Aegis Cerakote & Gunworks
“We are the music makers, And we are the dreamers of dreams, Wandering by lone sea-breakers, And sitting by desolate streams; — World-losers and world-forsakers, On whom the pale moon gleams: Yet we are the movers and shakers Of the world for ever, it seems.”
Arthur O’Shaughnessy (1873)
Cerakote Confronts Corrosion
Several key performance categories are important for firearm finishes like:
- Hardness
- Chemical resistance
- Lubricity
- Abrasion resistance and
- Color
BUT nothing more critical as CORROSION PROTECTION!
None of the above are as critical as corrosion protection. Corrosion is the most finish related problem. The above video shows what happens when Cerakote and seven other competitive finishes are placed in a salt chamber.
NIC tests are performed in accordance to ASTM standards. ASTM International is a globally recognized leader in the development of standards used around the world to improve product quality, safety, and consumer confidence. According to ASTM B117-03, the corrosion test provides a controlled corrosive environment which has been utilized to produce relative corrosion resistance information for metals and coated metals, exposed in a given test chamber.
The salt chamber is set to a temperature of 95˚F with a 5% salt concentration. Salt chamber testing is used to draw a comparison between metals and finishes and does not correlate to a specific number of hours of real world use. Nine firearm components in total are placed into the salt chamber to see how long it takes for each finish to show initial signs of corrosion. At that point, time will be noted for that particular finish. Observe, not all test components are identical. In order to achieve the most accurate test results, finished parts were sourced directly from the manufacturer if available. Components that required application, including Cerakote, were coated on cut sections of the same mild steel barrel which insured a consistent base metal on all test pieces, guaranteeing an accurate comparison.
To show how harsh this environment is, a high grade 416-stainless steel barrel was placed inside with the other firearm components as a baseline. The salt chamber will run as long as it takes for every protective finish to show signs of corrosion.
Rust appearing on the white panels holding each part does not necessarily indicate first signs of corrosion. The salt chamber recycles the salt water, which picks up rust in the atmosphere and deposits it on surfaces throughout the test chamber which can give the false impression that corrosion has begun. First signs of corrosion are noted when the test components show numerous areas of corrosion from non-deposited rust.
