Cycling issues after Cerakote

[Paxamus]

Hey guys,
I have a 9" BCM upper and a Spikes Lower on my 300 SBR. It has the JP silent recoil buffer system as well. It has shot everything without issue, its always suppressed. I just recently got it Cerakoted and took it to the range for the first time today. Prior to taking it, I broke it down and completely re lubed everything. First shot today to re zero- bang- no ejection. Worked the charging handle and it was difficult to eject. Every round after that was the same, suppressed and unsuppressed with all ammo types. l am contacting the place that did the work tomorrow, any suggestions as to what could be going on?

thanks

[certifiable]

Did the shop coat the gun assembled or completely tore apart?

If the barrel was coated, my guess would be they got the coating in the chamber/locking lugs.

I have had a few guns cerakoted recently and have had no function issues with any of them

[A-Game]

Cerakote is a thick paint. It messes with tolerances and doesn't make for a great firearms coating with parts that require tight tolerances. It also has no dry lubrication properties. There are several coatings on the market with dry lubrication properties that are necessary for semi automatic rifles.
I can attest to how great this is in a AR-15.

If they coated the inside of your receiver then your BCG might be sticking inside of the receiver.

If the company coated the chamber then they are sloppy amateurs and not professional firearm painters. It is very very easy to paint a barrel without coating the bore and chamber. The only way to remove paint from a chamber is with polishing stones.


BCM uses a barrel that has a chrome lined bore and chamber. It is easy to look and see if they coated it. It should be very bright and shiny...like chrome

[mb3]

Was the rifle properly assembled after coating, was the gas tube/block put back on right? I had a CMMG barrel that was coated , it took about 100 rounds befor it worked 100%. But when it fte, the problem was intermittant maybe 1 out of every 10 rounds fired.

[A-Game]

Firearm coatings should cause ZERO reliability issues.

Coatings can enhance reliability having dry lubricating properties and reducing friction.
They also increase corrosion resistance but don't make them corrosion proof.
Aesthetic purposes such as camouflage. Black stands out like a sore thumb in urban and field environments.


All coatings will wear and scratch over time. This should not be the number 1 reason to choose a particular coating but help with the overall benefit it provides.

[golfindia]

Cerakote adds thickness. This is good and bad. Another variable of cerakote is their PITA mixing process.

I've watched people cerakote their 1911s, get all excited, start putting them back together... Only to say "ahhh, crap!!".

I wouldn't have anything cerakoted unless I trusted that they were better at it than me. My go to coating is John Norrell's Molyresin - http://molyresin.com/ never had a tolerance problem with it.

[ozleux]

As far as Cerakote being thick, I'll have to loudly disagree. All of my gas guns are Cerakoted. This includes the micro-slick on the bolt and carrier, and also inside of the
upper receiver. Properly applied, any of the Cerakote brand coatings will add 1 mil, or 0.000039" of thickness. I've never had any issues with function on any weapon I've done.
The biggest issue I feel is improper prep before coating.

[A-Game]

That would be a lot of zeros That is an absurd number.
My back ground is as follows:
I prep, paint, parkerize, anodize, refinish wood, rifle and parts kit assembly, muzzle threading and crown, barrel shortening, grading, etc
As I have professionally refinished over 120,000 carbon steel, stainless steel, and aluminum firearm parts I will share some of my training and experience. Sand blasting, bead blasting, degreasing,
My experience is AK, HK, FAL, AR-15, SCAR, Glock pistols, S&W Revolvers, Mosin Nagant, M1918 BAR,
We are talking about internal tolerance so let's look at the specification rather than pulling numbers out of thin air.
According to Cerakote 1 single coating of cerakote is 1-2 mils. How many coats does your application require? Consider multiple colors in a pattern. Also consider multiple applications including a clear coat that some applicators choose to apply over the last application to reduce the appearance of wear.
1 mil is equal to 0.001"
2 mil is equal to 0.002"
10 mil is equal to 0.010"

Thickness of a human hair equals 0.004"

It doesn't sound like much does it.

Thickness of a dollar bill equals .0043"
The thickness of a credit card or Driver's License is 30 mil or .030"

Sulfuric Acid Anodizing:
Mil-A-8625 Type II Anodizing equals 0.0002-0.0003" (millionths of an inch.)

Manganese Phosphate: (Parkerizing)
0.0002-0.0004"

Gun-kote: Ideal 1 coat
0.0003-0.0004" (You can get it thicker)

Now, there are two ways to prep aluminum professionally. Remove the Anodizing completely, which also removes some surface layer and dimensionally changes the surface. There is good Anodizing and bad anodizing. The other choice is to rough up the anodizing.


The tolerances of an AR-15 are going to vary.


And yes multiple applications of different paint can interfere with the tolerances of firearms. Overspray and paint drip will do that.

There are many areas of an AR-15 that have tight tolerances that even 1 application of paint can make you wish your applicator knew what he was doing.

There are many things better than cerakote.

Gun-Kote has been around for almost 50 years and still remains to be a superior firearms coating for professional applications. Cerakote and Lauers Duracoat (Sherwin Williams Polane Paint) took part of the name to ride on the success of Gun-Kote. Yes, I know KG story.

Collaboration is great because we all learn from someone. Understand that when we speak of Cerakote being thick, it is meant to say that it will interfere with firearm tolerances and you must be very careful when applying not just Cerakote but any paint on a firearm.

[ozleux]

Yes, that number may be a little off, however, it wasn't meant to imply that one type of coating is superior to another.
The issue at hand is more likely an application error than a product issue. There are a ton of unscrupulous individual claiming
to be using X brand of firearm coating, and using cheap high temp spray paint. For this they are charging a large amount, and are calling themselves "professionals"
after watching an online video or two.
Which brand of coating is a matter of choice. I prefer Cerakote, mainly because all of the other coatings I used came out looking like a third grader did it. I don't do any other guns or parts other than my own (I use it for anything that needs coating).
At the end of the day, if the OP takes it back to the original applicator, they should make it right. If not, it would be nice to know who it is to same someone else trouble down the
road.
Didn't intend to step on anyone's toes, or offend anyone. I'm just a welder, what do I know.

[A-Game]

No offense was taken or meant. An understanding of tolerance is important when dealing with firearms. I work with one of the top minds in the country in working with rifles. What separates truth from internet heresay is accuracy. Everyone has their favorite coating and new ones come out all the time. The details of which can be a bit mystifying because of the chemistry involved.

I personally find nothing wrong in painting a weapon system exterior in rattle can Krylon. It is very very inexpensive and when it peels and flakes off it will be extremely inexpensive to touch up. It also gives that cool battlefield worn look. A friend of mine did three SCAR 17s in it. They still haven't worn.