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Benelli M4 -- Refinish Time!


StrangerDanger

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Ah, makes sense....especially if you want to avoid a reflective receiver. I think I used the wrong word...I meant I wanted to get my bolt carrier/inside of receiver coated to help with clean up and lessen the need for lubricants (though I never plan to run it "dry") Messing with the trigger group, besides swapping out some benelli for US made parts, is something I would like to avoid. Do you happen to know if Robar will only coat the inside of a receiver? OR should I just give them a call. Looking forward to seeing your updates. Cheers

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I'm not super familiar with the AK platform. Sounds like a Saiga though? Is the receiver and barrel assembly all steel? The only thing that really stops a coating option is dissimilar metals. Also, titanium and magnesium are no-go.

 

Nickel boron is extremely thin and shouldn't effect tolerances. I recall the thickness is .0005" from somewhere. Etchings shouldn't be effected. In with Cerakote, the laser engraving isn't fully covered on things like my Surefires.

 

If you don't care about nickel boron from a function standpoint, Cerakote may be a good choice. It's cheap and extremely durable. You have nearly unlimited color options too. You don't need to take everything apart either. A place named Controlled Chaos did my optics/lights/small parts pretty cheap. Turn around times were about three weeks.

 

Interesting. I will have to look up Controlled Chaos. Cerakote is what I am looking for, I was just told by a few shops locally here that it would have to be fully disassembled. I agree that is best practice, but need someone flexible because disassembling is simply not possible without destroying the firearm. The shotgun is a Vepr, very similar to Saiga, I've done a ton of work to it to play with a mag fed shotgun.

 

Thank You for the Lead.

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Naturally being disassembled would be better, but it isn't a deal breaker. I had my Aimpoints painted with the mounts attached. It just wasn't worth taking them apart. Plus I hope the paint will "glue" the fasteners in place.

 

As for how thin the Cerakote is, take a look at this picture. If you're familiar with how faint the engraving is on an Aimpoint T1, you'll know that they're maybe 0.001" engravings. Even with the metal flake Burnt Bronze finish, the engraving is clearly visible. Sometimes the thin nature of the Cerakote isn't desirable since it has a difficult time filling in blemishes. All of that work will have to be done prior during the bead blasting phase.

110_zps4256d772.jpg~original

 

Since it apparently takes UPS nearly four days to drive from Mesquite, Tx to Phoenix, Az, my parts won't be here until tomorrow.

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Nice job SD!

 

BTW If somebody will ask you to make a H2O Benelli M4 (silver/grey coating) from the typical black M4 model could you be able to do it?

 

 

It's not too hard...it's the waiting for Robar to finish coating the parts that's the hard part. You just need a standard m4 with the factory collapsible stock. Then get a steel or aluminum full length mag tube (np3 doesn't adhere to titanium too well). And a few hundred to send it off to Robar for the np3+ coating.

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You can build your own H20 for sure. There are only a few parts that add some complexity to the job. Removing the ejector from the barrel is a real pain since it is riveted in place. Same goes for the detent and spring that ratchet the magazine cap in place. Both of these items could probably be left in place and coated anyway without any detrimental effects. Taking the tensioners out of the front handguard hanger might be a pain as well.

 

This is why I did not have my barrel assembly coated in Nickel Boron. The end value wasn't that important. The barrel extension that inserts into the receiver is already nickel finished by Benelli. So the only functional benefit would be to the ARGO piston housing and as a corrosion inhibitor. This isn't that important since have you ever seen a rusted Benelli? So it's more of a cosmetic attribute.

 

Having NP3 or Nickel Boron present on the locking lugs of the barrel would be a benefit over the regular nickel finish. It would be marginal at best.

 

Another issue you'll encounter is if you're using a coveted titanium magazine tube. You cannot apply nickel boron or NP3 to titanium. So you'll be left with a paint option.

 

That is why I opted to just have my barrel assembly painted in Cerakote. It'll fix all the cosmetic defects present, and add a layer of corrosion protection. Cerakote is far from just paint, it is a ceramic based finish.

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Parts are in. Finally. Surprisingly, the order is pretty accurate. They didn't coat a few tiny pieces that go in the trigger group for some reason. Other than that, they followed the directions great. I'm in the process of assembling, Benelli M4 first. Here are a couple teaser shots.

028_zps875739d6.jpg

 

023_zps5f519b2b.jpg

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Sorry, took about 5 hours to put the M4 back together. I had to do some fitting to some of the parts due to tolerance changes. Example, I had to polish the pistons with 1200 grit sandpaper to make them cycle smoothly. Loading some pictures right now...

 

The other parts next to the pistons are the shell release lever and the shell stop. They're all nickel boron coated.

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