Longevity, Accuracy Tips for the AR15

[LRRPF52]

I do an aggressive de-greasing of all the parts first, followed by an acetone bath. I hang the parts in a spray cabinet I built, with hooks that rotate from above the cabinet so I can turn the parts as I spray them. You don't want to touch Cerakote when it's wet, because it's a microscopic mud in consistency, and needs to be heated, then ground down, then re-finished if you smudge it.

I start with the stripped receivers, and get all inside on the lower, to include the fire-control housing. I have found that the thickness of the coating can affect function of the mag catch, so I use thinner layers with an airbrush now.

I do prefer to coat the receiver extension, the end plate, and lock nut for telescoping stock assemblies. I coat the upper, but I usually use a receiver insert that I made that holds the upper when I spray it, so the inside does not get coated. I have tried it both ways, and with an upper that has the inside coated, I put polishing compound on the bolt carrier rails, and work it into the upper so that there isn't any additional drag on the carrier.

Every single upper I have Cerakoted functions reliably with both approaches, but I would say the gas system, BCG, recoil system, barrel, ammunition, magazines, and lubrication are the biggest factors in reliability. Each one of those listed systems or components can often have a laundry list of hang-ups that will rape your reliability formula if you don't know how to trouble-shoot an AR15. For example, we had a recent discussion about the gas tube alignment, the flange, and how it inserts into a properly chrome-lined carrier key. Screw that up, and your gun will not be accurate, and will eventually start to short-stroke after a portion of the gas tube flange is worn down by the chrome-lined carrier key.

I Cerakote the barrel, except for the extension, the threads, the muzzle, and a small area around the gas block journal to ensure that no Ceramic mud gets into the gas port, the chamber, or the muzzle. There are tools that help with accomplishing this that will survive the oven when you got to bake on the coating.



I do like to coat the area inside of the upper, which I call the extension tunnel. The tighter the fit is to the upper, the more of a warm and fuzzy I get.

I also coat the Charge Handle at the "T" area, which is exposed. If I were a manufacturer, I would consider NiB on the CH shaft, with NiB inside the upper.

I also coat the muzzle device. If the handguard is one that I feel would benefit from coating, I coat it too.

I also like to coat the scope mount and scope, especially when matching a camouflage pattern. Here's an example of that:



My perspective on coating is that it's a final touch on a well-built gun, where attention to detail has been applied in every respect to the builder's capabilities. In the above case, most of that was done already because it's a complete AA gun with a cut-rifled barrel that shoots 5 rounds into .25" at 100yds, and easily swings the flagger IPSC at 700yds. There's a laundry list of successful practices that AA used when assembling this rifle, and they simply did not slap a bunch of common AR15 parts together, put a Grendel barrel & bolt in it, and call it good.

To go into the detail of what AA did to make that happen, it would consume much more time than I currently have, and would read like a book. I can tell you one thing though, the upper is made to very specific demands with a tight extension tunnel and a square face.