New member, thanks for the ad. I’ve got a black Versamax and would like to have it camouflage. Been looking into creakote. I’ve had a some buddies have their guns hydodipped and they all have had issues with the durability of the dipping. Any recommendations on quality creakoters?

I don't know about their camouflage, but Cerakote has an excellent reputation overall.

Good evening. I had my own gun store and gunsmith shop for about 10 years and I've done a lot of refinishing in my day.

The main issue people have with hydro dipping is the clearcoat that goes on over top of the finished product. If you use a cheap crappy clear coat as many hobbyists do, it's going to get scratched and will rub/wear off rather quickly. Especially if you use those junky ebay kits that come with a little can of clear spray paint with the film and activator.

Many professional refinishers and manufacturers use better quality clearcoat similar to vehicle paint clearcoat for longevity.

With that said, even if using the best products available, will not make it scratch proof. Or bomb proof. Or resistant to death rays and nukes. Fire or even rabid dogs. It's why most manufacturers do not warranty the finish of their products. Even bluing and Parkerizing.

With that said, cerakote does pretty well in terms of abrasion resistance. And why I use cerakote matte clear coat over top of my hydro dips. It is more expensive and time consuming but works better in the long run.

I am no longer licensed to receive guns in the mail, but I am going to give you a link to a guy I know that frequents xdtalk. He does really good work. I don't know about pricing or turnaround time but I have seen some of his work first hand and it's really good if you want to contact him and ask.

https://www.tacticool.com/


Just for the record, here are a few pics of customer guns I have done over the years. Some were airbrushed, some were dipped and a few were experiments, but I enjoy sharing pics.

Sponge rustoleum





Cerakote





Norrells Moly (which I think is the best spray on firearm finish in existance)





Duracoat









Hydro dips

Nice work John. I was a gunsmith/dealer for many years, but I didn't do refinishing for anyone but myself. My best work was a BPS black 10 gauge 28" Stalker that I got because it was slightly lighter than the Hunter models. Drilled the stock ribs and machined the receiver and barrel and also overbored it to reduce weight further, and then painted the stock to look like real wood. After steel we were shooting a lot less weight of load but for some reason the manufacturers thought we needed 3 more pounds of gun to do it. I got well over a pound off that BPS.

Thank you. I always enjoyed working on guns.

To be honest, I have never shot a 10 gauge.

But I always like a Browning shotgun. They're not very common at all in my area. Most folks around here have cabinets full of old H&Rs and Mossbergs and Remingtons.

Thanks John, I’ll check him out.