Opinions on Gun Kote?

[Bullauge]

I'm hoping to solicit some opinions on the Gun Kote coating. Is this a good product? Is it durable and does it look good? How does it compare to other coatings? If you were going to coat a gun, what would you use and why? Thanks for your help!

[gottripletsNC]

I think gun kote is a good temporary thing. I've done two guns with it, and it worked nice. It did however, chip in some areas like the edge of the safeties, and slide to frame rails etc. If I were looking for a long term thing, I'd send it somewhere and have it done professionally. I like hot bluing, parkerizing, but I prefer manganese phospating over zinc phospating. Or bead blast bluing. I like the look of black diamond kote, but haven't seen it in person to make a decision on it yet. I don't like the armory kote or armor tuff stuff tho, it still looks painted like the gun kote.

[Hawkmoon]

I think edge chipping is at least partially a function of preparation, and also application. And your question reminds me that I owe it to KG Coatings to write up my test report.

KG (Gun Kote) sent M1911.ORG some sample material for evaluation over a year ago. The arrive unfortunately corresponded with a severe leg injury on my part that depayed testing, but I'm on my feet now and I can't use that excuse forever.

They sent us both the chemical/heat cure product and the air cure product. I sent the heat cure sample on to another member, who was going to turn it over to his gunsmith for a trial application, and it hasn't been heard of since. I used the air cure product on one of my projects.

What I had was a flat black Essex slide on a matte black Armscor receiver. I wanted them to match, so I sprayed the slide. It came out very well (with a slight amount of "orange peel" in the texture, due to my inexperience with an air brush) and has been quite durable.

But it came out much "blacker" than the receiver, so I then decided to coat the receiver to match. That was my mistake. First, I was not as thorough in preparation, especially on the small parts like the grip safety. And apparently I had not cleaned the air brush well after doing the slide, because I had a LOT of problems getting a uniform coat on the receiver and small parts. And on some of the small parts and on the grip frame, the coating is lifting.

In short, I think Gun Kote is an excellent product, but it isn't forgiving. You MUST do a thorough job or preparation before applying it. If I were to do it again (which is unlikely), rather than using an air brush I think I'd spend $10 on one of those cheapie automotive touch-up sparay guns from Harbor Freight Tools. And -- practice first on scrap material. I didn't, because I thought I could paint. (Wrong again, banana breath.) An air brush does not handle like a spray gun.

[gottripletsNC]

I totally agree on the prep work, and I was very careful, and still had some chips, only one or two mind you, and there were in high traffic areas, not only from use, but areas that get bumped easily.

[Bullauge]

I've heard good things about the Diamond Kote as well as Cerakote. Are these considered superior coatings compared to the Gun Kote? I plan on building a two-tone 1911 with black and silver and have now experience with the various coatings out there, which is why I'm asking all these questions. :)

[Dave Berryhill]

The quality of the prep and application can make all the difference in the world. Also, the coating that many companies apply IS Gun Kote.

[John]

Yeap, what Dave said. Most companies use Gun Kote, but do not call it by that name.

[David Rose]

Gun-Kote is applied under at least 14 different names according to the manufacturer as of last week.

Prep is a big part of the battle with Gun-Kote. There are no short cuts. Application is the largest part. I had also used an airbrush and thought I "knew how". I spent about 6 months learning to apply it... well apply it so that it does NOT look like paint. If put on too heavily, like from aerosol cans, it will look paint and act like it. Normal ap is about .0004" thick. Yes, I counted the "0s". Satins I still find challenging to apply well. Flats are easy if you don't get them too thick. Glosses... well... they have only one that I can apply that looks very much like caustic salt bluing.

I ended up with the airbrush that KG Kotings recommends. It works, but it fussy on maintenance. I have to do cleaning before through with a single job. I got the $230 gun that the US distributor for GK recommends. It is another learning curve that I am just started into. Ugh!

I was talking to the owner of KG Kotings (who owns Gun-Kote) last week about ceramic coatings. They also offer one that can be superior in hardness and wearability to Gun-Kote. But he said that the downside is heat retension. He said that all ceramic coatings retain heat very very well. That is not good in guns as a rule. At least the longer barreled ones will suffer in the throat area. Handguns *might* get away with it, but...

Now that I have "crested the hill" so to speak with Gun-Kote, I'm glad that I chose it as our finish. If I had known the required learning, I would not have done it. But our 'smithing shop has been without an "inhouse" finish for about 15 years, and that has been a struggle. There are waaay more places doing poor finishing than good. I could list dozens that we've tried, but won't. I've not seen them listed here anyway, so there is no need.

I have a pile of various pieces of Gun-Koted parts laying on a counter top with blued and parkerized parts mixed in. So far, in about 10(?) months, there is no damage to the Gun-Koted parts except for where guys have tried pocket knives and other severe challenges. Even then, it takes several scrapes to damage the parts. There are no chips... yet. The parked parts are all scratched up through the coloring, but they aren't rusting. The blued parts are worse, with some rust showing. Guys bang them around daily.

If I wanted to do a "one off" job, I think I would look at rust and rub blue or something along that line. Or send the gun out to someone who knows what they are doing. However, if you do the prep well, and don't mind a painted look, too thick a G-K ap is durable.

Another opinion,

David

[gottripletsNC]

The very reason I said to let it be professionally done.

[Colt45guy]

I've never had good luck Gun Kote-ing pistols....all my handguns get carried, and bumped/banged around as well as being shot a whole lot. I've had excellent luck with the gray parkerize GK on rifles though. The prep is the most important--abrasive blast, degrease, heat/degrease again. I painted a Garand and a Mini 30, and both have held up well--but admittedly, they don't get abused like my handguns do. (and they were allowed to cure a whole lot longer before I took them out)

[gbw]

This is pretty much a personal preference issue to me. Anyhow, my particular favorites are, in no particular order

blue - the classic look we all grew up with, fairly expensive, very low protection from wear and rust. But. I still think the old, beautifully polished, blue Colt autos are some of the best looking guns ever made.
stainless - no / low rust, incredibly flexible as to finish texture (but not color) that can be had.
hard chrome - extremely hard, wear resistant, good corrosion resistance, costly
parkerizing - inexpensive, 'GI look', durable, good corrosion resistance and non-reflective

Personally I don't care much for the flat black look that's the fashion lately, but as I said it's all a personal preference.

I've also seen some stunning guns in nickel plate where the polishing was done right first - which is very difficult.

[irq23]

AZEX arms in the Phoenix area does cheap Gun Kote. They call it Parkote. They first parkerize everything then use the thermal cured Gun Kote over it.