So what happens to your weapon once PBI gets there hands on it? First, let us say that we treat every weapon we get in like our first born child. We respect the fact that the weapon in front of us belongs to you, the customer, and it is something you depend on to hunt, fight, survive, and enjoy for the rest of your life. Secondly, we respect the job no matter how small or simple. You will get the same attention to detail and quality for one magazine as you will get for an entire arsenal worth of business. That being said, lets run down our basic formula we use for refinishing and why each step is important:

Complete and total disassembly
We tear down every weapon we get in, as far down as it can be taken. You can take your own weapons apart and send them in if you like, but ask yourself this before you do..."Can I put it back together without blemishing the finish I just paid for?" Our advice is to let us deal with that headache for you. This is where hobbyist refinishers and sub-par companies go wrong. One of the biggest mistakes we have seen people make is supplementing a lack of knowledge and tools with masking tape. The idea being that if they can't break it all the way down, they will just mask off...this does not work. It will never be properly degreased, prep'ed, or finished without doing this.

Complete degreasing
Once this process is completed, bare human hands will not touch your parts until they are ready for reassembly. Proper degreasing is a lot more than dunking everything in some brake cleaner and shaking it off. It can take quite a bit of time on certain parts and weapons in general to do this correctly. There is no such thing as "good enough" in our vocabulary. We do it right or we would not do it at all. Even the smallest amount of lubricant (especially cosmoline), hiding in the cracks, or skin oils left on the surface can create a time bomb for your finish to crap out on you and leave you with an eye-sore at some point. We all can respect a little wear on a man's gun...it says, "I get carried and shot". But an improperly degreased weapon with a finish applied overtop will leave your gun saying something more like, "I got chicken pocks and am damn ugly!"

Complete surface prep of every part
And not just the one's that can be seen. We will use the appropriate bead or oxide material and size/grit for any particular substrate to insure a smooth and uniform surface for coating. All original finish can be removed and the prep process can still be done wrong. An inexperienced man in a blasting booth can wipe out manufacturer stampings and create uneven blemishing that WILL show even after coating.

Complete coverage
Everything that CAN be coated, WILL be coated inside and out to guarantee the longevity of your weapon's life. The time from prep to coat is mere moments to prevent oxidation from setting in. High wear areas will be built up, and tight tolerant pieces will be kept thin for function. Incorrect application can make blemishes, runs, cracks, peeling, pooling, drooling, fish-eye, and even weapon malfunction to name a few. The finish you end up with on ALL parts will surpass factory finishes in looks and performance.

Complete reassembly and testing
During this phase, we will properly lubricate areas of your weapon that most people never do or send off to have a gunsmith execute during a complete service cleaning which on its own could run you $50 or more. Our reassembly time spent will sometimes even surpass the actual finishing time to ensure that every part is carefully put in place so as not to leave any marring or damage to the finish. Every weapon is tested for function before considering the job is done. If it worked when we got it, rest assured, it will work when you get it back. Screwing reassembly up is just plain dangerous!

If you have the proper facility, equipment, and expertise...You sure can! Many of the products we use are available to anyone that wants them. Lauer Weaponry, for example, sells DuraCoat all over the world. The problem is that many people try it themselves and due to the poor results they get, decide that a particular product is the culprit. We really don't encounter a loss of business from this, but a loss in customer confidence in any given product. We have had customers bring us weapons they have done themselves or by other companies that demanded something different than the product they had used. They always proclaim that "Product-A" is trash do to the results they got. The funny thing is, we can usually plop down something in front of them that we coated in the same thing and change their mind. You can not substitute proper equipment, prep, and application techniques to save cash and hope to end up with something worth having.

It is only natural to find a way to get what you want for less $$$ and have it in your hands yesterday. But please don't forget the old saying, "You Get What You Pay For." We are not in the business of doing things cheap and quick. If that is what you want...PBI does NOT want your business, simply because both those words add up to Half-Ass. And we will never let anything leave our shop with those words and our name in the same box.