Saiga12Lover 0 Posted April 6, 2011 Report Share Posted April 6, 2011 (edited) I haven't seen anyone talking about refinishing a gun, so I thought I would post my experience with it, along with some different types of ovens to bake the parts in. I have never done any refinishing to a gun in any way, but after taking a really close look at my Saiga12, I decided I really hated the finish on it. It was obviously cheap and going to scratch like crazy. I decided I was going to media blast the gun and KG Gun-Kote it. I spent some time figuring out how to accomplish this well and with a minimum of work. I looked at a lot of gun coatings, and I decided on Gun-Kote for availability, ease of application, durability, and cost. If you don't have an airbrush, you can get it in rattle cans from Brownells. If they ever get any back in stock that is. As I understand it, the rattle cans don't give as even a coat as an airbrush, but many people think it works fine. Ok, I took everything apart as far as it will go without removing the barrel. I take all the parts over to a buddy's house to start bead blasting it. After some tedious annoying work, I ended up with bare metal. You can farm this out to a local company, but you really have to sandblast to get a good finish. I got some Gun-Kote and K-Phos from Brownells. It seems that Gun-Kote, while not quite as durable as Cerakote, is a more forgiving finish to apply. Since I haven't done this before, I am a really big fan of forgiving. I like the comments here: http://thefiringline...ead.php?t=50377 from ScottS about the process of preparing the gun for coating. Gun-Kote requires baking at 300 degrees for an hour. Hmmm, I can't get the receiver with the barrel attached into the oven. Taking off the barrel seems to be a really bad idea of you don't have the proper tools and experience. Which I do not. So I started looking around for a solution, when I came across these: $50 Hillbilly Oven http://www.snipershi...&Number=1609093 I like this idea, but I really don't like sheet metal. I always cut myself somehow, and it gets crunched in storage. Toaster Oven for a gun http://www272.pair.c...er/heater1.html Seemed like too much work. I am really lazy. Oven Box http://www272.pair.c...er/heater4.html This is what I went with. It didn't cost much to assemble. All you need is 2 2x12x12, some screws, 3 hinges and an oven thermometer. It took an afternoon to put it together, even with much distraction. I didn't use the charcoal starters, but I used a cheap harbor freight heat gun for $12.99, drilled a hole the size of the heat gun barrel in the box, and turned it on. After about 20 minutes, the box is a nice toasty 300 degrees. :-) Perfect! When I was at harbor freight to get a second heat gun in case the first bailed on me at an inopportune time, I got a $4 discount if I bought the 1 year warranty that cost $3. Now that is a deal. Ask em if they offer that at your local store. The cons of this method are that The finished product is heavy! A real pain to move around. You can not buy a 2x12 that isn't warped. The top cover on mine had gaps. I used some scrap leather I had laying around to pad the gaps, and I got another 50 degrees out of the oven. I couldn't find a thermometer that was accurate that I could read from the outside. I put an oven thermometer on the inside, hanging from a small piece of wire. Then I could crack the top a small bit and see the thermometer. Alright, the oven is ready, the gun is bead blasted. I got the Gun-Kote and my airbrush all hooked up, and a Saturday to work on this. So my process is this: Degrease the gun with brake cleaner. Hit the gun lightly with a scotch brite pad, while wearing latex gloves. Degrease the gun with brake cleaner again. Bake the gun in the oven for a hour to ooze out any oils left in the metal. Even on a brand new gun you will be surprised what comes out. Degrease the gun with brake cleaner again. Do not touch the gun with your bare hands once you start the degreasing, or you will put oils back into the metal. This will cause your finish to start wearing off. Now it is time to apply the K-Phos. This stuff is a type of cheater parkerization that will allow the Gun-Kote to stick to the metal better. Simply spray or paint it on, and once it dries, it is time to paint. Check out this video here: http://www.brownells...er_4___Gun_Kote. It talks about how to apply the Gun-Kote properly. Ok, everything is painted and dried. Now it is time for the baking. Two hours of TV, watching the temp on the oven, and the Gun-Kote was all nicely cured. You can't get the temp above 350, or it will discolor the finish. I got a really nice finish that is very durable, and looks nearly perfect. I have a couple little spots that I messed up, but the process was very easy, and I am sure the next time I do it, I can achieve near perfection. Now we have a nice durable coating that will stand up. As a side note, I noticed after doing the small parts in one batch and the receiver and barrel in another, that if you let the Gun-Kote dry for 24 hours before baking, there is MUCH less smell. The smell dissipates quickly either way, but it is rather obnoxious at the time. Fans are your friend. A few notes about applying Gun-Kote. I used a cheapo airbrush with a compressor that came from harbor freight. http://www.harborfre...-kit-95630.html. Typically I wouldn't spend this much on one part to do a job once, but I have several other guns I want to refinish eventually, so I invested a little money. After using it, I wish it had a bigger reservoir, but it worked just fine. The biggest problem was controlling the flow of the paint from the cheapo airbrush. I got several shiny spots where I hit it too hard with the air brush. So I let the Gun-Kote dry for an hour and took the hair dryer to it for a while longer. Then with a bit of very fine sandpaper, I sanded down the ugliest spots. After cleaning it to get the grit off there, I hit it again with the airbrush, and it looked really nice again. A buddy gave me a rattle can of Gun-Kote he used on a project and didn't need the remainder for anything. I hit the whole gun with a final coat from the spray can and it came out really nicely. I really like the rattle can for a final coat. It makes a nice cloud of paint that kinda falls onto the gun and gives it a nice even finish. I think that the airbrush is way better for getting into small places and controlling the amount of paint that you get on the gun. I am sure a better airbrush would do a better job. Remember that numerous very light coats are much better than fewer heavier coats. It was very easy. The Gun-Kote covered very nicely with light coats. It was easy to get a clean, consistent finish, and it was easy to fix my screw ups. If you screw up completely, nail it again with brake cleaner, and the Gun-Kote melts right off, leaving you a perfect surface to start over with. The Gun-Kote goes a long way. I'll bet I could do 3 guns with one can of it. I will post some pics soon. Edited April 6, 2011 by Saiga12Lover Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Heath_h49008 442 Posted April 6, 2011 Report Share Posted April 6, 2011 Awesome write up. Did you take pics of your process and oven? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Saiga12Lover 0 Posted April 6, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 6, 2011 (edited) No pics of the process, but pics of the oven and the final result are coming, probably tonight. If the stupid camera doesn't mess with me again. I haven't finished the small parts, those going to get done this weekend. Edited April 6, 2011 by Saiga12Lover Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Saiga12Lover 0 Posted April 7, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 7, 2011 (edited) Picture Pages, Picture Pages, Time to Get Your Crayons and Your Pencils! The Oven: The Front The Back The Inside I had Home Depot cut each of the 2"x12"x12' boards in half, so I had 4 each 2"x12"x6' boards. I brought em home and trimmed 17 inches off of each one for the end caps. I simply screwed everything together with 3" wood screws, put the end caps on, and put the lid on with hinges at the back. The oven sits 3" or so off the ground. The wood gets rather warm when the inside it 350 degrees, but I wouldn't call it hot. I can use it in the living room when the GF isn't home to complain about the smell. What the pictures don't show is that in the bottom corner, towards the front, I cut a hole the same diameter as that of the cheapo $12.99 heat gun from Harbor Freight. I put tin foil across the bottom of it because it is starting to crack after heating it up several times. I didn't know if the foil would help, but it certainly won't hurt. I can also use it to sweat the cosmoline out of a rifle I just got. If the crack gets really bad, I will get a 2"x12"x6' and replace it. There is a huge knot in the middle of the wood and the crack extends out from wither side. I am sure that is what caused it. The wire is picture hanging wire from Home Depot. It was less than $5 for a whole spool. I wrapped it around a nut I had laying around, and then fed it into the box through a tiny hole. I cut a whole in the other end and pulled the wire through. Now I can hang anything I want in there. The thermometer is an oven thermometer from Target for $8. When you look at the top, there is a thermometer there that is used for grills. I have no idea why, but it doesn't seem to work. I tested the oven thermometer in my oven, and it reads really close to true. The one in the top doesn't read about 200 degrees. Ever. ::shrug:: To check the temp, I need to open the lid a crack, and read the oven thermometer that is dangling there. I would check it every 15 min or so. If the oven got to 350, I would turn off the heat gun for a few minutes and turn it back on for a while. It is a little manual checking and rechecking, but the whole thing cost me less than $50, and I can use it to sweat cosmoline and oven cure Gun-Kote. :-) Edited April 7, 2011 by Saiga12Lover Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Saiga12Lover 0 Posted April 7, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 7, 2011 (edited) I took these pics with the crappy camera on my phone. A couple of the pics, the finish appears mottled, but that is not the case. Examining it closely in both direct sunlight and indirect lighting in the house from many angles, the finish is a nice even black. I think that it is oils from handling it. I really need to oil the whole thing up. As I understand it, the Gun-Kote will absorb a certain amount of oil. That should bring out the nice even shine. There is a scratch on the left side of the receiver, towards the front. I can not for the life of me figure out how it got there, but there it is none the less. On the dirty garage floor Out in the sun I forgot to mention one other critical element, which is the small brown and white dog in the background. Fantastic energy, but crappy helper. Don't let the pets get involved. Trust me. Edited April 7, 2011 by Saiga12Lover Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Czar 1 Posted April 7, 2011 Report Share Posted April 7, 2011 You could use a digital oven thermometer with a lead to check the temperature. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Saiga12Lover 0 Posted April 7, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 7, 2011 Yeah, I was thinking about that. Of course, after the fact. Doh! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
quinci956 1 Posted April 8, 2011 Report Share Posted April 8, 2011 I have used that Gun Kote several times refinishing our departmental 870 shotguns. I swear cops are the worst when it comes to taking care of their weapons. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Saiga12Lover 0 Posted April 8, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 8, 2011 How does the Gun Kote hold up for you guys? Yeah, well when it isn't your gun, you just aren't as careful with it as if it were your gun. Nice Avatar, where did you get a picture of my ex? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MT Predator 2,294 Posted April 10, 2011 Report Share Posted April 10, 2011 Nice write-up! I've seen many an oven made from an old metal locker to hang long guns in which work as well. Most are using a heating element from an old stove top. Never thought of a wood one using a heat gun. Nice job! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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