Anything to be done? AR lower anodized blemish.

[American123]

True. I like to start out "fresh" and any character marks to be earned. Seeing how I paid for "new"... that's what I would expect to receive. If I wanted blemished I would have bought blemished and saved myself the extra 20 bones to begin with.

Understandable, so write them and tell them they either need to refund you $20 for that blem or send a return label for the return. They'll likely eat the $20 to avoid the hassle.

 

[sobo]

When you mill it out, you're going to have a lot of bare, raw aluminum to refinish anyway so I suppose it's about at the bottom of the "oh no!" List for me

I never had to do any touch-ups or refinishing exteriors before. I alumi-hyde the milled pockets and holes, but for most people with at home products, I think it would be pretty difficult to produce an even exterior finish that would match a factory anodized.

You guys have actually achieved positive results with Aluminum Black???

I can only get that stuff to work on the scratches on the exterior/anodized side.
When I tried to coat the interior of the lower where I had milled it out, it just wouldn't stick, no matter how much I degreased it.
It just made it all splotchy and nasty looking, so I just go with the shiny look now.
Doesn't bother me in the least that it isn't blacked out, since no one can see it anyway...

 

[Ura-Ki]

Having spent a lifetime around anodized parts and pieces for Air Craft and all sorts of other military hardware, THAT AIN'T RIGHT!
It's a finishing issue in the anodizing process, ether the part wasn't cleaned properly, or the batch of chemicals wasn't right, some shops actually have a process that replicates what you have here in a awesome camo pattern, but that's not what you have here! The Real issue is the anodizing ain't doing the job it's intended to do, Prevent oxidation, and THAT'S the real issue, not the appearance! Send that sucker back with a note explaining the fact that it's a failed Ano Job that will corrode at some point and leave the part weakened!

Your other option is to chemically strip the anodizing off and ether have it ceracoated ( Best Choice) re anodized by a local specialists shop, or dura-coat it on the cheap, it's your dime, spend it wisely!

 

[Yarome]

You guys have actually achieved positive results with Aluminum Black???

Aluminum Black and Aluma-Hyde II are different products with different purposes.

I'll use AB for exterior touch ups and raw aluminium pin holes (so I don't have to mess with tolerance issues if I used aluma-hyde on them, but you're right. In the pockets, unless you're willing to do a great deal of "finishing" work to all those freshly milled surfaces, those large sufaces areas are incredibly difficult to give a smooth finished look. Although, even if its blotchy it's still serving a purpose.

Aluma-Hyde II. That's more like a simple bake on (or time cure) poor man's version of a cerakote application. Impervious to about anything you can throw at it, durable, incredibly easy to apply and gives a "factory finish" look to your raw internals. Necessary? Not IMHO, but it does look sharp, provides a great deal of protection and a bit of peace of mind.

That said, I don't aluma-hyde all my lowers. I have a couple of "full-on" higher end custom builds where every single component was carefully selected, and not suprisingly, a good chunk of change invested. Adding that last finishing touch was worth it, but the "bangers" are all raw and I use aluminum black only on the pin holes.

 

[Yarome]

Your other option is to chemically strip the anodizing off and ether have it ceracoated ( Best Choice) re anodized by a local specialists shop, or dura-coat it on the cheap, it's your dime, spend it wisely!

None of which is appealing and shouldn't be necessary when you're paying good money for a "new" factory anodized lower in the first place.

Thanks for the input. I haven't run across it before and it "looked" like it was an issue with the anodizing, but wasn't confident before making a stink with their C.S. department.

Plan A is now to do a return-replacement.

 

[sobo]

Aluminum Black and Aluma-Hyde II are different products with different purposes.

I'll use AB for exterior touch ups and raw aluminium pin holes (so I don't have to mess with tolerance issues if I used aluma-hyde on them, but you're right. In the pockets, unless you're willing to do a great deal of "finishing" work to all those freshly milled surfaces, those large sufaces areas are incredibly difficult to give a smooth finished look. Although, even if its blotchy it's still serving a purpose.

Aluma-Hyde II. That's more like a simple bake on (or time cure) poor man's version of a cerakote application. Impervious to about anything you can throw at it, durable, incredibly easy to apply and gives a "factory finish" look to your raw internals. Necessary? Not IMHO, but it does look sharp, provides a great deal of protection and a bit of peace of mind.

That said, I don't aluma-hyde all my lowers. I have a couple of "full-on" higher end custom builds where every single component was carefully selected, and not suprisingly, a good chunch of change invested. Adding that last finishing touch was worth it, but the "bangers" are all raw and I use aluminum black only on the pin holes.

So, what you say makes sense to me and replicates my experience with AB (I have no experience with AH).
I found that AB works exceedingly well on light scratches on the exterior of receivers, and works reasonably well on trigger pin and selector switch holes.
But when it gets into a large territory (like the FCG pocket), it fails miserably at making things black. I'll have to try AH in the pocket and see how that goes.

 

[308]

So, what you say makes sense to me and replicates my experience with AB (I have no experience with AH).
I found that AB works exceedingly well on light scratches on the exterior of receivers, and works reasonably well on trigger pin and selector switch holes.
But when it gets into a large territory (like the FCG pocket), it fails miserably at making things black. I'll have to try AH in the pocket and see how that goes.

My experience with Brownells Alumahide was that it goes on kinda thick as compared to my personal favorite, GunKote.

 

[jackrv]

Looks like it is a rare Navy version, could be worth more than was paid

 

[ilikegunspdx]

Looks like it is a rare Navy version, could be worth more than was paid

I would just paint the white letters "H & K" on it then you could sell for like $2300.

 

[Heyjoe]

I'd run it.

 

[clanhanson]

Get the rifle assembled then throw it a few times. Colt ARs arrive covered in small defects for example, but it doesn't matter. In my experience an AR finish tends to look worn fairly quickly if not babied and it gives the rifle some character.

 

[Lilhigbee]

The Real issue is the anodizing ain't doing the job it's intended to do, Prevent oxidation, and THAT'S the real issue, not the appearance!

Not necessarily true. The anodizing could be/probably is fine. It is the dye-job done to make it black that appears to be where the failure occurred. Hard to tell for sure from a picture. All anodizing is aluminum-colored until it is dyed.

 

[Caveman Jim]

If you're not satisfied with it then contact CS where you purchased it.

 

[P7M13]

Improves grip.
Don't like? Many vendors here do great jobs at powder coat....