16" AA + FDE Cerakote + Projectile Spread

[LRRPF52]

Here's what my 16" has evolved into lately. Also some props for the Updated Projectile Selection photos.

[LRRPF52]

A few of mine and the wife's blasters....



Thanks to LR1955 for the JP Barrel, ACE SOCOM stock, and a ton of other parts. Here's what I threw together with the JP barrel and ACE SOCOM:

[bobke]

Nice gaggle of Grendels-the FDE and black look pretty sharp together. You missing anything for the projectile project at this point?

[skyfish]

Nice, the black rifle on the end. Is that a glue gun mounted on the rail, They all look great, like the look of your handgaurd on the 16" in the first pic.

[txgunner00]

Sweet! You work bench looks a lot like mine.

[Grimmy]

Nice Sticks. But great now them glue guns will be in short supply!

[saiga12]

Very nice collection! I like the desert tan.

[Drifter]

Especially like the black accents on the one with the JP barrel.

Do you do your own coating?


(Any particular bullets needed for the photo shoot? Maybe some of us can pitch in...)

[LRRPF52]

Yes, I do the Cerakoting all myself. I start by stripping the parts bone dry, and spray them individually in a paint booth on hooks, then transfer them to an oven for curing at higher temps. It's pretty tedious, especially as you don't often get a solid coat the first go-around, even though it looks like you do, so you have to touch up areas and re-bake them to get 100% coverage...which get's real fun when doing patterns.

I have only about 50% of the projectiles available for the Grendel, if you can believe it. There's a complete thread on it in the reloading section, called "Updated Grendel Projectile List". You can see what I have and don't have on a spreadhseet put together by Rickoshay. Several forum members have been very helpful by sending me projectiles they may happen to have-just 1x samples is all I need for the photo.

The handguard on the 16" is an Apex Machine 12" free-float rail, which has integral QD sling swivel sockets already built into it, and an aggresive checkering machined into the handguard surface, as you can see.

I'm also really diggin the lightweight MI 12" Lo-Pro handguard, seen on the all-FDE carbine.

Two of the grips are the new Magpul MOE+, rubber-coated MOE grips, and they feel great.

[COLDSTEEL77]

Thats some damn fine looking rifles man.

[Whelenon]

I've got a bad case of rifle envy, nice collection.

Are those a couple of Midwest Gen2 Handguards? How do you like them? With the smaller diameter(1-1/2") any issues the gas block hitting it?

[ericv]

Nice collection for sure.

That's not a glue gun but the new Spider Man attachment

[LRRPF52]

I've got a bad case of rifle envy, nice collection.

Are those a couple of Midwest Gen2 Handguards? How do you like them? With the smaller diameter(1-1/2") any issues the gas block hitting it?

I do like the MI handguards a lot, if you're looking to reduce weight. I did find an issue with my VLTOR clamp-on low-profile gas block, which barely touches the inner diameter of the tube, forcing me to use a set screw low-pro gas block.

The MI low-pro handguard would make a great component for a hunting stick, where weight is a consideration.

I thought I was set on handguards years ago with the JP/VTAC, then came along the Troy TRX/VTAC, and then I tried the APEX, and now this MI. I own them all, and have used the TRX's the most, which is what is on my wife's blaster (TRX/VTAC).

[Bronz]

yeah. I never been a FDE guy but damn those are some sharp looking rifles.

[jurassic]

Great looking guns! Is the FDE color you used for the hand guards a stock Cerakote color, if so how does it match?

[taggor]

Very nice collection. I have been collecting parts to do my own FDE build and I was glad to hear that you like the MI SS handguard as I have been considering one myself. Do you feel that it's mounting is more solid than the Troy TRX's or about the same?

[LRRPF52]

I use NIC Industries Cerakote bake-on finishing system. The FDE matches really well with FDE furniture, although I have noticed that a lot of "FDE" labeled parts are in fact Coyote Tan, which has more yellow or orange to it.

The MI SS Gen II has the same rigidity as the Troy TRX Extreme, they both come with 3 accessory rails that you can add or leave off, they both have a dedicated 12 o'clock rail, but the MI has a narrower tube body. That's the main difference.

If you order the Troy handguard in FDE, it matches perfectly with NIC Ind. FDE Cerakote, and I would conclude that is what they use.

[CpoNav]

Sweet rigs Chieftain. I am looking at a very similar build. I have a couple of ?'s for ya. 1- did you sand blast all of the parts first? 2- can i get away with baking in Mama's oven? or did you have a seperate oven that you use for baking parts? Id rather not get in the dog house with the wife.

[CPT.CRAZY]

Wow I thought I liked FDE.......

[LRRPF52]

If you start with brand new parts that have a nice, rough anodized or parkerized finish on them, there isn't a need to sand-blast. I have done both. NIC recommends to do the sand blast to get the most optimal surface for adherence.

Just to test the strength of Cerakote, I have coated a few Melonited barrels with it, without blasting or sanding the surface. The Melonite has a Rockwell hardness of 73, which is pretty freaking hard, much harder than hard chrome, TiN, etc. The Cerakote goes on and stays on just like any other finish so far. I do degrease the snot out of the parts and acetone-bathe them.

You will probably not want to be indoors if you use your kitchen oven for the bake-on process. There is a formaldyhyde-urine stench that will definietly get you in the dog house. One other option is to clean the crap out of your grill, and bake your parts in there hanging with wire hooks from the racks, but a rusty rack will not be conducive to a clean coating.

Any debris or smudges to the surface will have to be baked on, then ground off. Start over. It takes a certain person with a lot of patience and fine motor skill to handle the parts without smudging, especially when you transfer to the oven.

Some people build their own ovens, rather than buy the ones advertised in Brownell's, which are pretty expensive. Those are basically your options. Here's another one I did:





A lot more pics of the complete job here: http://www.65grendel.com/forum/showthrea...t-Cerakote