Gunkoted Romanian WASR AK (Single Stack)

[Makasaurus]

I went back and forth with Brownell's over the gunkote that was coming out more satin then flat.
After many calls and emails with several helpful people, they said they'd send me a new can for free. BUT the online invoice says what they shipped "ALumahyde II" no gunkote...I give. I also used some Alumahyde II since i bought some because i was ready to give up on the gunkote. I decided to work with the gunkote, or rather around it, because gunkote is tougher and more solvent resistant then Alumahyde... Here's the results, and i am happy with it.

Barrel, front sight and gas tube. They look satin not flat. I rubbed them with household scotchbrite pad and water, just a little bit and this helps dull the shine without scratching the finish.


Left side of receiver. An odd thing that happened is that the gunkote came out Flat on some areas and glossy or satin on others. The receiver and sight block came out pretty flat. The barrel came out rather glossy. Don't know why this is since everything got exactly the same treatment.

Looking closely at the receiver cover - notice it is a nice flat black. That's because it is alumahyde II applied over gunkote. I baked the Alumahyde II treated parts for 5 hours at 200 degrees F. (If you plan to refinish and use a baked coating, i believe you MUST have an oven thermometer - mine cost $4 at CVS drugstore. The thermometer indicated my oven was 100 degrees HIGHER then the oven dial said!)

I decided NOT to put gunkote over Alumahyde since i was happy with how the cover came out. I did the same treatment to the 10 round mags and they look pretty good, smooth but flat texture and uniform flat black.

Picture of the whole gun:


Right side of receiver:


Anyway if anybody wants to know how i did it. I disassembled the whole gun including the stock (i removed the screws and beat the stock on my bed, swinging the rifle like a base ball bat, hitting the stock on all 4 sides until it came loose - this took about 50 -60 swings). I disassembled the receiver and covered the muzzle with an ear plug, and the chamber and receiver interior with aluminum foil (making sure to remove the ear plug before baking!),
I cleaned with brake cleaner, then acetone, inside and out. I pushed a patch down the bore to get the oil out. Then i cleaned with acetone one more time, put on rubber gloves, and fired up my small air compressor and blew out the crannies (a lot of solvent came out especially behind the side scope mount.)
Then i put on a paper mask and hung the gun up from a wire. I used my shower stall, i masked the walls and floor with cardboard and plastic sheet.

I shook the rattle can for about a minute. then just like in the Brownells video, i got it good and hot with a heat gun and quickly dusted on a light coat. Hit it with the heat gun on "high again for a minute. Wait a couple minutes, repeat twice more, then final coat. I let it hang for about 20 minutes while i brought the oven up to temperature, a steady 300 degrees F no less and not much more.

Then i hung the gun inside the oven on coat hanger wire pieces attached to the top oven rack, one piece going into the muzzle and the other going through the rear stock screw hole. The rifle would barely fit the oven when placed at a diagonal inside.

After giving the parts 10 minutes to come to temperature, like the can says, i started timing for one hour. The gunkote did not stink very much and did not leave a stink in the oven. I did have to monitor the temperature every 5-10 minutes and adjust the oven temperature control, don't let it get below 300 degrees for very long because that is the minimum baking temperature.

When time was up i shut off the oven and opened the door, and gave it 20 minutes to cool before reassembling.

[Schuetzenman]

Well it looks just fine IMO. I see the bed n bat method worked for you on stock removal. Your rifle is now protected far better than any other finish system can do thanks to you using the Gun Kote. Congrats on a job well done. BTW did you do your buttplate and screws?

[Makasaurus]

Nope, sure didn't. They were black enough, didn't want to handle them hot, and if i decide to do the small bits later i can use the alumahyde on them. I did do the safety though, front and back - i actually gunkoted TWICE because the safety gouged the new gunkote. This bothered me enough for me to strip it again and do it over, after bending the safety.

[jojo]

I think that what you are experiencing with the "some parts coming out flat and some semi flat" is due to the heavier parts retaining the "preheat" longer than the thinner parts. If the temperature isn't hot enough it will give a semi gloss appearance.

It's always been my understanding that the product should mist or vapor when it hits the preheated metal.

Looks good either way.

[Schuetzenman]

I think that what you are experiencing with the "some parts coming out flat and some semi flat" is due to the heavier parts retaining the "preheat" longer than the thinner parts. If the temperature isn't hot enough it will give a semi gloss appearance.

It's always been my understanding that the product should mist or vapor when it hits the preheated metal.

Looks good either way.

Actually, not so much. I've done dozens of weapons with Gun Kote. Flat is always flat, it's more about the texture of the surface a lot of times. I've sprayed on Gloss Gun Kote and it looks totally flat given the heat level of the metal when it hit the surface. But once it baked, it was all glossy.