Last year, I had a couple of 80% lower receivers anodized.  They don't do gray, so I asked them to clear coat and not dye my lowers, figuring I would moly or dura coat them later.  Well, I have almost no experience with an airbrush so I decided to go spray can.  But, what to use.  The TM specifies DFL for touchups during maintenance, so why not that.  I only sprayed one of them, and this is the result.  I did the receiver extension and a couple of mag catch buttons too.

The light "scratches" are from me handling the parts dry; they're slightly dusty out of the oven.  They should go away when I put a light coat of oil on.

@TGWLDR
We talked about this about a week ago.  This was my procedure:
I cleaned the parts in Simple Green and hot water.
Dried with compressed air.
Sprayed with DFL (I used an old can of Perm-Slik G).
Let dry for 30 minutes.
Baked in an old toaster oven for 30 minutes at 300 degrees.
Let them cool to touch in oven.
Left in open air in garage for two days.
Right now, the parts are in a box in the house waiting for me to oil them this weekend.

The Navy actually did this on the GAU-16s.  (A/C M2HB) They covered the whole thing in DFL and left it to dry.  Looked like crap once it started to come off and showed the old gray-green park underneath.

Thanks for the heads up man.

In for pics once oiled. Also curious as to how they hold up to handling/solvents/wear.

Looks good, wonder how tough that finish is.

interesting .. I bought an M16a1 upper about 10 years ago.

When looking at the parts most “arfcom” experts said it was an early barrel assembly with a replacement upper Or the upper had been DFL coated.

It’s grey but was sorta blotchy/dirty/thicker than normal.

I thought about stripping it and recoating it with Norrells, but it matches my NDS “Colt Gray “ anodized lower pretty well so I just left it alone.
(Yes I need a “no tic” and the mag is cerakoted and “locked”)
No major wear or issues since.

Solid film lubricant is not my first choice (or my fifteenth) for the record. It is more or less old tech spray paint that never really worked that well to begin with. It clumps, it lumps then it flakes pretty quick and usually does not apply very evenly. It was intended to be a stop gap once a weapons finish had become worn. There are better choices out there for sure in my opinion.

I’ve recoated some mags and receiver extensions with Perma Slik. They looked pretty good but I didn’t bake them. It is a very fragile finish and dries with a bit of powdery top surface that comes off pretty easy no matter what technique I tried. I have found just about any solvent removes the finish just like the original coating. I’m interested to see if baking them changes the durability.

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Reminds me of the first time I opened a new in plastic wrap USGI 30 round magazine, probably around 1990. I thought it would be a good idea to slather a coating of Breakfree CLP onto that new, dry magazine. Imagine my surprise when that nice, gray finish started wiping off my not-so-nice looking anymore, "new" magazine.

Well...I don't know of anyone else that's tried DFL on a receiver, so I thought I'd be the guinea pig.  I've sprayed and baked a few rifle receiver extensions, but they're mostly hidden beneath the stock.  I've got some small parts I did last year (slip ring, mag catch buttons, trigger guard), but most of them aren't on a gun yet.  If the lube does start to wear off, maybe I'll get that BFPU look!

all you gotta do is look at a used LMT rifle buffer tube to see how it wears

The Division level Armory (SMA/LRC/ASFBN 10th Mtn Div.) used Sandstrom Dry Film Lubricant:
https://sandstromproducts.com/products/dry-film-lubricants/
While it has a relatively short expiation time, I've used cans that were waaaay past that expiation without issue.
you DO have to shake it to the point of arm fatigue and shake it some more, and when you're done invert the can and clear the nozzle, it starts out a nice gray, and will 'Shine' when scuffed, but will turn dark.
We did not anodize or otherwise refinish, but "touch up" was done with the DFL and nothing else.
A can will go a very long way... back in the day when we were building FAL's from kits, I bought direct and split a case and it took years to use the cans, in fact I tossed more for plugged nozzles/propellant issues than ever sprayed.  

Thanks for that great info.  While I used Perma-Slik on these parts, I do have a quart of Sandstorm 28A that I'm going to eventually run through an air brush or touch-up gun.  It was still sealed, and cheap (only slightly out of date).  I've brush painted with it, and it worked fine.

I finally was able to put a light coat of oil on my parts last night. (I know, DFL doesn't need oil...it's lubricant!)  I figured it will keep any dry residue from rubbing off; and we'll get to see if it effects the finish in any way.  I used some new G.I. PL-SP from a 2oz metal can (anybody remember those?), and wiped it on, then off with cleaning patches.  This is the lower and receiver extension now.



I also have a slip ring and trigger guard I've done, but don't have any separate photos of right now.  I probably should paint/oil a mag button and a charging handle.

It's called Sandstrom.... Not sandstorm

I use DFL to refinish old USGI mags. They turn out OK.

I know the product.  It was a typo (more likely spellcheck).  But, thanks.