Having a set done next week.  Not sure if I'm going to do an aero set or my spikes crusader lower.

Im going to have a bronze mix done, and ive seen some pics of 60/40 bronze / graphite mix that Iiked.

The guy I just talked to said he thinks that 50/50 or even 40/60 darker mixes are nicer.

Any one have pics of things done in these mixes? Im not sure what "officially" makes midnight, or dark bronze.

Experiences? Ill be sure to post up when I get mine done.

Don't remember the ratio anymore, but it's burnt bronze and graphite.
It's a bit darker in person.

60% Burnt Bronze / 40% Graphite Black

Fairly sure mine was 70/30 -

But it really depends on how much hardener is used, the more you use the darker it gets.

Most of the mixes ive seen photos of, that list a recipe, have been 60/40

Again though, the amount of hardener will play a role in the "darkness" of the finish as well.
Something to contemplate.

Called dark bronze i dont remember the mixture but it was bronze and black.

In my experience, more hardener equals more sheen. Less hardener equals a more flat/matte finish. I do plenty of Cerakote work, almost daily, and prefer as little sheen as possible on a weapon. I've done other things where a "shinier" finish was more appropriate, and I've always achieved that by using a little extra hardener.

I did an upper, lower, and handguard today where the customer was looking for a match as close as possible to DD FDE. According to his research, the suggested mixture was 95% chocolate brown to 5% burnt bronze. Haven't seen it out of the oven yet, but looked like a fairly decent match upon application. Unfortunately, I don't have a DD rail on hand to compare to. Just going off memory.

I want color depth, darkness, but only a mild sheen. Mostly flat, with just a hint of smoothness, so its easy to wipe down.

Most of my guns are clp sponges. Im trying to move away from that on the exterior

While this isn't an AR, I had Ben over at Boresight Solutions mix up this color for me a couple of years ago and he ended up calling it Dirty Bronze, which, based off of the pics he's posted, has become a very popular color. He ended up redoing mine 4-5 times till he felt he got what I wanted. I'm not sure what the mix was exactly but, I just told him that I wanted to match the DD RIS II rail as close as possible.

I think you're right, I'm getting it backwards.


I thought DD uses anodizing not cerakote.
Might be hard to match.

Who did the stipple?
That's fantastic.

Thanks.. Boresight Solutions did all the work on both.

I know. Didn't wanna just come out and say you were wrong, though.

And DD does using anodizing, and it is a tough color to match, but with the right colors and amount of hardener you can get it pretty damn close.