One of the most frequently asked questions is “Do I need to pay the armory fee?”. The short answer is “No” but I think its important to understand what the armory fee includes, and why proper disassembly and reassembly is important to your Cerakote project.
Armory is simply the disassembly and reassembly of your project in order to properly apply Cerakote. Its important to note that this is not a field strip, it’s a detailed breakdown of every minute component of the firearm. Every spring, detent, sights, and pins need to be removed to properly apply Cerakote. The more “parts” you leave in a gun the better chance you have of oil and contaminants seeping out during final cure, and you also don’t get the corrosion protection in those areas that are blocked by the parts that were left installed.
So, can you do your own armory? Of course you can, and if you are comfortable with the detailed disassembly and reassembly of your particular firearm I encourage you to do that. It will save you some money, save us some time, and let’s face it, some people find it fun and educational to “tinker”, I know I do. It’s important to remember that even though Cerakote is a very thin coating, you are still adding surface to some potentially tight tolerance areas. This is why its important to take your time with reassembly and take extra precaution to make sure you’re not forcing parts into places where they may need a little extra attention before they fit. If you’re not careful you may run the risk of damaging your new coating job or your firearm.
If you’re comfortable with doing your own armory we encourage you to do it, however; if your not, don’t let it stop you from brining a project in for Cerakote, we have professional armorers standing by to handle this tedious but necessary portion of the project for you.