AMD 63 coating

[Poccur]

OK..a real easy question if you know the answer but sadly I do not...what is the black coating on the metalwork of the AMD63s from Centerfire? Is it merely paint or is this Guncote?
It feels like a thin coating of matte black paint...but more plastic than paint...my experience is of blueing but never of Guncote or parkerising...

If I can identify this coating then I can get my receiver finished to match..many thanks in adavance

Poccur:)

[Poccur]

have checked further and there is a thread further down about AMD coatings but
a, that is about the AMD65 (have not seen one YET)
b, there was no definitive answer...

so..perhaps you can help???....

[Jayson at IGF]

If I had to guess I'd say the factory finish was just plain old black enamel, nothing too fancy.

I think you will find the best results by refinishing the whole rifle with one of the newer resin finishes.

Even if you had the exact same paint and used that on the receiver, it would never match the 30 to 40 year old finish that is on the metal pieces from the parts kit.

[Packrat]

63 and 65 probably have same finish. It's probably an enamel baked at about 400 degrees. That makes a hard finish that's not too brittle.

[Rhino_66]

Methyl Ethyl Ketone attacks the original paint with a vengeance. It literally melts off (at least on my amd-65 parts). If your furniture is in good shape, keep the MEK off the wood grips. It won't really hurt them, but can blotch the finish.

I think Rustoleum Satin Black is a good match for the original paint. It's not gloss and not flat, so it's a happy medium. You can cure the Rustoleum with heat, but it will shrink and wrinkle if you go too hot. Rustoleum takes about 3 weeks to cure completely if you let it air dry (about the same time as Aluma-hyde). If you apply more than one coat, follow the directions exactly. If not, the paint will run or wrinkle.

Gun-kote satin black is another good choice. It's kind of thin and watery to spray, so multiple coats are needed. It will stink the house up when you bake the parts, so plan for that.

I wouldn't bother trying to match the original finish. Just strip, blast, and refinish the whole rifle. It'll look better in the end.

For the furniture, some of the guys on Gunsnet have tried running the stock and grips through the dishwasher. I don't know if the parts were stripped first, or just run through as is. Supposedly the end result is a nice even color of bare wood. The surface is just fuzzed enough to open the pores for finish sanding and staining. A majority of the dents are raised out, and the parts will be relatively degreased. Sounds like a worthwhile test. Maybe I'll run one of the junk pieces through first to see what happens.

[Packrat]

If your wood is good, but the finish is bad, yellow label Easy-Off oven cleaner will clean it really well. It does open the wood up, and will take a lot of treating after. For instance, I'm working on a forearm that has had 4 tung oil treatments, and will probably take that many more to look good. It may take 2 or even 3 applications of the oven-cleaner to get old, hardened cosmoline out of the wood.