gun kote questions

[possumman]

I've heard complaints about some of the Kahr k40 pistols rusting. I'm going to use it for ccw. I'm considering applying Brownell's Gun Kote first, but have some questions. Is it absolutely nescessary to completely dissasemble firearm, ie. firing pin, extractor etc. or just fieldstrip. Also is it safe to bake finish on with gas oven?:confused:

[LukeA]

You don't want any springs to have their temper adjusted by heat.

You can certainly bake it in a gas oven. It's preferable to use a non-food oven. Cheap toaster ovens work great.

[possumman]

I'm not sure I'm competant enough to completely dissasemble this gun.:confused::o

[Mac's!]

In order to make Gunkote "stick", you will have to abrasive blast the metal and preferably Parkerize it too. You will have to disassemble the pistol for either one of these processes. If you leave things like firing pins in place, you may never get them out again without doing damage to the part. The abrasive will jam everything up tight. If you Parkerize it without full disassembly, you'll have Parkerizing acid sitting in places like the firing pin channel. You won't be able to rinse it all out. That will rust it up fast!

Regarding curing Gunkote with a gas oven: I'm really not sure but I wouldn't try it myself. When I cure, I cure a lot of parts at once. (My oven is the size of a fridge) The fumes get pretty heavy and yes: Gunkote is flammable. I'm pretty sure that it would be ok to cure one pistol in a gas fired oven if you vented it regularly.

Regarding your choice of finish. (Gunkote) Properly applied and properly cured Gunkote is non-reactive to sweat, rain, heat, cold, acetone, battery acid, salt water, chlorine, etc. It's an excellent choice for a ccw weapon. Keep yer powder dry, Mac.
Tuff-Gun Finishes. The Name Says It All.
Mac's Shootin' Irons
http://www.shootiniron.com

[mapsjanhere]

If you insists doing it in a regular kitchen oven, make sure your oven has a high temp cleaning cycle you can run afterward. Otherwise your wife's Christmas cookies will taste off, plus health concerns from the amine hardener etc.
Also, make sure you use an accurate oven thermometer, just the setting is NOT a good indicator for what temperature you're reaching. The final performance of epoxy coatings is highly dependent on the correct cure cycle in time and temperature.