Developed by NIC Industries, Cerakote is a thin-film ceramic coating that offers a hard finish that is resistant to abrasion, corrosion and chemicals—and looks great at the same time. The thinness (0.001-inch thick) of the coating makes it ideally suited to the often-tight tolerances of firearms. It can be applied to practically all materials used in firearm construction, whether it's steel, aluminum or plastics/polymers. Gulllake Sandblasting and Powdercoating is Central Minnesotas leading Cerakote-certified applicator.
Cerakote is a proprietary finish, made by a company called Cerakote. The name is a portmanteau with the word "coat" changed to "kote," because misspelling things is cool. (Though some cynical miscreants disagree on that point.) Anyway, the finish employs ceramic (hence "cera") particles as part of the solution. This creates a hard surface that resists scratching and other abrasion, such as if the pistol is dropped or otherwise impacted by something.