There are many ways to protect your firearms. One popular choice among manufacturers and owners is a product called cerakote.
Why is it a good choice and how do you use it? Is it worth the up charge? All this and more you'll find the answer to in this blog!
What Is Cerakote?
Cerakote is a polymer-ceramic based paint. Baked at a high temperature and oven-cured into an ultra-durable hard coating.
With enough skill and prep work, you can apply Cerakote to wood, plastic, polymers, and metal.
Cerakote has been around for a long time. Popular among the firearm industry and other outdoor applications, such as fishing and boating.
Advantages Of Cerakote
The hard finish of Cerakote gives a huge boost to the durability of whatever it is protecting.
Cerakote is highly resistant to corrosion, chemicals, abrasion, and improves overall impact strength and hardness of the coating.
Basically -- if anything wants to damage the firearm under the Cerakote, it has to get through the Cerakote first. And that is harder than it seems like it should be.
Cerakote’s website has cool videos and information about their testing results. While you might expect them to be biased, researchers used standardized testing methods you can trust.
Cerakote lasted for 6,000 abrasion cycles, according to their ASTM D4060 testing. Blueing lasted for 500 cycles, and Duracoat lasted for 641 cycles.
That in reference is a LOT of protection!
[Check out our selection of cerakote AR 15's here!]
Popular Cerakote Colors
Cerakote can come in basically any color you want, mixing custom colors isn’t as hard as you might think.
However, by far the most common colors are a simple black, tan (FDE), and green (OD Green). But burnt bronze and silver are also pretty popular choice.
From gold to chrome to pinks and purples, if you can think of it, Cerakote has it.
Doing multiple colors is also doable but takes more skill from the person applying it. Using stencils and lot of care, doing multicolor patterns can make your cerakote firearm stand out.
What About Other Coatings?
If you lack space, tools, skills, or budget for Cerakote, here are some other options on the market to consider.
Duracoat
This is acrylic resin, but it functions basically like fancy spray paint. Easily applied with a spray can or with an airbrush, Duracoat doesn't require an oven to cure.
Providing the same protection as Cerakote does. It comes in a boatload of colors, but it isn't nearly as durable as Cerakote.
You might get a similar level of protection, but that protection wears off a lot quicker.
That said -- a can of Duracoat normally costs about $60 and is enough for 2-4 firearms. This might not be the cheapest option, but it is a great value.
Spray Paint
Normal, everyday, spray paint. Extremely cheap and easy application, but it offers almost nothing regarding actual protection and wears off fast.
Don’t think of this as a protective coating, because it isn’t. Instead, look at this as something fun to add some color to your life but expect to see it gone within a few range trips.
Vinyl Wrap
Vinyl wrap, newer to the firearm industry has been around for a long time and popular for cars, boats, and outdoor signs.
Easy to apply with a heat gun and a razor blade. This is a protective coating that comes pre-printed with the color or patterns you want.
Simply peel, heat, and stick to the firearm of your choice and you’re good to go.
Vinyl offers a lot more protection than something like spray paint, but it doesn’t give you a hard finish like Cerakote will. Although, it is tear-resistant, it still tears and scratches.
A huge advantage of vinyl wrap is they are super easy to remove. Leaving zero residue while not damaging the underlying finish of the gun.
This makes it easy to replace often either with new colors/patterns/camos or just because you feel like it.
Powder Coating
Depending on who you ask, powder coating is as good or better than Cerakote is. It is harder for the average man to apply. This is because it uses more specialized tools. So, it is normally something only applied at the manufacturing level.
Powder coating is a polymer paint but dehydrated, applied as dry powder using the magic of electrostatic magnetism. Heat or UV light cures powder coating, leaving you with a hard coating. The finished product is similar to Cerakote, just a different process.
Wrapping Up
This is a pretty crash course in Cerakote, but it should give you the basics so you can decide if it’s right for you.
I always recommend letting a professional apply Cerakote. Since the prep work and tools needed aren't easy to do at home, you can still do it if you're feeling DIY. Alternatively, explore Bear Creek Arsenal's selection of Cerakoted uppers and rifles.
[We'd like to extend a huge thanks to David Lane for his hard work on this article! Comment your favorite AR-15 camo or color below and check out our other guides like 300 Blackout vs. 5.56 and Parts of an AR-15.]
