Cerakote removal in Glock magwell

[LTC-J]

Title basically states it but for details.

I've got a Glock 30 that was Cerakoted(bought used already cerakoted). Unfortunately, I think it was heavily done in the magwell that is causing magazines to stick during release.

The gun is my "training" gun to match my carry gun so I'm not too worried about it looking bad. But sticking magazine isn't cool.

The question is how do I remove the Cerakote from the mag well?

Is there a chemical to use?

Hand sand it with sand paper? What grit?

Dremel?

If I use something other than chemical removal, is it possible to remove too much material from the magwell?

[ar15barrels]

Are you sure your gun even dropped mags freely before the ceracoat job?
If it did, I suspect your grip frame was warped during the heat curing of the ceracoat.
The ceracoat thickness on it's own is just NOT going to make a glock magwell suddenly tight.
Wrap some 150 grit sandpaper around a popsickle stick and go to town on the inside.
You should be able to find the tight spot pretty easily as it will be the spot that shows all the wear from being sanded out.

Make sure you remove your mag catch before you do this so you don't sand it down.
Pull the slide off the frame so you can get access from the top as well.

[LTC-J]

Are you sure your gun even dropped mags freely before the ceracoat job?
If it did, I suspect your grip frame was warped during the heat curing of the ceracoat.
The ceracoat thickness on it's own is just NOT going to make a glock magwell suddenly tight.
<snip good info>

Thank you for the feedback.

I have no idea if the gun would drop mags before it was ceracoted. I bought the gun already ceracoted.

It is possible that the heat curing may have warped the frame. I may just mic the magwell of both.

On the thickness of ceracote, I'm not hugely familiar with the process. The impression I have of ceracote, it is somewhat a cross between powder coat and paint. If the heat didn't warp the frame, I could see a "heavy" coating causing the same issue.

In your opinion, is there any concern over the magwell thickness? Will sanding a few thousanths off over stock impact the gun's safety?

The class instructor mentioned that G30 magazines on occasion will swell up. I tested two magazines on the ceracoat gun and the stock gun. They both stuck in the ceracoat gun but not the stock.

[ar15barrels]

In your opinion, is there any concern over the magwell thickness? Will sanding a few thousanths off over stock impact the gun's safety?

The class instructor mentioned that G30 magazines on occasion will swell up. I tested two magazines on the ceracoat gun and the stock gun. They both stuck in the ceracoat gun but not the stock.

Ceracoat cures around 0.001" thick or even less.
There are different generations of glock frames and magazines.
Some drop free while others do not so simply comparing the two guns based on one having ceracoat is not giving you the whole picture.
The ceracoated gun may be a generation of frame that simply does not drop mags free.

That said, I don't see any safety issue with removing a few thousandths of plastic from inside the magwell in an attempt to get the mags to drop free.

[LTC-J]

<snip>
There are different generations of glock frames and magazines.
Some drop free while others do not so simply comparing the two guns based on one having ceracoat is not giving you the whole picture.
The ceracoated gun may be a generation of frame that simply does not drop mags free.

I believe both guns are equivalent. The stock 30 is a gen 3. The ceracoted 30 is a gen "2.5".

From my understanding, the gen "2.5" was basically a gen 3 without the light rail on the front.

Both were three pin versus the older with two pins. The for sure gen 3 has SF marked on the side. While the gen "2.5" does not have SF on it. I have compared them side by side and they are both SFs.

[ar15barrels]

Get to sanding.

[Gunsmith Dan]

Hi LTC-J

We are a Certified Cerakote Applicator and to answer your question:

When Cerakoting Glocks even though the coating is very thin believe it or not there is one spot on a Glock that has a tight enough tolerance that even Cerakote causes problems, just happens to be the top of the Magwell.

The back top area of the magwell (the area infront of the trigger housing) actually has a very tight tolerance and if coated in that area magazines insert easily but will not drop free. I normaly only do one pass to give just enough coating for protection and some color but not a full coating.SO first goto Home Depot, Lowes etc. and but some 4 zero steel wool ( 0000 ) and a 1/2 inch or close round wood dowel that is longer than the magwell. The 0000 will take off the Cerakote after some time but is fine enough not to make the plastic rough.


If your magazines go in very easy all the way they just rub off the Cerakote in that area at the top in front of the trigger housing.


If your magazines are not that easy to insert then rub off the coating on all sides including corners. You have to make sure you use long even strokes as to not make low spots. You should test your magazine after about a minute or so of rubbing and if still a problem continue.

You just have to make sure to rub only to the point that your empty magazines drop free. If you rub to much you can make the tolerance to loose and cause failure to feed issues later down the road.


Hope that helps.

[1lowluv]

this is the main reason I mask the inside of the magwell on glocks. on the compact 45 and 10mm frames the mags will stick if you look at them funny. the guy that makes my holsters told me that when he is pressing the hot kydex over polymer frames he uses magazines with a couple layers of tape around them to keep the frame from warping. he has had success fixing warped frame the same way. heres a g17 i did today.

[large_sprite]

i had the same thing happen to my mag well. i used 400, 600, then 1000 grit sandpaper on it for good measure. i took a fine flathead screwdriver to those hard to reach areas. magazines drop fine now. i also took 2000 grit to side contact areas that had been sprayed.

[Gunsmith Dan]

Never had to mask Glock Mag Wells as those are always shot for color effect and not protection.

0000 Steel wool works perfectly fine and polishes out the Mag Well smooth, no need to spent that much energy and money on fine grit sand paper.