Bolt carrier finish

[Rickj427 15]

I see from a lot of member pics that a lot of you have either polished or painted/powder coated your bolt carriers. I'm in the process of completing a conversion for my dad for Christmas and I've ran into a snag. I powder coated his carrier, but I must have coated it a little too thick b/c it is now rubbing on the upper inside part of the small dust cover and the ring of the small dust cover is getting caught up in the area where the spring sits in the carrier. I powder coated my own carrier with success, but I was wondering if there is another/easier way to get the "look" of a stainless carrier.

 

Here's a pic of it rubbing and the conversion so far.

[sjgusmc21 850]

I see from a lot of member pics that a lot of you have either polished or painted/powder coated your bolt carriers. I'm in the process of completing a conversion for my dad for Christmas and I've ran into a snag. I powder coated his carrier, but I must have coated it a little too thick b/c it is now rubbing on the upper inside part of the small dust cover and the ring of the small dust cover is getting caught up in the area where the spring sits in the carrier. I powder coated my own carrier with success, but I was wondering if there is another/easier way to get the "look" of a stainless carrier.

 

Here's a pic of it rubbing and the conversion so far.

 

Hot damn that is some good looking wood there! Where'd you get it if you don't mind me asking? You Father will be very grateful! I have no experience with powder coating...I plan on polishing mine.

[Cobra 76 two 2,677]

That is some nice looking walnut. The powdercoat also looks nice. I got a powder coating gun but haven't tried it yet. Maybe I'll try a bolt carrier and see how it goes. I normally strip and sand / polish them to get that look. I've also used a hi temp ceramic enamel to get them looking nice. Did my 5.45 like that.

 

 

[Salmonking 149]

It looks like the Tapco brand; TimberSmith. I love the black laminate one they offer.

[Cobra 76 two 2,677]

The Timbersmith stuff is laminated. That's solid walnut. Probably from Ironwood Designs.

 

[sjgusmc21 850]

The Timbersmith stuff is laminated. That's solid walnut. Probably from Ironwood Designs.

 

That was going to be my quess......walnut wood just gives me, well, WOOD! Regardless, just looks awesome!

[Paulyski 2,227]

The easiest way for a steel look, is just that...

Go to steel.

 

It's tool steel & isn't too prone to rust. Even without much maintenance.

 

Just hit it with a media blaster & leave it be, or hit it with the brush on the other end of the grinder, then use course Dremel 180 grit Abrasive buffs, like the lighter one pictured here;

 

 

It will come out looking like matte "stainless" steel.

The part really isn't prone to rusting. Nothing compared to the barrel or front trunnion.

 

ETA;

 

Although my carrier is quite smooth, I have seen some that have pits or what look like deep scratches, & I try to minimize the appearance of them with a sanding drum first.

Edited November 17, 2010 by Paulyski

[6500rpm 670]

I like to knock down any imperfections with some emory, then media blast lightly with 70 grit aluminum oxide followed by media blasting with glass bead. (you can skip the aluminum oxide, but it cuts fast and cleans things off well). I keep my stuff lightly oiled and have never had problems with rust. The glass bead leaves a good satin finish and can easily be touched up if you ever found the need.

[Rickj427 15]

I see from a lot of member pics that a lot of you have either polished or painted/powder coated your bolt carriers. I'm in the process of completing a conversion for my dad for Christmas and I've ran into a snag. I powder coated his carrier, but I must have coated it a little too thick b/c it is now rubbing on the upper inside part of the small dust cover and the ring of the small dust cover is getting caught up in the area where the spring sits in the carrier. I powder coated my own carrier with success, but I was wondering if there is another/easier way to get the "look" of a stainless carrier.

 

Here's a pic of it rubbing and the conversion so far.

 

Hot damn that is some good looking wood there!

 

That's what she said! Thanks, I have four coats of Tung oil so far.

 

The Timbersmith stuff is laminated. That's solid walnut. Probably from Ironwood Designs.

 

That's right Cobra. Matt really came through for me. His quality is outstanding. I only wish I had the money for the gas tube so I could use the upper handguard as well.

 

 

I ended up striping the carrier and re-powder coating it. This time, I didn't coat the inside of the spring pocket, which provided enough spacing between the outside of the carrier and the inside of the small dust cover. Thanks for all of the responses. If the powder coat begins to scratch on the sureface, I may have to strip the powder coat off and polish it. I'll definitely post some pics of the gun when it is completely assembled!

[Cobra 76 two 2,677]

Looks great Rick. I had all my Saiga BCs bead blasted by pistonring8 back in 05. Back then I only had five....12, 20, 410, .223 and x39. All still look ok, no rust pitting or anything. They just lose their luster if left satin. And if handled a lot or left in my shop too long...a humid basement....surface rust does start to form. It's easily taken care of with a little elbow grease so no problem. If I want it to look sharp again I can always take a pad to it or really do some work and get the dremel out, then take them to the buffing wheel. If you coat them though, they stay the same color I presume....still haven't had much experience yet with powdercoating but I'm getting ready to embark on that whole thing. I read you can even reproduce a chrome like, or anodized look even, on any solid surface. I'm lookin forward to playin around with it. The Fuglystick HGs I have are powdercoated and I must admit it's a damn nice finish and looks very durable.

 

[Paulyski 2,227]

Looks great Rick. I had all my Saiga BCs bead blasted by pistonring8 back in 05. Back then I only had five....12, 20, 410, .223 and x39. All still look ok, no rust pitting or anything. They just lose their luster if left satin. And if handled a lot or left in my shop too long...a humid basement....surface rust does start to form. It's easily taken care of with a little elbow grease so no problem. If I want it to look sharp again I can always take a pad to it or really do some work and get the dremel out, then take them to the buffing wheel.

I personally prefer a dull matte/satin finish, so I have kept my buffing wheel away from the carrier.

I went out shooting in the rain a while back & the inside of my case got wet, then I closed it & forgot about it for a couple weeks.

 

Some other steel in there rusted badly(nails for targets), but the carrier just had a few tiny dots that were barely noticeable. They were easily wiped off with steel wool.

I use .0000 steel wool when cleaning my guns though, so it wasn't any extra work at all.

 

I couldn't believe that the inside of the case was still as wet as it was though.

The whole gun was soaked from condensation & had been sitting like that for a while

 

Fortunately though, my wood is finished with thick polyurethane & everything was in great shape. After that, I'll never worry about a bare carrier.

[Cobra 76 two 2,677]

Yep, that's right on man. actually the only one I've taken to the buffer is my AKS-12. post apoc had to go sportin his Lonestar masterpiece all around so I decided to match it...lol. All the rest are still pretty much untouched and lookin great....just regular steel like.

 

[BoKnows 12]

I'm on the current waiting list for a Tromix S06 but once it is finished and I've had a chance to break it in, I'm having the bolt carrier group sent to Robar for NP3 Plus which is a Nickel Teflon finishing. I have it on a few of my handguns and it is excellent.

 

Here's my Springfield Armory 1911 Loaded Stainless Steel finished in Nickel Teflon. Its easy to clean, rust resistant, and has an ultra slick action.

 

 

EAA Witness .45ACP completely finished in Robar NP3

Edited November 17, 2010 by BoKnows

[rocinante 100]

The part really isn't prone to rusting. Nothing compared to the barrel or front trunnion.

 

It will rust, mine did. I cleaned it up and hit it with clearcoat. no problem.

[Gibbles 23]

I tried to polish a bolt carrier on one of my AK's, I could not get it bright with the Romainan metal, and I started to have rust issues.

 

Now it has a Bulgy carrier that came with a nice bead blasted finish, looks bright and I have never had any issues with rust, I have no clue what the proccess is they used but I would love to have the same thing on my S12.

[shades_of_grey 1,092]

Mirror polish and oil's the only way to go...

 

 

 

I s'pose rust issues are possible if you don't keep it protected with CLP, (what I use), or something similar, but it's not much of a concern in CO, (very low humidity).