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....reading too much again.....


carbon9

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Could somebody with actual experience with any of these finishes give me some feedback about them. Reading is fine and dandy but experience is invaluable. Even better would be somebody who has experience with all of them.

From what little I am gathering in my reading is nobody really knows what Birdsong/Black-T is but they have good feedback and the military continues to use it. People speculate it is similar to a "Teflon" coating. Non-ferrous metals can be coated with it as well such as my fav, Magnesium. Supposed to be self-lubricating and easy to clean. I have no idea what the hardness is. All parts, even springs, can be coated except for the bore of the barrel.

Ion Bond seems to be another self-lubricating coating that is easy to clean. Harder then Nitriding (is this a real word) and Hard Chrome, from what I have read. Non-Ferrous metals will work with this coating with a little extra prep. Why don't we ever see the bore or chambers finished with Ion Bond. Bolts and Bolt Carriers do well with it. Does anybody have experience with the inside of a barrel Ion Bonded?

Nitride finishing seems to be the current cutting edge of longevity for barrels. Might not be the the most cosmetic oriented process but IMO looks pretty neat. Even if the finish gets scraped and the coating appears to come off the protection is still there. The temperatures involved will definitely stress relieve a component but may be detrimental to previously tempered/hardened components. Works best with ferrous materials, stainless is not the best material to Nitride.

These coatings can all serve slightly different purposes but which components would, in your opinion/experience, benefit from which coating the most?

Also, if anybody has played with any of the technical ceramic coatings which are supposed to shed heat more rapidly, please, let me know what you coated and how it worked out. Handguards, barrels, suppressors???

I love information, write as much as you'd like. :cheers:

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Bores and chambers are coated to reduce cleaning interval not a cure for wear. Wear in a rifle barrel is specific to the lands and crown which really don't have a cleaning problem as such. Damage at these points need remedy regardless of the rest of the bore condition. In a handgun coatings make sense as the handling properties are more frequent than parts replacement. In a precision rifle the parts replacement exceeds the handling. (Unless you want to nitride your Accuracy Int. stock). AR's of course are inbetween these two extremes.

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