need to sand cav arms lower before duracoat?

I ordered some shake and spray duracoat for my cav arms lower. The polymer finish already has a very light texture. Do I still need to sand it first?

It depends. I probably wouldn't give it a full on sanding, but I would at least hit it with a scotch brite pad and go over it. Even though it's textured, that doesn't mean that the texture is rough enough to accept the duracoat.

I've had great results on polymer hand gun receivers just doing a quick once over with a scotch brite. Better safe than sorry and it's not like it'll effect it negatively.

You definately need to rough up the exterior surface prior to coating so it will stick better. If it were mine I'd lightly blast with 120 grit alum oxide prior to applying the coating.

+1 on the media blast....I do it for every part I apply Cerakote too.

The shake and spray kit comes with a brown scotch brite pad. I degreased it, rubbed it down with the pad then sprayed it with their degreaser to remove all "dust". It drys fast but it still took about 1/2 hour with a fan to completely dry. Good luck and take your time, it's easier than you think.

good luck. I tried using air cure gun kote on mine and I blasted it with 120 grit aluminum oxide...the finish didn't stick worth crap.
Apparently there is a film on the parts as a result of the injection molding process that screws with the adhesion.

I haven't been too rough with it yet (still waiting on barrel to finish build) but the charging handle scrapes along the top of the stock pretty good and it hasn't rubbed any off.

The kit worked great, but it's a bit lighter than the real FDE stuff.

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