Need help with refinishing

[Centurion_D]

Wondering if anyone knows a gunsmith in the bay area who can refinish my colt sporter. Basically the upper and lower receiver color's don't match. Can anyone recommend a gunsmith?

[metalhead357]

Hmmm, must be a trend. I just reccomended to a guy calling either Tabor's or Imbert & Smithers & see what they're charging. Stay tuned as I'm sure there's more around that'll chime in soon.

What part of the Bay Are ya'????

[Centurion_D]

Hmmm, must be a trend. I just reccomended to a guy calling either Tabor's or Imbert & Smithers & see what they're charging. Stay tuned as I'm sure there's more around that'll chime in soon.

What part of the Bay Are ya'????

live in the east bay..I've been to Tabors..didn't know they can do parkarizing/anodizing. I'll give em a call. Imbert & Smithers is located in San Mateo..aren't they? Not sure..

[metalhead357]

Yep on the locations (Imberts is what? technically in San Carlos, 5 miles south?)

But they would/could at least point ya' towards some reputable ones if no one steps up to the plate here; I'd offer to use you'res as a guinnea pig if'n ya' want!!!!!!!!!

Have ya' considered any of the bake on and/or just spray on finishes like Alumahyde II, Duracoat, Gun Kote?

Just about any of those you could really do yourself.

[Centurion_D]

I've never tried doing it my self and I really don't want to screw anything up so I was really leaning towards having someone w/ experience doing it right the first time. I guess I'll just have to make some phone calls.

[bwiese]

A Colt Sporter is a named assault weapon in CA. It must, of course be registered as an AW.

A gunsmith working on it needs not only an FFL but a CA Assault Weapons permit if the lower receiver's gonna stay in the shop when you're not there.

I do not believe Tabor's or Imbert & Smithers have an AW permit. Trader's might have, but their FFL is gone.

I doubt the smith can make the upper match the lower by just working on the upper - I'd bet he has to strip/recoat both receivers in the same bath.

He'll have to get Sanderson's Solid Film Lubricant to recoat (at least the interior, if something else is used on the exterior).

[metalhead357]

VERY good point Bill.

That makes me think then you might be best off to do it yourself. Either that of get a out of state dealer to handle it for you (and yes, AFAIK you do need to use a AW permitted dealer to ship.....I think )

[NSR500]

You could make a mini vacation out of the whole thing? Drive out to one of the nice shops/gunsmiths in Arizona, do some shooting, then get it refinished.

[bwiese]

... then you might be best off to do it yourself. Either that of get a out of state dealer to handle it for you (and yes, AFAIK you do need to use a AW permitted dealer to ship.....I think )

Yes, you generally need to use a CA dealer w/AW permit to *ship* an AW out of state.

You CAN, however, drive the AW out of state yourself without asking for Nanny.

Do note that Category III ("by feature") AWs can indeed be disassembled and have sufficient evil features removed and then be shipped like normal rifles - even though they are reg'd AWs.

[This latter info is from the horse's mouth: DOJ Asst Dir/Deputy AG Tim Rieger & Randy Rossi told me this in public in a 2004 'Meet the DOJ' dinner hosted by Golden State 2nd Amend. Council in San Jose. It also can be inferred from a couple of questions on the DOJ Firearms Division's AW FAQ on their website.]

Also note that many ARs that are reg'd AWs will indeed be Cat II 'named' AW- like the orig poster's Colt Sporter. However, some small fraction of ARs that are not listed and which were reg'd six years ago are really Cat III AWs - like my ASA-15s, and a few others I don't recall offhand.

[Centurion_D]

Hmmm..I thought for sure Tabor's had a aw permit..maybe I'm wrong. That said who in the bay area does have a aw permit? Anyone know?

A Colt Sporter is a named assault weapon in CA. It must, of course be registered as an AW.

A gunsmith working on it needs not only an FFL but a CA Assault Weapons permit if the lower receiver's gonna stay in the shop when you're not there.

I do not believe Tabor's or Imbert & Smithers have an AW permit. Trader's might have, but their FFL is gone.

I doubt the smith can make the upper match the lower by just working on the upper - I'd bet he has to strip/recoat both receivers in the same bath.

He'll have to get Sanderson's Solid Film Lubricant to recoat (at least the interior, if something else is used on the exterior).

[bwiese]

Hmmm..I thought for sure Tabor's had a aw permit..maybe I'm wrong. That said who in the bay area does have a aw permit? Anyone know?

IIRC, Frank Tabor was talking about getting one but I think he decided against the hassle - esp after the DOJ hassled him for completely legitimate conduct dealing with an estate that had assault weapons.

Felony charges were apparently filed against Frank, but the judge laughed them out of court pre-trial - of course, it still cost Frank $$. The Tactical Asian was later heard by another dealer saying (approximately) "Oh well, he still had to pay for the lawyer."

Don't remember the fine details at this point, but it seems that the Tactical Asian also made various statements on search warrant(s) relating to the above situation that conflict in a nontrivial manner with other paperwork invovled. If you or I tried that cr*p, it'd be called perjury. Anyone going against The Tactical Asian in court should have his attorney look into this more deeply, since "it's all about credibility".

[Blue]

What color do you want to refinish it in? I've done a few in Duracoat, and need to finish a few more, maybe we can work something out. Alittle bit of Duracoat goes a long ways. I did my 1919 and FAL with it and still had plenty left over. I'm in San Jose which isn't far from you, and if you bring the stuff down here it's dry enough to transport real quick.

[Centurion_D]

What color do you want to refinish it in? I've done a few in Duracoat, and need to finish a few more, maybe we can work something out. Alittle bit of Duracoat goes a long ways. I did my 1919 and FAL with it and still had plenty left over. I'm in San Jose which isn't far from you, and if you bring the stuff down here it's dry enough to transport real quick.

Duracoat?...Is it baked on like traditional anodizing/parkerizing? I would definately like to take you up on your offer. Thank you.

[dwtt]

Duracoat?...Is it baked on like traditional anodizing/parkerizing? I would definately like to take you up on your offer. Thank you.

I thought Duracoat is a 2-part epoxy paint. Parkerizing steel and anodizing aluminum is a chemical process which produces iron phosphate (parkerizing) and aluminum oxide (anodizing) from the base metal. I suspect they are functionally equivalent for most gun owners, but if you really want to parkerize your Sporter, then Duracoat isn't the same.

[Blue]

I thought Duracoat is a 2-part epoxy paint. Parkerizing steel and anodizing aluminum is a chemical process which produces iron phosphate (parkerizing) and aluminum oxide (anodizing) from the base metal. I suspect they are functionally equivalent for most gun owners, but if you really want to parkerize your Sporter, then Duracoat isn't the same.

Yep. If I had a reg'd AW I'd probably have it done the way it came from the factory. All of the guns I've Duracoated were builds that needed to be refinished to begin with and I pinch pennies so I did it myself. Duracoat is cool, but I wouldn't do it on anything irreplaceable.