Cerakote or bluing?

[Brooklyn379]

I have a G43 parts rifle that is in rough shape. A lot of the rifle has had the rust cleaned off of it and has almost no finish at all. I'd like to restore the rifle and get a better stock for it.
I was wondering about the pros and cons of cerakote, the shop I transferred the rifle through recommended it to me because its more durable and longer lasting than bluing. I've never had work like this done, they say that they can cerakote in the same color as original bluing, looking for some advice before I do anything. Thoughts?

 

[GhillieGuy]

I would leave it as is, or finish it in a phosphate or bluing as original.

 

[DaveDavis]

Cerakote works well, wears well, and looks good. You can not restore the metal to collectable status, so why not ????

 

[swjXE]

Show us some photos. The only time Cerakote would be acceptable is if the parts are so heavily polished that that the rifle no longer resembles a G43.
Your shop is just trying to milk you for money and they're either ignorant or care nothing about ruining collectable items.

 

[Brooklyn379]

There is still some rust on it, someone cleaned the barrel rust off with some sort of brush or abrasive

 

[daltrey99]

I had a bare frame for a Walther P1 that I built up. I wasnt sure if I was going to reannondize the frame or what I was going to do. It is aluminum so bluing was out of the equation. I came to the conclusion that I was going to do a two tone P1 build. I had the frame cerakoted a medium gray and left the upper the dark parkerized color that Walther used. It came out pretty good. Now as to your G43, the finish is gone pretty much. It will never be what it was so if you did it a very tasteful and resemble as close to original finish, cerakoting I think it may turn out alright. Just know that all of the parts and the gun itself will never retain any kind of value that an original type of finish would. It is your rifle and if you want to do it to your own tastes, I say go for it. Please post some photos when you are done.

 

[swjXE]

If this were mine I think I'd just put a couple of coats of rust blue on just to get a little color back on it. The whole receiver area shows potential to come out ok. Isn't there a guy out there that can rebarrel these? If there is, that's what I'd do unless perhaps the bore on this one is quite nice. I think applying Cerakote on this barrel would be like putting a tuxedo on a 99 yr. old man.

 

[WAZUP13579]

I’d just clean up the rust and leave it as is. cerakote is nice but I’d personally avoid it on old guns. Or just re-rust blue or park it.

 

[Cyrano4747]

I’d just clean up the rust and leave it as is. cerakote is nice but I’d personally avoid it on old guns. Or just re-rust blue or park it.

I'd leave that gun as-is. The finish isn't great, but re-finishing it is going to do way more to harm the value than the worn finish. Frankly it's not that terrible minus that ugly strip on the barrel, unless there's something I'm missing.

I'm not even sure I'd write that gun off as a "parts gun," again unless there's some major other damage that I'm not seeing. Is it a top-shelf example that is going to hold a place of honor among other mint rifles in a highly advanced collector's safe? No, but it's a far cry from a true parts rifle where someone bubba'd the crap out of it or chromed it etc. There are a lot of people out there looking for shooters who would prefer a gun with original finish, even if it's worn or damaged in places by bad cleaning, than one that's been completely redone.

 

[Blackpowderresearcher]

Coconut oil and a nickel (five cent piece) to remove the rust. I found that Frog's Lube is nothing more than coconut oil with a green colouring and scent. Oil and scrape, scrape, scrape. It won't mar the gun at all. Then afterward treat it with Renaissance Wax (Woodcraft Store has it). I wouldn't reblue it but if you were to, suggest you do it yourself by taking a NRA Summer Gunsmithing School. I took one decades ago on bluing/parkerizing/browning and have done all three. Since then I learned about French Grey and Express Blue (the best blue but like browning takes more time and is more labor intensive). Express Blue is more durable than hot salt blue but can be done at home. Got a big tank to boil it in and a outdoor gas grill to heat it on?

Cerakote is nothing special and I prefer guncoat. Cerakote requires more care and control and guncoat is spray 'n bake. I've done both.

Since rebarreling came up, it's not hard to reverse engineer it and chamber it, but I'd rather bore it out and sleeve the existing barrel so as to preserve the original markings.