What's Covered

Defects and application errors — period. If the coating fails because of how it was prepped or applied, we make it right at no charge. We document every job (mil gauge readings, coverage photos) before it leaves, so warranty evaluations are fast and honest in both directions.

What's Not

Normal wear and tear — holster wear, metal-on-metal contact, impacts. Cerakote is incredible for durability, rust and corrosion prevention, and lubricity, but it is still a coating. The sections below explain exactly what normal wear looks like, so there are no surprises.

Straight Talk

What Cerakote Does — and What Physics Does.

We'd rather set expectations up front than argue about them later. Here's what's normal on a hard-used firearm:

Pistol breech faces ▼

You will see Cerakote burn and blow off the breech face. That surface eats 500+ lb-ft of energy on every trigger pull with 115-grain ammo — no coating, anodizing, or finish on earth survives that. Completely normal.

"I can see bare metal" — ridges and valleys ▼

Before coating, every part gets a 100-grit aluminum-oxide blast at 80–100 PSI. That blast profile creates microscopic ridges and valleys, and the Cerakote — and its protection — lives down in those grooves. So even where high spots wear shiny, the corrosion protection is still there doing its job.

Metal-to-metal contact ▼

Cerakote is only as hard as the metal under it, and aluminum is soft. Sharp contact points, guns knocking together in the safe, hard impacts — those create surface abrasions, and that's normal wear. Take care of your items… but also use the heck out of 'em. When it's time, bring it back for a full reapplication.

Pivot pins, slide rails & contact points ▼

Metal-to-metal, right? These spots will wear in over time — which is actually good, that's the fit smoothing out. The coating in the blast profile keeps protecting the metal underneath. Normal wear and tear.

Tight factory tolerances ▼

Some manufacturers (*cough* Noveske *cough*) run tolerances so tight that even anodizing creates friction points. Cerakote is the thinnest coating available, but some upper/lower fits and pin locations are just plain snug. We can't vote on another company's engineering — those spots will show friction wear. It doesn't impede function.

Break-in: go shoot it. A lot. ▼

If you ever feel slight cycling friction after coating, keep shooting — repetition wears any high point away naturally. We've honestly never had it happen on one of our jobs, but Cerakote can settle in spots no one can see. If anything ever feels like a genuine safety issue, stop and contact us — we'll get it handled, gunsmithing included.

Refunds

We typically do not offer refunds — this is a heavily involved, manual service with real hours in every job. The first step, always: contact us, talk through the issue, and give us the chance to correct it. That's what the warranty is for.

If our correction attempt somehow doesn't resolve it (we've yet to see it), we'll evaluate whether it's a second application error and refund if so. Claims need to come in within days of receiving your item — and because we document every job with mil-gauge readings and coverage photos, we'll know exactly what left the shop.

Worth remembering what you're buying: rust and corrosion resistance plus better lubricity that extends the life of your parts — where bare metal and anodizing pit, rust, and eventually fail. No surface coating is a do-everything fix; Cerakote is simply the best one for the job.

Need Help?

Questions about warranty, refunds, or returns: [email protected] or call/text (931) 338-9236. Photos of the issue speed everything up.

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