C h r i s
Well-Known Member
I have a TRG42 .338 that went off to Finland to have a new barrel installed, at great expense. I wanted to keep the rifle looking original, with a phosphate finish. Anyway, the rifle eventually arrived back, but the quality of the finish on the barrel leaves a lot to be desired. Long scratches in the phosphating down one side, quite light in colour compared to the receiver, spots that look like they've been polished with steel wool (shiny areas where you almost see through the phosphating). I can only assume that its been lying around on a spares shelf for a while, maybe picked up some rust that they've tried to clean off.
Anyway, its now back with GMK, who have today reported that finish issues like this are fairly normal for a phosphate finish (utter rubbish), however they are sending pics to the factory and will await their comments. Bearing in mind that this is the same factory that was happy to ship the thing out in the first place, I can see where this is leading.
Assuming I get no support from GMK or Sako, does anyone know of a gunsmith in the UK that does phosphating? I've tried contacting non gunsmith metal treatment firms, but none were interested.
Would prefer to avoid Cerakote, if I wanted this I wouldn't have bothered with the factory original barrel.
Cheers,
Chris
Anyway, its now back with GMK, who have today reported that finish issues like this are fairly normal for a phosphate finish (utter rubbish), however they are sending pics to the factory and will await their comments. Bearing in mind that this is the same factory that was happy to ship the thing out in the first place, I can see where this is leading.
Assuming I get no support from GMK or Sako, does anyone know of a gunsmith in the UK that does phosphating? I've tried contacting non gunsmith metal treatment firms, but none were interested.
Would prefer to avoid Cerakote, if I wanted this I wouldn't have bothered with the factory original barrel.
Cheers,
Chris