Different Types Of Gun Coating

With the increase in the possession of arms by customers and not just law enforcement personnel, there is a whole new demand for firearm-related services which has led to the emergence of companies specializing in gun coating. Gun coating is a mandatory procedure in order to prolong their life and also to keep them from wearing out. For the firearms, the two main characteristics are high corrosion resistance and high hardness. These ensure the protection of the firearm against any sort of damage whether being used or not. Another key feature of gun coating is that it makes the gun look new for a lifetime.

There are many types of coats. The traditional ‘blue’ layer is created by a chemical treatment of the metal. Though, it is not durable and needs to be re-done in a few years. Boride Powders on the other hand, is far more superior in quality. In this case, a type of resin is used in the form of powder. They are applied electrostatically and then the powder is cured under heat. Another type available in the market is a simple spray can that can be used at home by the consumer. But in this case, the consumer needs an oven to cure.

Traditionally, a 76 to 127 micron layer is applied to the firearm. But, in case of layering a slide on a firearm, 127 micron layer is not preferred as it would be hard to fit it back properly. It results in a surface that looks like orange peel and in case you want to remove it and re-do it, methylene chloride is used for the process. It is a highly volatile chlorinated solvent.

But, with the advancement in technology in this realm, the companies have come up with PVD coating. Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD) is a procedure to produce metal or ceramic vapor. It can be used to layer various materials by depositing those vapors on the surface of the material. The process is carried out in a vacuum chamber at very low pressure, typically using a cathodic arc source. Single and multi layers can be applied during the same process cycle. The ceramic layering can be in the form of oxides, nitrides, carbides, carbonitrides and borides. PVD layer ranges in thickness from 2 to 4 microns, which when compared to traditional layering, is substantially low. It acts as a barrier against acids, oils, cleaners and strong industrial solvents. Another advantage is that, since PVD layer is super thin and also super strong, even exact machined firearms will fit back together perfectly with no distortion at all.