I have a pre-ban that was a complete rifle before the ban, built in 90. It is starting to show it's age and would like to refinish the lower receiver. Question is, what are the best options? Are Brownells bake on finishes safe? Really, any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks.

if you want a real pro job go check out lauer custom weaponry. duracoat is great. the slide on my sig 226 is perfect, and the stamped markings are still perfectly crisp after the coating.

Look at www.johnnorrellarms.com  He did My Olympic shorty..Great svc.. My AR looks NEW..  Roll marks are as crisp as when new also..John

If you don't want to go with a pro finish, which I recommend that you do, I have used three of the Brownell's finishes.  The baking lacquer, the Moly Teflon bake on, and the Aluma Hyde II.  Both of the bake on products looked great and were easy to do, but they seem to lack impact resistance.  Bump them and they began to flake off.  I followed the directions to the letter and even reapplied them 4 or 5 times, and got the same results each time.  I was putting the finish over stainless steel and AR-15 mags but the finish was rated for SS and aluminum so that should not have mattered.  Only when I tried the Aluma-Hyde II did I get the results that I wanted.  It is not impervious to really harsh chemicals like Acetone like the others are, but it seems to hold up just fine to normal cleaning chemicals.  Also, no baking is required.  It does build up so you must be careful about using it in areas where fit is critical.  But if you do get over spray, Acetone will remove it.  The biggest down on Aluma-Hyde II is it takes a full week to cure (safe to handle after 24 hours) so if you are impatient like I am, it makes for a very long week.  I have used this on one ss barrel, one ss barrel extension, several magazines, and an AR-15 front sight tower and have gotten excellent and durable results on all.  On the mag, the only wear is to the mag catch area where it does scratch off, but much less so than with the bake on finishes I tried.  If buggered up, it can easily be touched up.

Thanks guys. I have used the Brownells bake on stuff with FAL lowers and I haven't had any trouble with it, as a matter of fact it's a tough as nails!!! I wonder if it is not as good on the stainless. Thanks for the tips guys, I appreciate it. Any other suggestions are realy appreciated. Thanks.

I would highly recommand the Black T finish by Walter Birdsong.  I have two pistol finished by him and his finish is the best available process for an AR's aluminum receiver.  

Walter Birdsong and Associates,Inc.
(601) 939-7448

i like Lauer Custom.  $45 to refinish a lower.  i had them do 2 of them this spring.  email me if you want pics.  [email protected]

Does anybody have any experience with Bear Coat?  I took my barrel to a local smith to have it recontured and he did not do parkerizing.  All he could do was the Bear Coat?  So I don't know what to expect when I pick it up on Tuesday.

I had fireflyarms.com refinish my M4 in Norrells SOCOM black. I highly recommend his work. It came out great. It was $65 plus return insurance.

Thanks guys. I was kinda looking for a do it yourself at home finish. Any suggestions?

Here's a pic of my M16 that I had worked on over the weekend.  I painted the flash hider, delta ring, and the upper receiver using Duracoat from [url=http://www.lauerweaponry.com/ezac/index.asp?page=00041]Lauer Custom Weaponry[/url]  It turned out extremely well.  Click on the link above.  It should answer all of your questions regarding their products.

I haven't used Duracoat before, but I had used their Durabake for my suppressor.  I'm extremely pleased with the hardness and resistance to chipping of Durabake; so I thought I'd give Duracoat a try.  Besides, Duracoat comes in Colt Gray - Durabake does not.  You can do a professional looking job with good prep work, attention to detail, and patience.  If you don't have an airbrush, LCW sells a disposable aerosol sprayer that screws on a glass jar and it does a great job.  If you're looking at the Durabake, don't buy the paint in the aerosol can.  It goes fast! Way too fast! Another bonus is that their paint does not stink up the house nearly as bad as some other products when you're cooking it. Give it a little time, and the wife/significant other will never know;)

Dan

[img]http://home.ix.netcom.com/~brownhen/_uimages/XM177E2wduracoat50.JPG[/img]

As far as I'm concerned, Brownell's Baking Lacquers are plenty good enough to refinish an AR. If you're tough on your guns, you might have to redo it every few years, but it's every bit as good as the factory finish. Just in case that's not good enough, Brownells now has a matte black Teflon/Moly Oven Cure aerosol coating that's even tougher. It's tough enough for rifle bolts, so I imagine it's good enough for a lower receiver.
I can't imagine what happened to Big Bore's job, but Brownell's baking lacquer has been great for my guns and has the same durability as Parkerizing and more rust resistance.

I can second Black T by Birsong. After seeing a couple pistols come through the shop that he had done, I sent my stainless Guide Gun to him. Now it matches my Leupold LPS perfectly, and according to numerous Alaskan guides that have had it applied to their weapons, it is virtually rust-proof. So I figured Black T over stainless should be 100% rust-proof, lol.

I have used both Brownells finishes on FAL lowers, but thats a big chunk of steel. I will use the Brownells if it is safe to bake the lower. I do nice work, have a sandblaster and they always turn out great. So for my final question, it is safe to bake the AR-15 lower?