If I bought a gun that came cerakoted from the factory, could it be nitrided or would it need all sorts of prep work before actually nitriding?  As far as I know, I'm pretty sure steel and stainless just get degreased then blasted then cleaned before the nitride bath process.  I have a sneaking suspicion that something as tough/persistent as cerakote would complicate the matter, no?  

Pondering getting a Bergara Premier HMR Pro (and I'd want to send it out for refinishing) but for some odd reason they insist on cerakoting an already gray-colored stainless steel gun ... gray.

Nitriding can effect the heat treating of parts. It is not a good idea to do it unless you know the heat treatment and design criteria for each part that will be done. You could probably get away with doing a barrel without a barrel extension or some other parts that are not heat treated. It can also effect dimensions of the parts so you need to be careful of that as well.

Not too worried.  I've done a different Bergara to no ill effect (before/after treatment).  Also done a Craddock Precision AR barrel that turned out great (routinely sub-3/4 MOA).


Practical barrel life.  Ease of cleaning.  Better corrosion resistance (between cleanings).  Makes the action feel slick as greased shit.  Looks sexy and stays looking sexy

IMO it's a cheap enough treatment that there's no reason I wouldn't want to other than maybe the risking accuracy protentional... and so far my sample set of all two barrels (extensive, I know ) has been good.  I agree, I wouldn't want to do it if I were a bench rest shooter trying to make 1/4MOA bugholes and trashing barrels that opens up past 1/2MOA after several hundred rounds.  I want to shoot as well as I can like anyone, but I'm also not an elite competitor or anything.  Consistent sub-MOA, I'm happy.  Consistent sub-3/4 MOA and I'm thrilled.

The Cerakote has to be stripped, as QPQ reacts to the metal surface.  Cerakote is an overlayer that prevents that.

Cerakote is GOOD, not as good as QPQ.  But to strip it off to do the other is a an exercise in removing something that is very, very good to replace it with something a little bit better.  And at substantial expense.  Go for it if you want to, but it's kinda nuts from an honest perspective.

That’s kind of my feeling.

I did the first begara because I got an unfinished barreled action.  The state of supply chains has running across the particular barelled action I want almost impossible.  I could buy a complete rifle, but then they insist on finishing the stainless guns with cerakote.

No, the barrel alone is incompatible with salt bath nitriding as the maintained temperatures weaken most stainless. If you've got a 17-4 barrel on the other hand, you're good to go.

Nitriding a complete barrel assembly will break torque between barrel and extension, that and extensions don't benefit from nitriding. Remove the extension? Maybe. Very unlikely that the barrel extension will torque back to 1200 dead center after the SBN.

I was told by a very reputable source that anyone telling you they can nitride anything but 17-4 safely is completely full of shit.

A) this thread is about bolt action barrels, not AR15 barrels with extensions installed.  More specifically, about if the the removal of cerakote is even necessary or residual cerakote after trying to remove will hinder the nitride process.

B) You can absolutely have an AR barrel with installed extension nitrided.  Processors doing firearms parts have a range of temps/times they can favor within the SBN process window to minimize or eliminate tempering issues for certain grades of CS and CRES.  A properly torqued barrel with proper even preheat and post heat treatment and nitriding staying below critical temper thresholds shouldn’t suffer significant torque reduction, if any.  Some steels with certain tempers can’t be SBN, but many can.

We have all sorts of grades of steel (and stainless) spec’d for salt bath and plasma nitriding and sent out to finishers.  It works just fine.  Heck, I’ve had AR barrels with extensions and torqued barreled bolt actions nitrided to no ill effect. I’ve personally been to a couple treatment plants and discussed treatments of various alloys with them directly.  My daily job involves mechanical design and specifying finishes and material testing... Please explain to me why “anything but 17-4” can’t be nitrided safely.  Be as detailed as you like... I have a bunch of designs/drawing that need revised.