake it. Then hang it somewhere warm for 30 days. They said 3 weeks, but after the first failure I gave it an extra week.

Its hard as nails now, both the gas guns show zero wear on the moving parts

[Bullshop Junior]

What ever you do, DON'T USE DERA-COTE. Nothing but trouble. You should see my Marlin 94c That was done by a "professional".

I don't like it. It just flakes off. I don't know if it is the guy that did it (It was done when I got it), or the Dura-Cote, but I won't use it.

[Strikenmike]

trotterlg, I understand what you are saying about painting the barrel.  Roughly what would it cost to have it polished and a nice blue-job completed on the metal?

[Swampman]

More than it's worth IMO.

[a4beltfed2000]

parkerizing is done by sand blasting the original finish off the gun and then dipping them into a causitic solution which reacts with the steel by slightly dissolving the bare steel resulting in the park finish (very generic, short defination of parking) duracoating adherses best over the outside of a parked finish as the finish is rougher than a traditional blue finish and therefore can bond a little better, however it does (wear) off on any metal to metal contact. Laural costum weapons has some wonder camoflage finishes but it will wear......

If you are really concerned with the tooling marks on the barrel, sanding and polishing is the best way to remove them and have a nice traditional hot bluing done (not cold bluing). Be aware that the case hardened finish on the receiver will probably not blue on the older guns.....

[Big Blue]

I've used Brownels excellent Gun-Kote on a H&R receiver and on a 1911 build. It's a spray on oven cured product that really holds up. It's available in seven different colors including a gloss gunmetal blue. http://www.brownells.com/.aspx/pid=1150/Product/GUN_KOTE_trade__OVEN_CURE__GUN_FINISH
Don

[boratedoc]

Nice looking work Big Blue.

What is the name of the color in the top pic and the bottom of the 1911?

[Strikenmike]

Big Blue, when you do a Handi, do you paint the entire barrel mechanism, or just down to where it meets the top of the receiver?  If you do the entire barrel, how much trouble do you have with fit and chipping at the contact points.

[quickdtoo]

Be sure to read the painting section of the FAQs, as Larry mentioned, paint in the wrong place will change barrel lock up and latch engagement, there's a warning on that issue.   

Tim

[Strikenmike]

Quickdtoo.  Yes, I read that, which is why I asked for clarification.  Let me jump my own post by asking you a burning question.  I want to polish my new 223 barrel.  Can I use my regular ammo after applying JB's, Flisk, etc or do I need solid lead and/or reduced load rounds?

Thanks

[quickdtoo]

Sure, the moly that Varmint Al uses isn't necessary if that's part of your concern, most members like to use cheap ammo or bulk bullets for barrel break-in. But I have to say that recent production barrels made since 2007 when Marlin started making them have been very smooth, I've not done anything more than just clean them before heading to the range. Older barrels seemed to benefit from a good polishing and then still took some range time to get the accuracy to improve, my 2004 224 Ulta took 80 rounds to get under 1" 100yd groups after polishing the bore for example, but both my .444 and 45-70 Ultra shot under 1" with the first load I worked up in them.  So probably the best adivce is to shoot it first, then start the accurizing. 

Tim