March 2nd, 2009

New Air-Cured Polymer Gun Finish from Birchwood Casey

Birchwood Casey Perma FinBirchwood Casey has come up with a new polymer gun finish, Perma Fin™. Here’s the big news: NO BAKING or HEAT-CURING is required, and you don’t have to mix two components. Perma Fin can be applied with an air brush or a fine paint brush to provide a durable, long-lasting black satin finish. Air curing makes Perma Fin™ easier to use than most other polymer or resin gun finishes on the market. Heat-curing in an oven works fine for handgun slides or rifle actions, but what do you do with a 30″-long barrel that won’t fit in your oven? Also, with oven curing you have to be careful that the coated product doesn’t stick to the oven racks.

No Mixing Required. No Heat-Curing Needed.
Perma Fin is a single component, water-based polyurethane resin liquid that provides excellent adhesion to not only metal firearm surfaces, but to plastic and rubber as well. There is no mixing of components, no harsh chemicals, and because Perma Fin is water-based, clean-up is simple and easy. Perma Fin air cures, so no heating or baking of parts is required. As noted above, that simplifies the process of coating large or extra-long gun parts. Perma Fin is available as a kit with an air brush, 1 pair of vinyl gloves, 1 abrasive sanding pad and two 3-ounce bottles of Perma Fin, or in individual 3-ounce bottles. Retail price for the kit is $64.40 and $16.10 for the 3-ounce bottles.

Birchwood Casey Perma Fin gun finish

EDITOR’s COMMENT: We haven’t tested Perma Fin™ yet, so we can’t comment on how well it works. But we think a single-component (no-mix) product that air-cures (like normal paint) holds promise for gunsmiths with access to compressed air. And this product also gives stock-painters the ability to finish metal parts (no heat required).