The joys of Dura-touch (and its like)

[The Raven]

I wasn't sure where to post this but this is as good as anywhere...

Decided to crack open the safes today to inspect each firearm and lube them up as required.

Laid them all out on a tabletop to ogle and fondle and that went well until I picked up my Browning X-Bolt with a dura-touch finish. I couldn't put the damn thing down as it was stuck to my hand! No matter how I held the rifle it felt like handling something covered in thick sap. Fingerprints and general marring occurred everywhere I touched the stock.

Dura-touch (brandname) is one of those magic rubbery coatings they put on some synthetic stock to improve grip. Well, this one was working!!!! Whatever the coating is it had degraded to become a sticky mess.

Some research (aka google) showed this to be a common problem for Browning which has led to US law suits and an program where you can send your stock back for refinishing or replacement. That may be great for the US market, excluding the 4-6 month wait, but I figured it would be even more painful for Australians.

So I looked for solutions such as removing the coating all together. So the first step was to separate the rifle from the stock.

One idea was to use an alcohol solution to scrub and remove the coating. Tried that with some foreshots from my homebrew, which is basically a metho combination of nasties unsuitable for drinking. It sorta worked but took a lot of effort to get very little progress. Another method suggested was brake cleaner, which I happened to have, so I tried that with some improvement. Last recommendation was something I had used with success on many plastics...oven cleaner.

While I have experience using oven cleaner to strip paint etc. of plastics I was a bit worried about using that on a synthetic rifle stock. However I took the punt on it. Unfortunately I didn't have my preferred "non-fuming, non-caustic" oven cleaner on hand so had to use Ez-Off which is very fumey.

Luckily, this worked a treat in combination with some warm water and an old scrubbing brush. Took about 10-15 minutes and it was gone. The stock itself came up nicely in a simple black colour. Now all I need to do is allow the stock to be perfectly dry before refitting it. I did consider painting the stock (ideas abounded) but have chosen not to.

Whilst I love how my Browning performs I'll never buy another rifle with a Dura-touch (or is that "tough") type coating. Note I had previously had a very similar problem with a cheap red dot and spent hours with alcohol and rags etc. scrubbing that stuff off. So be warned of anything fitted with a rubbery coating.

[LoneRider]

thanks for the heads up ol timer

[The Raven]

thanks for the heads up ol timer

Yes, any rubbery coating provided by a manufacturer is sure to degrade. Hence, don't look a at it as a positive but something you'll have to remove after a few years.

Shocking stuff.

Does anyone know if "Hogue" type coating is the same shit?