Powder Coating

[Zamble]

I was talking to someone at work and they mentioned they had a friend that powder coated.

Can I powder coat an AR lower? Would it be effective if I did? Or should I still anodize it?

But I started thinking, maybe I should bead blast my AK...? Again, any thoughts?

Thanks

[dls]

I have a friend that does it also,and I've thought of it myself for a lower. But the stuff is pretty think,I'm not sure how it would work on some firearm parts. ?

I'd be interested to hear comments.

[bohoki]

yea it can get thick so you may need to scape out the pocket pinholes and threads

so it would not be a good idea

ive wanted to try to season one with bacon grease like an old frying pan

[Gunsmith Dan]

OMG Zamble you did not get tortured enough with the Parkerizing project?

You can do powder coating in thinner layers but yes some areas like the fire selector and suck might scrap on the finish if not careful on controling the thickness of the coat.

[Zamble]

Is that for the AK or M4? Can they both be anodized? If the M4 can be, would it be worth it, appearance wise. And would it protect the lower as good as hard anodizing?

[Gunsmith Dan]

Unless you got some really super special AK receiver you can't anodize steel (well technically bluing of steel is a sort of a form of anodizing)

If you thought Parkerizing was hard Anodizing will cause you to lose all your hair.

Hard Anodizing for aluminum firearm receivers is the only way to go because of the part against part wear. If done correctly the only way you can tell the difference between anodizing and hard anodizing is a scratch test ( or by cutting a piece out and using a microscope to see how thick the anodized layer is on the cross section).


If you want it all super shiny you can Nickel plate Aluminum.

[morthrane]

Softer forms of anodizing wouldn't be very nice for a firearm-- the fade from UV exposure and scratch easily. Why do you think aluminum based .mil stuff is hard anodized?

I've had motorcycle parts powdercoated, and the coating is relatively thick. Critical areas like machined holes either need to be blocked from the powder application or reamed/thread chased after the powdercoat is baked on. All issues and headaches which might explain why most aluminum based .mil hardware is hard anodized, not powdercoated.

[Zamble]

My bad, I meant can they both be powder coated.

[spdtiger]

I am currently in a powder coat project for an ar I'll post my results soon here