Grendel 20" GDMR w/Snakeskin Cerakote

[LRRPF52]

[SIZE="4"]Before[/SIZE]

[SIZE="4"]After[/SIZE]

Satern 20" Cut-rifled, fluted barrel 1/8.75 twist
AA Gas Block
AA G10 15" Carbon Fiber handguard
NiB Bolt Carrier
AA Hard Use Bolt
AA Upper with enlarged ejection port

AA lower
AA single-stage trigger
Enidine buffer
Tubbs flat wire recoil spring
Magpul ACS

LaRue QD Mount
Nikon Monarch 2.5-10x44 Tactical
JP J-Point RDS
Harris BR-S w/Lever

Coating is all NIC Industries H-Series bake-on Cerakote using FDE as a base, OD Green disrupted patterning, and Desert Sand highlights over mesh. De-greasing alone took no less than 3 days.

[LRRPF52]

Here's a 60% finished pic:










Getting closer to being done:








All scope markings for elevation, windage, parallax, magnification, and illumination were taped-off with high-heat tape and are functional/visible.

[montana]

I see you are a person that cares about attention to detail. I especially like the way you blended the mesh pattern. I'm sure it was no easy undertaking but it was worth it, Great looking rifle.

[bwaites]

Pictures don't do it justice! In real life it's stunning!

[ricsmall]

very nice looking rifle!

[Keep The Change]

That is a very cool looking rifle. You did a great job.

Did you bake the parts in the oven?

Do you apply all the colors then bake it?

[Whelenon]

Man, you set the standard! That's one fine rifle. Definitely a few hours invested there, I'm curious, how or what do you use to you bake your components?

[Hank Rearden]

As usual, you have put together another top notch rifle.

That Cerakote must have taken you quite some time to finish. How many hours do you have invested in just the finish?

[BjornF16]

Pictures don't do it justice! In real life it's stunning!

+1…I'm jealous

[bwaites]

This is my 20" rifle. The process took some time, as LRRPF52 had some previous commitments and overseas trips planned. Fortunately, we were able to pass the rifle back and forth a few times when those trips took place.

The project was planned last Boomershoot, with hoped for completion last fall. Life interrupted things on both ends, and it took a bit longer than we had hoped.

However, I knew that the project would be fit in around other projects and business opportunities for LRRPF52, including the launch of Buildbox and the reloading manual.

Delivery was at this years Boomershoot, and the unveiling was much anticipated. The rifle is truly incredibly done. I will have my wife, a professional photographer, take pictures soon. Every detail is amazing, down to the disassembly of the bipod for cerakoting.

AND....it shoots too. 700 yard 8" targets were no problem with 123 Amax's.

[Michael]

Wow...makes my black rifles look like Pintos at a Shelby show...

[LRRPF52]

I see you are a person that cares about attention to detail. I especially like the way you blended the mesh pattern. I'm sure it was no easy undertaking but it was worth it, Great looking rifle.

Thanks for your kind words. I am a detail-oriented guy, after having been raised by a physicist who developed advanced avionics and weapon systems for DOD as his day job. I built a boat-load of model airplanes as a kid, and would typically spend a week or two just on the cockpit of a 1/48th scale bird, but that was still considered amateur compared to some of the projects I saw in Fine Scale Modeller magazine.

That is a very cool looking rifle. You did a great job.

Did you bake the parts in the oven?

Do you apply all the colors then bake it?

I used H-Series Cerakote, which is the bake-on finishing system. You have to bake each layer individually if you're doing a pattern, unless you're willing to let it somewhat dry-cure for over 24hr between each coating. Transferring the parts to the oven after being coated in the spray booth is really the job for an octopus, so patience is an absolute necessity when it comes to dealing with Cerakote.

It goes on as a think ceramic mud layer, and the slightest bump or smudge needs to be baked on, ground off, and started over with a touch-up to that area. Thankfully, I didn't have one of those moments for Bill's rifle, bipod, or optics.

This was my first attempt at doing something with a snakeskin pattern, but I wanted it to be different, so I did the highlights at the edges of the OD Green with snakeskin using Desert Sand Cerakote. FDE is the base layer. The last Cerakote job I did on a complete rifle for someone else looked like this:

Man, you set the standard! That's one fine rifle. Definitely a few hours invested there, I'm curious, how or what do you use to you bake your components?

This project was measured in days, not hours. It took about a week. De-greasing took no less than 3 days, but I was also juggling other things like everyone's Reloading Handbook orders, some other projects I have, training scheduling, 2 baby girls, Boy Scout responsibilities, etc. I use an oven to bake the parts, with a digital thermometer and timer.

Getting the rifle apart was the most difficult part, as the gas block was red loc-tited and the barrel nut was a DD unit, blue loc-tited heavily. I was concerned about getting the gas block back on, as it was extremely tightly-fit (which is great for the gas seal). I placed the treated gas block in the freezer for a few hours, cleaned the gas block journal, and the gas block literally slipped on by hand, with a fresh coat of red loc-tite.

For heat, I only used a heat gun on the gas block and barrel nut. The barrel nut required penetrating oil and an overnight soak to break loose. Patience was the key there again. Overall, I'm happy with how it turned out, but kinda wishing I had done the pistol grip too.

[Variable]

Great job man! That looks really good!

I wish you were local to me. I have some cans that need done so I've been trying to talk my buddy (FFL/Gunsmith) into doing it. He got the stuff, but he's been dragging his feet getting started.

I want something multi cam'ish, but I might just settle for FDE on the first couple of things to see how it turns out.

I've got some carbines I might try myself if he ever gets started.

Anyway, your stuff looks great!

[LRRPF52]

You want your suppressors sprayed with the air cure series, which means you can do it yourself. Do an aggressive degrease and spray away. The air cure Cerakote has a much higher heat tolerance for applications like suppressors and machinegun barrels.

[stevegun 1]

I would love to read the specifics of how this coating was done, especially the web. I'm not sure I'll be posting any pics of my new stick and its very pedestrian paint job. Outstanding work!

[montana]

How high of temp can you heat your scope? I would think the o-rings would be a little sensitive to heat. Your last rifle is also out standing. Your rifles are almost too nice to shoot, if you haven't noticed I'm a fan of your work.

[LRRPF52]

I also saw where this claim was made, but every pattern I have coated seems to disagree, as do the works of other Cerakote finishers. I really prefer the durability and surface texture of Cerakote, because it is so non-reflective, and takes a lot of punishment, while being impervious to acids, oils, oxidization, and the elements.

[cory]

That's an amazing job man. When are you going to start doing that for the public. I'm sure there's quite a few people who'd pay good money for you to take care of their rifle. I'd be one if I had the disposable cash right now.

[BluntForceTrauma]

Stunning rifle. Great job.

John

P.S. When younger, I did scale modeling and worshipped at the shrine of Francois Verlinden and his amazing dioramas.

[Drifter]

Great work. Let us know if / when you're accepting coating jobs.