Loading ...
Ding-Go Coatings: Custom Cerakote Camouflage
Posted by Junior Shooters
By: Dave Furney
I was attending a local gun show in Boise when I noticed an unusual camouflage pattern on a Modern Sporting Rifle (MSR-AR.) I stopped and started talking with the young man behind the table. His name is Paul Zarneke, and he owns Ding-Go Coatings in Garden City, Idaho.
I commented on his work and that I really liked the pattern he had done. I asked what he called it, and he said it was his “Zarneke Process” camo pattern. He stated that no two were exactly the same. Inquiring, I asked what he used for the coating. He said he uses Cerakote products exclusively.
(Rock River Arms LAR-08, Varmint A4 .223 with Alpen 4-16X scope, Magpul Grip and trigger guard, Vikings Tactical VTAC II sling)
I told him my name and that I’m on staff with Junior Shooters magazine. If he was interested, I would like to do an article on his work. Paul said that would be great as he was just starting this side of his auto body shop business. I went and found Andy Fink (magazine publisher/editor-in-chief) who was there at the show also. We returned to the table, and I introduced him to Paul. Paul said that he would do one of our guns for us to be featured in an article. We discussed a time to meet later and set up a meeting for the following Monday.
On Monday we met with Paul at his shop. We finalized plans, and Andy said he wanted to do his RRA LAR-8 .308/ 26” Varmint rifle in the brown pattern. Paul stated he needed the gun completely disassembled as he coats each part. This includes cleaning in the ultrasonic machine, media blasting, and the coating process. Boy, that’s a lot of parts. He also did the scope and Warne mount, Magpul Mbus sights, 45-degree side mounts, bipod, two magazines, and the VTAC, sling. The bipod, sling, and Magpul sights are available from Brownells.
So the next day I disassembled the rifle and delivered all the parts and pieces to him. He stated that he needed a few days. I was totally surprised when he called me a few days later and said to come get it. Wow, that was a fast turnaround for the amount of work that had to be done. The barrel was painted in air-cure Cerakote, so it needed to cure for a few days. I was able to put the upper and lower receivers together right away. (That’s the great thing about oven-cure Cerakote; you can assemble immediately.) I gave the barrel a week to cure and did the final assembly.
As you can see from the pictures, there is a complete transformation. I can’t wait for the weather to change so we can sight it in with the new Alpen 4-16X Apex scope that they sent us for this project. Also, thanks to Warne mounts, Magpul, and Brownells for their generous help with parts for this project!
Paul is an FFL license holder and can disassemble and assemble your firearm. He also does any coating configuration you could want, single to multi colors. Use your imagination or his.
Paul can be reached @ DingGoCoatings.com or (208)867-4295)
Dingo-Go! Coatings
Paul Zarneke, Owner
www.dinggocoatings.com
Comments
Leave a Reply
Please note: Comment moderation is currently enabled so there will be a delay between when you post your comment and when it shows up. Patience is a virtue; there is no need to re-submit your comment.
You must be logged in to post a comment.