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Posted: 4/22/2012 12:37:25 PM EDT
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Why do gun manufacturer's Anodize their AR's. I guarantee I can use a heat resistance paint that will not scratch. I was in a Gun Shop today that mainly sells Assault weapons and told them I needed something to touch up a small scratch on my Bushmaster upper. A customer next to me made a snide remark if I would buy a better quality AR I wouldn't have that problem. Well he caught me off guard and I said uck off and I said what makes you the &ing expert. About that time the head gunsmith walked out and also told the guy he has no clue what he was talking about. The guy says he owns a POF which I agree is a great AR and the gunsmith says almost all AR's have a scratch problem because they won't 2 or 3 coat their Guns. The Gunsmith said because there is so much competition over price they have to save somewhere and he sees scratches on almost every AR everyday. My question is I know for a fact I can come up with a coating that will almost endure anything and why is everybody so sold on Anodize?
"Anodized aluminium surfaces are harder than aluminium but have low to moderate wear resistance, although this can be improved with thickness and sealing." |
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Aside from improving overall corrosion resistance, anodizing also increases surface hardness considerably to resist wear and surface scratching. I know of no sprayed-on or baked finishes that come anywhere near the hardness of anodizing. Not on Aluminum is doesn't. |
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Aside from improving overall corrosion resistance, anodizing also increases surface hardness considerably to resist wear and surface scratching. I know of no sprayed-on or baked finishes that come anywhere near the hardness of anodizing. Not on Aluminum is doesn't. Not what? |
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Aside from improving overall corrosion resistance, anodizing also increases surface hardness considerably to resist wear and surface scratching. I know of no sprayed-on or baked finishes that come anywhere near the hardness of anodizing. Not on Aluminum is doesn't. Uh, Yes, yes it does. Anodized aluminum has a surface hardness far above bare aluminum. Good luck finding a paint that has the wear characteristics of hardened metal. And just because you SAY you can find some other finish that is better, how much does it cost per firearm and how much trouble is it worth? Anodizing is used because it is the only finish for aluminum which yeilds surface hardness and wear resistance enough to operate as an AR lower. If you used a bare aluminum lower it wouldn't last anywhere near as long as an anodized one. And what exactly is "2 and three coating" a gun? Anodizing isn't a new cost cutting measure. AR's have been made of anodized aluminum since the Armalite prototypes. It doesn't sound like any of you know much about anodizing. |
| If you don't mean type II or III hard coat, I have no idea what you're talking about. Here's a free education on anodizing, read that and let us know if you have any other questions. |
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Why do gun manufacturer's Anodize their AR's. The civilian market does it because that's what the military contractors do. Military contractors do it, because the milspec specifies it. The milspec specifies it because that's what Armalite, then Colt, specified originally, and it's been "good enough" for 50 years now. |
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Aside from improving overall corrosion resistance, anodizing also increases surface hardness considerably to resist wear and surface scratching. I know of no sprayed-on or baked finishes that come anywhere near the hardness of anodizing. Not on Aluminum is doesn't. Uh, Yes, yes it does. Anodized aluminum has a surface hardness far above bare aluminum. Good luck finding a paint that has the wear characteristics of hardened metal. And just because you SAY you can find some other finish that is better, how much does it cost per firearm and how much trouble is it worth? Anodizing is used because it is the only finish for aluminum which yeilds surface hardness and wear resistance enough to operate as an AR lower. If you used a bare aluminum lower it wouldn't last anywhere near as long as an anodized one. And what exactly is "2 and three coating" a gun? Anodizing isn't a new cost cutting measure. AR's have been made of anodized aluminum since the Armalite prototypes. It doesn't sound like any of you know much about anodizing. Thank you. |
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If you don't mean type II or III hard coat, I have no idea what you're talking about. Here's a free education on anodizing, read that and let us know if you have any other questions. Quote "Anodized aluminium surfaces, for example, are harder than aluminium but have low to moderate wear resistance that can be improved with increasing thickness or by applying suitable sealing substances." I am in the construction business and use miles of anodized aluminum fencing. The thickness on the fences appears like it is twice as hard and thick. You guys are the gun experts and I am just basing it on the AR's i have seen and own. When I compare anodized fence there is no comparison there is a major difference but I do think there is different methods of anodizing. Ironically they do the anodizing here in Orlando and i guess I ought to stop by and get a lesson. Does anybody know what type they use on AR's and maybe that is the difference. |
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Type III milspec black hard coat for receivers. Spec also calls out accepatable thickness tolerances, acceptable color range from a specific palette, the type of sealant to be used, etc....Far in excess of what any paint/Kote/Cote.Teflon/ can or will provide. Anodizing is an actual metal processing which, if color is added into the process, will pigment the aluminum,,,that's a by-product, not the goal of the process which is to make the aluminum harder and more resistant to scratching, pitting, corroding, etc....If a dye isn't added during the processing, an anodized part is a drab gray color. Some companies will do an unpigmented anodize and then apply a secondary finish over the top (primarily to get bright vivid colors that you can't achieve with a hard coat anodize).
New processes are being used by some anodizers now, such as being able to apply images rather thna just a pigment, to provide digital images directly into/onto the anodized component. RRA is doing it with our E-Hide Hunter Camo finishes. Steve/RRA |
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