Smyth Busters: Is Paint Only for Houses, Not Guns?

"Paint is for houses, not guns!" say folks who are opposed to spray-on firearm finishes. Steve remembers when the only "acceptable" finishes for guns were bluing and Parkerizing. Alternative coatings started showing up in the 1990s, and they turned out to be tough and darned durable when applied CORRECTLY. Some of the early hate for spray-on finishes came from poorly applied examples that wore off quickly or, even worse, impaired the gun's reliability. Things have changed a LOT since then! When they first offered them, gun manufacturers didn't publicize alternate finishes. Now, a DuraCoat® or Cerakote® finish on a factory gun is prominently advertised as a selling point. If you want to re-finish an existing gun, try our Brownells Aluma-Hyde® II spray-on finish. It comes in a can like spray paint, but Aluma-Hyde is FAR more durable. Aluma-Hyde is much thinner than paint, so it tenaciously hugs the surface of the metal and won't chip off. Steve likes Brownells Gun-Kote™, which he gets in liquid form and applies to the gun with an airbrush. Gun-Kote is a bake-on finish, so the gun has to be heated in an oven to "cure" it. Aluma-Hyde, DuraCoat, and Cerakote will air cure in a week or two without heating. Finishing or refinishing the gun with a spray-on finish lets you customize the color(s) or create unique camouflage patterns. You can personalize the look of your gun without a huge investment in expensive spray equipment. Just about every episode of Gun Talk's "Build Box" gun-building show on the Outdoor Channel involves applying spray-on finishes. Contestants give their guns custom finishes to get an edge in winning the competition. Brownells Gun Techs™ like Caleb and Steve go to gunsmithing schools to teach future gunsmiths how to apply these spray-on finishes. Is anybody interested in the guys doing a few "How To" videos here? The myth is BUSTED. "Paint" is not just for houses, it's for guns, too.