Cerakote Projects

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Cerakote H-Series:

H-Series is the most durable of the standard Cerakote family of coatings and provides the best performance in hardness, wear and scratch resistance, adhesion and rust resistance. It can withstand heat up to 500f – 600f degrees and comes in the widest range of colors. Therefore, we use the H-Series wherever possible. However, it’s a two-part heat cure finish and, therefore, cannot be applied to optics and other items or substrates which cannot, or should not be cured at the required temperatures.

Cerakote™ C-Series:

For high-temp applications up to 1700°, such as suppressors and machine gun barrels, Cerakote™ C-Series has no equal. It’s available in a wide range of colors to match the overall finish requirement of the firearm or weapons system. We also use C-Series to coat scopes and other optics, as well as fiberglass and items and substrates which cannot be baked. It is not as durable as the H-Series and is less scratch and wear resistant. The primary application is optics, electronics and fiberglass stocks which cannot be hear cured.

Cerakote DFAC™ (Dry Film Anti-Carbon)

Is a dry film ceramic coating with special properties and attributes specially suited to tight tolerance applications and high-wear internal parts, such as bolts, bolt carriers, barrels and 1911 barrel bushings, etc… Cerakote DFAC™ penetrates the metal substrate and therefore adds minimal (.25 to .50 mil) thickness. DFAC™ came out of NIC’s industry leading Micro Dyne automotive and turbine coatings division where it has been used successfully for many years to coat automotive pistons, cylinder walls and turbine blades, etc. Cerakote DFAC™ provides outstanding anti-friction and wear-reduction properties and good rust prevention properties. In addition when applied to certain internal firearms parts, helps to reduce carbon fouling by resisting carbon adhesion, which promotes reduced maintenance, easier cleaning and improved operational reliability. DFAC™ imparts a medium grey to dark grey/black color to most steel substrates. Its primary purpose is one of functionality rather than aesthetics as the parts will “burnish” over time changing the original coated appearance of the parts while maintaining the anti-friction and anti-carbon attributes of the coating.

CERAKOTE STANDARD PERFORMANCE METRICS: 

RUST RESISTANCE: Cerakote™ finishes have been tested in salt spray and full emersion and have withstood beyond 3,000 hours in salt spray and hundreds of hours in full emersion testing. These results outperform other finishes by over 10x. This makes Cerakote™ finishes the clear choice for marine environments and other environments subject to high humidity and salt water environments.

WEAR RESISTANCE: Cerakote™ finishes can withstand over 5,000 (5,212) wear cycles per mil (.0001). The Tabor wear test uses an 8″ abrasive wheel applied to a metal plate coated with 1 mil thickness of the Cerakote coating. In addition, Cerakote’s Coefficient of Friction is 80% less than stainless steel against stainless steel. So, when one or both moving parts of a firearm are coated you can expect a significantly longer product duty cycle or service life.

ADHESION: Cerakote finishes have an ASTM D3359 rating of 5B and can withstand a 180° mandrel bend rotation test around a 1/4″ mandrel and a ball bearing impact test of 160 inch-lbs with no cracking or loss of adhesion. This is significant performance given Cerakote’s 9H pencil hardness, which is the highest hardness rating in the scale.

HARDNESS AND SCRATCH RESISTANCE: ASTM D3363 is a 9H pencil hardness and 6H scratch resistance.

FILM THICKNESS: 1.0 mil (Cerakote DFAC “Dry Film Anti-Carbon” is .25 to .50 mil)